Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-12-21
CIVIL SERVICE Reform.
MR.. WILLIS BILL REPEATING THE TENURE OF
OFFICE ACT-MR. ANDERSONS BILL GOVERN
ING PROMOTIONS.

X.
ING PROMOTIONS.
The question Of civil service reform is occupy
ing the attention of many of the members of
the House, and several bills upon that subject
have been prepared. Mr.. Willis, of Kentucky,
will introduce his bill repeating the tenure
of office act. The bill, after repeating this act,
with the provision that none now in office shall
be effected by the repeating act, provides:
"That the chief justice and associate justices
of the supreme court ofevery territory here
after to be appointed shall be appointed to hold
office during good behavior, or until the ter
ritory shall be admitted as a state and the
state government shall go into operation, and
all the other officers whose term of Office is
abolished by the provisions of this act shall be
commissioned to hold office, and shall hold
office, during the pleasure of the President
any Office of which the is aboIsPed bS tho se
provisions of this act, and of which the incum-
bent is now required to give an official bond,
office, give bond to the United States, with
one or more sufficient sureties, for the
true and faithful discharge OF the duties
bonds shall be in such form, and under
such penalty. and approved in such manner,
law in the case of each Of such officers; and
such bonds shall be renewed once in three
years, under such regulations as may be pre-
scribed by the officers required to approve the
same as are not inconsistent with the provisions
of this act.''
THE SENTIMENT OF THE HOUSE DIVIDED.
Mr.. Willis says, In connection with the civil
service law, that the sentiment of the House is
divided. The politicians generally, at first
blush, are opposed to it, but he does not believe
that any Intelligent man has made study of
the question and not become convinced of the
Importance and necessity of the law. He says
he thinks it impossible now for Congress to
take any backward step. The principal Oppo-
sition to the law was on account of the cOmprO-
mise feature of the law which retained in office
those who were already in the service at the
time the law went into effect. This is corrected
as time goes on, and the antagonism to the
civil service law must die out, both in and out
Of the departments.
REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON'S BILL.
Representative Anderson, of Ohio, intro
duced a bill to provide for examinations for
promotion in the classified service in the de-
partments The bill provides that there shall
be the $500, $1,000, 1920, 81 400. 81 $780,
and 81 800 classification, and that the clerks
may be advanced from one to the other upon
the recommendation of the head OF the bu-
reaus after passing tile proper civil service
examination.
lue purpose is to reach those clerks who have
never passed civil service examination, and
he says that o person employed in the CLASSIC
fed service who has not passed this examine
tion and Is recommended for promotion to q
higher grade by the head of his bureau, shall
pass the examination of the grade TO which he
is recommended, and his promotion is made TO
depend upon his fitness as thus shown.