The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1883-02-24
A WISE SECRETARY.


the United States, or others under him
having authority conferred upon them
from time to time to make appointments
upon various commissions. could be ill.,
duced to appoint men only with special
reference to their acquaintance Of the suit
| ject.matter in hand. The very reverse
practice seems to be the preferred one.
When committees are appointed or com
missions organized to inquire into any par
ticular matter or business branch, or scien-
tific or economic feature relative TO the pc
ltical and industrial status or welfare Of
the country, and the Federal--power has
charge OF the matter, in nine cases out
of ten the only recommendations OF
the appointeas are past political services,
smattering general knowledge of affairs,
and no technical, practical, thorough in
formation on the subject at issue at all. So
deeply has the spells system taken hold Of
the public mind that appointments, no
matter of what nature, are parceled out
among party friends and strikers, ARE, in
word, made either the reward or bid Tor
service, and as the practical technical rsen
in tho multitude of industrial and busin ess
and social affairs are not generally poliH-
clans, and consequently of no use to the
administration they are by the latter for
gotten or ignored continually. 1t is re-
freshing, therefore, now and then, to come
across an exception to the rule, to find an
official in high places who manifests his
superiority to party by maniiesting an hon.
est desire to run his Office and exercise his
power in the interests solely OF
the people. 1t is refreshing even
though we have to cross the waters
for the example. Indeed, it stimulating,
but true, that, to witness such an example,
1t is necessary that we should cross the
waters SIR WILLIAM HARcoURT, the Home
Secretary in the British cabinet, has but re-
Gently been departing from the practices oil
his predecessors, and the British press are
Justly giving him praise therefor. Instead
OF attempting to thrust into the appoint
ments in his charge broken-down politicians
or personal and party friends, he is filling
them with men who can be Of service in the
premises, and from whom honest and
reformatory labor and criticism may be an
ticipated. He has had the good sense to
recognize the claims of the working classes
by appointing workingman IN
spector OF factories, and Just recently
has given greater evidence of his
sense, and his desire to 10 justice to the
labor interest, by appointing two repre-
sentative workmen to visit and inspect
prisons in the vicinity Of London, as they
are more familiar with the habits and wants
of their class who are incarcerated. Several
other appointments of like nature have
been made by him. This is as it should be.
Inspectors of asylums, prisons, public
works and buildings, special commissioner
and appointees of whatever character, Fed
eral, state and municipal, in the United
States, are, by a vast majority, not only
not the proper men, not experts, but a type
of the citizen, business man or politician,
who takes no interest in the subject matter
of enquiry. and who has not suili-
ciert practical information to orig.
inato relormatOry and advanced
measures, and make recommen-
dations, ir he felt disposed to. The evil is u
costly, therefore, as well as inexcusabie,
and very permclous one. lfthese matters
were always turned over to proper and COM
petent hands, many Improvements would
doubtless soon be noted. In other words,
If, instead OF the politicians, the better and
expert citizens Of the country were called
upon in these delicate and technical inqui-
ries, the country would be better of. There
is but one remedy, and that is in the form A.
ton of laws comforting any rights of ap-
pointment, TO curtail discretion in the APP
pointing power, and guard and condition
to the utmost limit the selections to be
made. Without in the law itself such pre-
scription Of the qualifications and character
and vocation of the appointees to be made,
the law becomes, in n majority of cases,
merely dead letter. IT is to be hoped that
a few more such llagrantly and ridiculously
partisan and inappropriate appointments
as have been made on special commissions
by the Federal administration, will direct
general attention to the necessity for limit
ing the exercise Of the appointing power in
such emergencies.