National Republican., 1883-10-20
TIE CIVIL SERVICE LAW.
A Letter From Secretary Frelinghuyson
to the secroinry OF the Coinmission.


to tho georoinry OF the Coinmlssion.
The secretary of state has addressed the
following communication to w. L. Roulhac,
secretary United states civil service COM
mission:
SIN. am in receipt of your letter Of thetwenty-
lHh Of September In which yOu stnte that you
are instructed 10y the civil service commission tp
nsk what btuuuhe, of the service IN the several
bureaus IN this department will require special
examination under clause live of rule seven for
hdmtssOu
Its understood that under tho net and regula-
tons III relation To the civil service commission
such officers US the heads of bureaus, translator
&c, of this department are excepted from the
general provisions, and, therefore, are not re-
quired to piss any examination. Your question,
therefore, related simply tn the clerks of this de-
pnitmont from the 5000 class To the fourth class,
blth inclusive, aud caunpt well be answered
without mn GXplUnHtion of the organization Of tho
department of stuic, mud tue method in which It's
business Is conducted.
Mr.. Fish, then secretary Of STATE on May %,
1910, addressed letter to the Hon. George $. Bout
we'll, tnen chairman Ol thu senate COMMITTEES on
10 lrgun'Zi,iou OF the departments, in which lac
stated: This department differs from the other
executive departments, no less IN the nature of the
business tnuu In the comparative slndllueSs IN
number VI It's clerical cmrloyrs. The clerical
force OF thls department, probably FAR beyond that
of any other executive department, should have
the immediate and personal confidence of the
hoHd OF the department. \ variety of talent aud
II variety of attainment, greatly In dispropOrtion
to tho smallncss of thn number of It's clerks, Is
I
ahguagts is reqnlsiielo lhc dairy transaction ui
! the olhcei n power Of fetlcencc which is gscer-
iained only Ivy the test ot experience or Of inti-
mate personal Enpwledge OF the party, ani can
! not be determined by any examination hya board,
/ Is essential 10 the confidential nature of much ot
| the business of the department"
Mr.. Fish proceeds TO state what had been for
| some time and was for many years nitcr the cu'-
| tom of the department, VIZ tllnt tho majority OF
/ the clerks welc first employed as cOpyist', or u-
/ der temporary employment AS they developed
capacity in this line other and more advanced
! employment was given them, aud almost without
! exception all OF those engaged in the moro I'M
| pOraut bureaus aud duties were thus prOmutGd.
as they exhibited practical capacity for the duties
Ills necessary that most Of tho clerks of the de
pHrtmcnt Of state should have NJ least sufficient
! knowledge of one or more foreign languages t.
| read them in the original documents received.
| Nevertheless 1t j. not absolutely necessary that
every clerk should have this qualification, as his
| ability in other directions may more than com
pGsdto for its lack, butt Is always necessary thHt
! NJ least twenty cmployu. Of this dCpnrtmc mt
should have y fair knnwledge OF either Frencn
German, SpRni h, or Italian. Further, all CLERKS
| except those employed simply as copyiss, Oluu
lhe'G are very few IN numberl, should have sum.
| CiCnt knowledge of the constitution of tho United
States. the pUwuis OF tho different branches of the
government, the jurisdietiou at the different OK
| eculivc departments. OF internalionnl law and
the prominent facts of history, 10 enable them 10
conduct correspondence not involving difficult
| questions. IL is absolutely Gsscutinl that they
should De able 10 write, with facility, letters on
| dispatches under general Instructions from the
| superior officers.
There is no permanent division of the clerks o
| this department amnng the bureaus. All clerks
are subject to tho direction OI the secretary, and
assigned tn different work, according to the d..
mauds of The service, and the force is entirely toe
small, to admit of any other practice, were Ii de-
sTabc.
Under the circumstances, / suggest that q
| s. eClal examination be given TO all applicants
Who may wish 20 enter this department, whici
| shall conform in some measure 20 the examination
heretofore, at ono time, required in tho case o
| applicants for certain grades of oonsulAtts, an,
now required in tic case of applicants for clerk
shins This embraces such general questions, no
too technical or detailed in relation to the fullow
ing gsubtcts, as every person nj fair education ma
be ASSUMED to he able To answer: General pro
visions of the constitution; the simpler ant
broader principles of International law geography
especially that of foreign countries translation
from at least one foreign language; the writing o
one or more dispatches or letters, the subject to b
Indicated by the examiner arithmetic TO sun
cient extent to show that Ihu candidate is abl
u keep the simplest kind of accounts; and tn
more important facts of history.
Much stress should III my opinion be laid upol
1e ability of the candidate th compose and writ
letters, rs his principal duties i'll this department
would prObGbly be ultimately those of cor
responding clerk. OF course in the examination
heretofore held In this dep rlment for speciil
Offices tho candidates have been examined
strictly upon the consular regulations and NOR
fully upon international law, than is deemed
necessary in the case OF clerk who VIII have Al
opportunity alter entering the department. u per
feet himselfin tho specific branches of knowledG
, | required for promotion IN III service.
| are familiar with Mt least one foreign languug,
several are shorthand writer's nearly all are com
petent correspondents and most OF ihem have bee
; admitted to the department. or are retained, b,
, cause OF peculiar fitness for certain branches
ihG work. The examination should, therefor
vary somewhat according to tho class of vacanC
occurring-e. a., the number of shorthand wrtel
could not well be reduced, as 1t Is already insu
Q iicent, nor should less number of clerks hayir
| knowledge of foreign languages be employed.
] 1t is not expected that the scheme OF examine
ton thus outlined should be pushed
severity. or that inability to answer specil
i questions should necessarily entail failure, the ol
iecL aimed at being TO discover the general aDilil
OF the candidate to become corresponding clerl
competent, after receiving general directions frol
u superior UilicCr of the department, TO cOndu
/, the details Of correspondence, after u fair oppo
| tuuity in the department to learn the methods
: diplomatic and consular business. am, sir, yor
: Obedent servant, FRED'K. Il. FRELISGHuisEN.