The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-01-10
CIVIL sERvICE.
CONTINUED FROM THE FIRST PAGR.

those who have been Influential and pO-
tent in securing personal triumph to
gentlemen who may happen TO be in
such relation TO the appointing power
that they may have influence TO secure
appointment. prevents it. Tue result Is
as have stated, Instead OF making flt-
ness, capacity, honesty, fidelity the only
or essential qualifications for office, per-
sOnal fidelity and partisan activity alone
control.
When came to the Senate had occa-
sion more than ever before, to make
some investigation upon this subject,
and | found to my surprise the extent
to which the decentralization of the SER
vice had gone. [ saw the civil service
dehauched aud demOTali ed. l saw Offi-
ces distributed to incompetent and un-
worthy men as reward for the lowest
or dirty partisan work. saw many men
employed to do the work OF one man. /
saw the money of the people shamefully
wasted to keep up electiOneering funds
by political assessments on salaries. i
saw the whole body of the public offices
paid by the people organized into COM
pact, disciplined corps of electiOneerers,
Obeying master, as If they were eating
the bread of his dependence, and rem
dering him personal service.
l believed then, and believe now that
the existing system which, for want of
a better name, call the"spOilS system" !"
must be killed or it will kill the Repub-
lie. | believe ii is impossible to III ain
tain free institutions in the country
upon any basis of that sort. am no
prophet of evil; | am not pessimist in
any sense of the word, but do believe
that If the present system goes on
until 50,000,000 people shall have
grown into 100,OOO,OO0, and 10000
officers shall have grown into 300
900, with their compensation in proper
tiOn, and all shall depend upon the az
cessiOn of one party or the other to the
Presidency and to the executive func.
tiOns, the Presidency of the country, if
it shall last in nome so long, will be put
up for sale to the highest bidder, even as
in Rome the imperial crown was put up
to those who could raise the highest
fund.
shall say in passing that find it no
objection to this bill at all that while
believe it is of great value to the cOun-
try in all it's aspects, do not believe 1T
will bring disaster to the Democratic
party. There has BEEN great misappre-
hensiOn as to the methods and scope of
this bill. desire the attention of Sena-
tors while briefly state them. L see
have spoken a good deal longer than
intended. The bill simply applies to
the Executive Departments of the De-
partments here in Washington and to
those offices throughout the country,
post. offices and custom houses, which
employ more than ffty persons. | am
told, and am not far out of the way, if
1 am not exactly accurate, that the
number of such offices does not exceed
thirty or perhaps thirty-fiVe. and that
the number of persons who are employ
ed in them, together with those in the
Departments here, will not exceed 10,-
600.
The bill does not touch the question
OF tenure of office OF Of removal from
office. see it stated by those who do
not know that 1t provides for a seven
years tenure of office. There Is nothing
like il in the bill. | see it stated that
il provides against removals from office.
There is nothing like IL in the bill. 1t
leaves these questions exactly where the
law now finds Jh IN. 1t concerns itself
only with admission to the public seTY-
ice; 1t concerns itself only with discOY-
eTing in certain ways the fitness of the
persons who shall be appointed. 1t says
in effect that when ya"ancy occurs in
the civil service of the lowest grade ev.
erybOdy who desires entrance shall have
the right to apply. Everybody, humble,
poor, without patronage, without influ-
ence, whatever may be his condition in
life, shall have the right to go before
the parties charged with an examination
of his fitness and there be subjected to
the test of open, regulated, fair, Impair
tial examination.
Now, Mr.. President, recurring to what
have said on the scope Of this bill, to
the officers who are embraced in it, tC
the avoidance of the question OF removal
and tenure, have only to say that the
machinery of the bill is that the Presi
| dent shall, with the concurrence Of the
| best advice which he can obtain, form q
plan, a scheme of examination, free fol-
all, open to all, which shall secure the
very best talent and the very best capa
city attainahle for the civil service OF
the Government. The method adopted
in the bill is by competitive eXamina'
| tiOn. That method has been imperfectly
tried throughout the country.
But / desire, Mr.. President, to follow
out for one moment the line Of thought
which indicated when said that be
lteVed this system would be Of great ad
vantage to the country, and that to mt
il was no objection; that l believed il
would be Of great advantage to the
Democratic party. The suggestion hai
been made here that it might bC
better to lay this matter over unit
an0Gl6F el6CLlOlp ana blaL Lle mt
tatiOns of parties might fill, under thu
old system, the various departments will
members of the faith to which belong
Aye, Mr.. President, but the next Presi
Dental election may not have that result
and IL will not have the result, in my
honest conviction, unless we do two
/ things: First, answer to the demands
which the people make upon the Demo
cratic party now in its condition of pro
baton; and second, disarm that grea
body of officials who, as disciplined ar
mics, go forth to control the Presidential
| elections.
1 believe that l am only excused from
making this remark because of what
have heard publicly and in private con
YersatiOn upon the floor of the Senate
/ believe If we argue this question upOI
the lower plane of mere partisan adVant
age we Democrats ought to support tn
measure. 1t has been said that thi
abandonment Of the spOils system will
retain in Office the appOintees of the Re
publican party. / conceal nothing.
state it in my place in the Senate. AM
before my yfellow-SenatOrs who are of tn
persuasion, 1 do not think it. There i
no proposition to extend the term of OF
fee where it is now fixed, nor in any wis
to limit the constitutional power of re
mOVal from office. The proposition /
simply and only that where a new ap
/ ha ha rnada tho J,