Morning journal and courier., 1884-02-20
SINGLE COPIES TWO GENTS.
Wednesday. February 20. 1ssz
The Victor and the spoiIs.

The Civil Service and tne Reform
 Efforts.
 Monday evening the presidents lecture room was crowded as usual on the occasion of Pro lessor Henry W. Farnam's lecture on "The efforts which have been made to reform the civil service and their results" The sub- stance of the lecture was as follows:
 After remarking that originally appoint ments to office were intended to be made on business principles, the speaker said this ba- sis of appointment became perverted for political ends. The law of 1921 allowing Presidents to remove officials at pleasure worked it's baneful effects first in "a marked manner under Jackson The results were dsplorable, as described by the speaker. The doctrine ito the victor belong the spoils'' took deep root.
 In 1886 the law of '21 was extended to all postmesters receiving salary of $1,O0O or more thus putting the Postofice department under the control of the President and Sen ate. Great scandals were frequent in the workings of the system, many rogues being appointed and reappointed by Jackson and his successors. This of course is not nec- essary result of the system. The chief evils of it are first the increase of duties devolv- ing on the President. It is impossible for him to look into the. qualifications of all the candidates presenting themselves. Thus hes grown up the custom of consulting the Sen
 ators from the State in which the vacancy occurs as to the man to be ap pointed. The power of appointment has il this, way gradually passed into the hands o1 the Senate. This gives the Senate double means of corruption, i. @. the power to re ward faithful political workers and the power to raise political assessments from them or pain of dismissal. Another important dis, advantage is the loss of time by the represen
 tatives in attending to the demands of office seekers. Garfield estimated that one-th1ro of Senator's time was devoted to treating
 with these men. In the Cabinet 1t IS worse The heads of the departments were often com pletely worn out by the army of those seek ! ing positions which are already filed Ye l such men must be conciliated. Many eforti
 were made from time to time tt repeal the law of 1891, but W1thou | avail In 1868 Senator Jenks, of Rhode Is | land, made @ strong speech exposing the evil | of the system and made powerful plea fo l their abolition. He introduced bill pro ! viding for examinations as requisites fer ad
 mission to the civil service, but it failed. 4 new President was now elected, the military hero of the people and one who was used tt appointments for merit alone. In 1871 h. strongly recommended reform and Congress passed bill to that effect. A commission was established and rules drawn up and sc cepted by the President. Here, however they struck a difficulty. Clearly it would be unconstitutional to give the man passing the highest examination the oftic' as it would deny the President the choice It was finally decided that though the ap pointing power could not be taken away i could be restricted, and the three highest candidates were to be presented for the exc cutives choice. Here new difficulty arose Money was needed to carry out the plan. anc Congress refused to make an appropriation nrI Ia., rhn Ic men never have had any great enthusiasm for civil service reform. But in spite of thell opposition the law was carried out to some extent When President Hayes came into office he did what he could One of his first measures wal to send Dorman B. Eaton to England tC study the civil service system of that coun try. Congress, however, refused to make an appropriation and MT Eaton paid his own expenses. The President endeavered tC | appoint good men to office and succeeded 1T | bringing great reforms in some places, bu was hampered by the uncertainty of hi election and the hostility of Congress | Still at the end of his administration thu
 service was much purer than at it's beginning | When Garfield was chosen President
 change had come about ia politics. The in dependent quota entered the field and assum ! ed prominence. Little by little the,
 withdrew from the great parties and demand
 ed better candidates. They formed assocla
 tions and joined these in a national league l They began to exert great force ln politics l Candidates for office were forced to declar
 themselves for or against the reform, an
 few dared do the latter. Garfield was thei l representative. Every thing seemed to prom
 ise well, when his death seemed to strike 8
 fatal blow at his work. Yet the lecture
 thought it aided rather than hindered the re
 form. It brought into prominence the In
 iquitous system then prevailing Garfield
 successor was a representative of tn | machine element and at first as
 sumed non-committal ground The reform associations were active an passed a bill forbidding political assess
 ments. After the overwhelming Republi | can defeat in '82, that party at once ocean
 ardently in favor of reform. The presiden
 urged it on them in strong terms and prom
 ised his co operation. Congress was quicl to take his cue and in five weeks the Pendle ton bill became 8 law. The Republicans fear ing 8 change of administration, when tn ! offices would change hands voted strongly fo l it, and the Democrats, though disliklng 1t
 could not oppose bill brough
 forward by one of their own mem
 bers The bill simply authorizes the Pres ident to adopt certain rules for competitiv | examinations, classification of officials, etc. ! but does not force him to do so. Thi | peculiarity is due to the constitutional pro \ vision before referred to. The Presiden
 may make use of the rules or not at hi | option. President Arthur has shown grea | good will toward the reform and has ap l pointed an excellent commission 10 carry i out. But there is danger in the future. Th' l only thing that can keep the service reform
 ed and pure is public opinion. Should public opinion grow weak, should we have President hostile tC the present system, it's provisions
 would be rendered nugatory. Bills have al 1 ready been introdHced into Congress for th' repeal of the law. Probably not much would | be needed to effect return to the spoil system. The end is not yet gained. A long ! fight will be necessary for years to come tt l secure what has been gained and to gain stil | more. Next Monday evening MT. Ripley vii l lacti1ra .kC4arrr,ar, IIIniu uarsitias ,,