Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-05-09
Aancaster :9ntelltge,lccr.
WEDNESDAY EVENING. MAY 9. le'
The civil Service Rules.

The rules of the civil service commis-
ion do not serve to make the concern
shine as a very gigantic thing in the
wav of administration. The present ap
,earance of the much talked of commits
ZION recalls anew the fable of the noun
tain that labored and brought forth a
mouse. If the commission is any bigger
than a mouse, it certainly does not look
bigger than a respectable rat. Its oper-
alton is limited allow and aloft and IN
between and all around. 1t takes no
of laborers, nor OF OIL
GERS confirmed by the Senate: Ihe
clerk of depart
ment head also escapes the COM
MISSIONS scrutiny, as do also the
cashier of collector or postmaster the
of the money order di'i'
sions in postoffices, custodians OF money
for whose fidelity another officer IS under
official bond ,..secret service officers trans
lators, stenographers, persons profession
ally employed, chief clerks, superlntend'
ents and chiefs of bureaus. Then the
commission reaches no officer of any kind
who is employed in a postotfice or Gus
tom house that has less than fifty 9th
GERS. Eleven custom houses and twenty
three postoffices only come under the
harrow of civil service reform as eXecu-
ted by this commission. The clerks IN
the government offices at Washington,
who are not included in the many ex-
ceptions, are the chief care of the COM
mission. 1t will be their success in Civ
ing us good bookkeepers, better writers,
money counters, messengers, and all
that kind of officers in the Washington
public buildings upon which the title OF
the commission to our applause and
gratitude will be based. But as the gen
tlemen and ladies who are doing this
clerical work for us at Washington are
very good people for it, so far as we know
we see no particular occasion that is
likely to arise for great public ovation
to the civil service commission, because
of their triumphant execution of great
work.
To be sure it is possible that some poor
devil of Democrat may creep into
small office under these rules, if he has
good luck and perhaps we ought to bt
grateful for that. But as we Go moi
think that small government clerks!i'!
is a very desirable possession to any man
and rs Democrats chance of getting
one under the commission S rules is moi
particularly brilliant, we feel under NJ
obligation to let our bowels of compass
sion for our party friends move as tt
laudation of what seems to be a stupidll
undertaken business. Of course, there
is no politics in the commission. Th'
very essence of its being was the avoid
ance of political appointments. But il
does not touch heads of bureaus. The!
are political. When their heads want ;
subordinate they are directed to draw OF
the commission. They are supplied
with four names for each clerk the.
need, from which to select the one the
prefer. This latitude of choice vii
suffice to give them man of their part
every time, unless they have particular
hard luck. The fellows they do nc
select 90 back into the pot. They ma
be drawn three times but if rejecte
that often they are pitched Overboar
altogether as they are, too, if they d
i'm nix,ir nnnni n M
within one year from their selection.
Their educational requirements ar
not severe, as they are examined only i
orthography, penmanship and copying
in the fundamental rules of arithmetic
fractions and percentages in interes
discount and elements Of bookkeeping
in the elements of the English language
letter writing and the proper cOnstructlo
of sentences and in the elements o
the geography history and govern
ment of the United States. a.
these are desirable objects of knowl
edge, but manifestly are not particularl
needed by the messenger or letter car
rier, for instance, who is Suf1icientl
educated when he has learned to read
and who would do his work better will
active legs than an educated head. Th
commission seems to have had som
idea that it Was asking too much bonl
knowledge for some positions, since i
provides that for places in which I
lower degree of educai ion will sulfic
the examination may he limitc,
to penmanship, copying and orthogra
ply and the fundamental rules of aritl,
metic which is still an unnecessaril
large demand while alertness and leg
are the only poiEts to be critically exam
ined. We do not note that the cOinmis
sion proposes an inquiry into the size o
an applicants calves, the depth Of hi
chest, or the state of his corns or, in
deed, any careful physical examination
though this would seem to be of the frs
Importance in selecting efficient of
fcers for any place, high or low
the we'll established lule bein,
that a sound mind dwells only in
sound body. 1t is directed that the ap
plicant shall provide himself with certi
ficates of his good morals, good health
and physical and mental capacity fo
doing the public work {; but there is NJ
good reason why certificates should an
swer a better purpose for these qualifica
tions than for the educational ones, which
might just as well be certified to tht
commission from the colleges ant