The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-01-10
CIVIL SERVICE.
Extracts from the Speech of Hon
Geo. H. PendletOn.
Delivered in the U. s. Senate, Tuesday,
Dec. 70. l892-The Need Of Re-
form is Clearly Shown.


States. Mr.. PendletOn said:
MR.. PRESIDENT: The necessity of a
change in the civil administration of
this Government has been so fully dis
cussed in the periodicals and pamphlets
and newspapers, and on the stump be-
fore the people. that feel indispOsed to
make any further argument. This sub
ject, in all its ramifcatiOns, was sub
mitted to the people of the United States
Mt the fall elections, and they have
spoken in no low or uncertain tone.
do not doubt that local questions eX-
erted great influence in many States up
on the result; but in my conviction,
founded on the observation of an active
participation in the canvass of Ohio,
that dissatisfaction with the methods of
administration adopted by the Republi-
can party in the past few years was the
most important single factor in reach
ing the conclusion that was attained.
do not say that the civil service OF the
Government is wholly bad. l cannot
honestly do SO. | do not say that the
men who are employed in it are all COR
rupt or inefficient or unworthy. That
would be very great Injustice to great
number of faithful, honest, and intelli-
gent public servants. But | do say that
the civil service is inefficient; that it is
expensive; that it is extravagant; that it
isin many cases and in some senses cor
rupt; that it has welded the whole body
of its employees into a great political
machines; that it has converted them
into an army of officers and meI, VeteT-
ans in political warfare, discipl ned and
trained, whose salaries, whose time,
whose exertiOns at least twice within a
very short period in the history of our
fair results of Presidential elections.
At the last session of Congress, in
open Senate, it was stated and proven
that in the Treasury Department at
Washington there are 3,4OO employees,
and that of this number the employment
of less than 1900 is authorized by law
and appropriations made for their pay
ment, and that more than LOO are put
on or off the rolls of the Department at
the will and pleasure of the Secretary
of the Treasury, and are paid not out Of
appropriations made for that purpose,
but out of various funds and balances of
appropriations lapsed in the Treasury
in one shape OF anOtheF,~Whieh are not
by law appropriated to the payment of
these employees. / was amazed. L had
never before heard that such state of
affairs existed. did not believe it was
possible until my honorable colleague
rose in his place and admitted the gem
eraI truth of the statement and defend
ed the system as being necessary for the
proper administration of the Treasury
Department.
Mr.. President, we see here in this
statement whence comes that immense
body of public officials, inspectors, de-
tectiyes, deputies, examiners, from the
Treasury Department. who have for
years past been sent over the States for
the purpose of managing Presidential
conventions and securing Presidential
elections at the public expense.
hold in my hand statement made
before the committee which reported
this bill, showing that in one of the di-
visions of the Treasury department at
Washington, where more than nine hun
dred persons were employed, men and
women, five hundred or more Of them
were entirely useless, and were dis
charged without in any degree affecting
the efficiency of the bureau. do not
intend to mistate any fact to-day IF L
can avoid it, and therefore / read from
the testimony taken before the commit
tee. Every gentleman can find it If he
has not it already on his table.
Need / prove, Mr.. President, that
which is known to all men, that sys-
tematic pressure has been brought upon
the clerks in the Departments of the
Government this year to extOrt from
them portion Of the salary that is paid
to them under a system which the Presi-
dent himself scouts as being voluntary,
and that they are led to believe that they
have bought and paid for the offices
which they hold and that the good faith
of those who take from them a portion
of the salary is pledged to their reten-
tiOn in their pOsitiOnSp
Mr.. President, how can you expect
purity, economy, efficiency to be found
anywhere in the service Of the Govern
ment if the report made by this commit
tee to the Senate has even the semblance
of truthP If the civil service of the
country is to be filled up with superflu-
GUS persons, If salaries are to be in
creased in order that assessments may
be paid, if members Of Congress having
friends or partisan supporters are to be
able to make places for them in public
employment, how can you expect Sena-
tors and Representatives to be ecOnOmi-
cal and careful in the administration of
the public money!
/ am sure there is no Senator here
who will forget a scene which we had
upon the last night session of the last
Congress, when the Senator from Iowa
(Mr. AllIsOn), the chairman of the Com
mittee on Appropriations, the official
leader of the Senate, rising in his place
with the last appropriation bill in his
hand, and the report of the committee OF
conference, made a statement to the
Senate of the result of the apprOpria-
tions. He stated that the appropriations
that were made during that session
amounted to $292, 600, ,O00-I throw of
the fractions-and he felicitated the
Senate, and himself as the organ and
mOuthpiece of-his party, that this was
an excess of only $77,OOO,O00 over and
above the expenditures of the year be
FORE Instantly the Senator from Con
neeticut (Mr. Platt) rose in his place anC
reminded the Senator that there would
be deficiency In the Pension Bureau
alone Of $4,000, 600 or S25, 600 900.
Two hundred and ninety-two millions
of dollars of regular appropriations
S2OOOOOOO of deficiency in one bureau
alone, the usual deficiencies occurring
during the course of the year of $50,
100000 or morel As If this were no
enough, my honorable colleague arost
in his place and took up the tale anC
called attention to the fact that the per
my,ent appropriations amounted an
nuahy to one hundred and thirty-seveI
Of hnllaFa AQanFhint Z