Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-14
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM AND PUBLIC
 OPINION.

Civil Service commission has been ap-
 pointed with thorough Civil Service reform
 CT at it's head. An examiner has been se-
 lected who is satisfactory to the commission
 and the country. A set of rules for exami-
 nation has been adopted in every way calcu.
 lated to carry out the spirit of the Pendleton
 bill. Yet the country is very far from having
 proper system of Civil Service The present
 law, if thoroughly carried out, will give the
 government clerks who have Q thorough &C.,
 quaintance with the rudiments of an English education. This is of course desirable, but
 it is not very decided advance Probably
 the average clerk in the departments has al
 ways known how to read, write and cipher,
 and has not generally been ignorant of geo.
 graphy or grammar. The Pendleton act will
 make this certainty, but it hardly does
 more than that. The Civil Service which
 this country needs is one in which both the
 appointment to and the tenure of office de-
 pend upon merit. Since the days of Presi-
 deat Jackson down to the present time the
 patronage of the government has been little
 better than vast system of bribery.
 Something of course is gained when clerks
 and other less important of the subordinate offices are made independent of politics. But what is wanted is great and sweeping change in the whole system of appointment. There are certain offices within the appoint ing power of the President which must all ways represent the changes of public senti-
 ment. Such are the Cabinet officers, and perhaps the ministers to foreign countries. These offices will be comparatively few, az they will be limited to those which are nee. essary to carry out the change of policy de- handed by the party that has just come into power. These offices in every country must be changed with the changes of the admins tration. But there is no more reason why postmasters and collectors of ports should be appointed for political reasons than there is why their clerks should be- Less than fifty officials go out in the retiring admins tration in England. What is wanted here as there, is that all those offices shall be non- political in which 8 change is not necessary to carry out the policy of the incoming party. It is sufficient to say that the Psndleton bill goes but little way in effscting this result. Civil Service reform no really practical method of accomplishing this end has been suggested. It will never be reached by com petitive examination. It is little short of ridiculous to suggest that postmasters or col lectors be selected by such method. We do not want men for such offices on account of their skill in figures any more than for their skill in politics. Grammarians are not | needed any more than politicians. Good ex- ecutiye ability is what is wanted, and the | question is how to get it and keep it.
 How to make these efices independ- sat of politics without at Ethe game | time seriously crippling the efficiency of the executive department of the | government is very great problem. We doubt whether it will ever be solved by the | adoption of any system of appointments. There is no law in England which has brou ght about there the result so much desired here. It has been accomplished by something more potent than law, that is, custom. the law of public opinion. An incoming British cabinet has the power to turn out all the subordinate officials of the government, but never does it. The power of appointment and removal