Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-06-15
A CASE OF BOYCOTT.

A CASE OF BOYCOTT.
The loyalty of Mr.. Dorman B. Eaton
to the civil service reform laws is as
| pronounced as is the treachery of the DEM
ocratic party TO the system. The loyal
Democrat is the President. We do not
believe there are half a dozen others
about Washington who would not gladly
see the civil service reform broken. Mr..
Eaton has the courage to charge Mr.. Ran
dali with enmity to the law. He charges
that the Democratic leaders in Congress
have persistently antagonized the law, and
used undetermined methods to make it in
effective, and to avoid it. Perhaps we
ought not to feel surprised that this is
true; as the Cleveland Leader and Heralds
facetlously asks, "What else did you ex-
pect?" According to Mr.. Eaton the spoils-
men in Congress have formulated regu-
lar plan to belittle the civil service sys-
tenn and practically nullify the law, and
the chief cJnspirator, he charges, is Mr..
Randall. He is at the head of the Appro-
priations Committee, and that committee
proposes to allow sum for the Civil Serv-
ice Commission, which means its non
support and abandonment. This is the
rider to the bill through which Mr.. Ran
dali makes his assault upon the Commits
sion; This appropriation shall be avaiIa-
bic only when the rules of the Civil Sery-
ice Commission are so framed as that the
names of all applicants for appointment
from any State found duly qualified on
examination, and without regard to age,
shall be sent to the head of department or
other officer charged with making appoint
ments.7
And this the Chicago Times very appro-
priately terms bulldozing the Commission
and boycotting the President 1t would
compel the latter to so change the rules for
the Commission as to enlarge the patron
age of Congressman. 1t would return to
them the ability to take part in the matter
Of appointments which the evil service
bill was expressly intended to take away
from them. The proposition amounts to
this, that Congress shall say to the Presi-
dent, You must make rules for the Com
mission that suit us, or we viii not allow
YOU the means necessary to carry on the
work of the Commission, and it makes no
sort of difference to us that the change de-
manded strikes at the very heart of the
reform" Unless We mistake the Presi-
dent, he will refuse to be boycotted, and
will find way of returning the shot sent
after him. Common regard for the dig
nifty of his Office viii induce him to defend
its prerogatives. It is demand that the
Presidential office shall he shared with the |
boss Congressman, and to this he will not |
consent.
Mr.. Eaton puts the practical working of |
the principle involved in this way: "The |
House may condition the salaries of Sen
ators on their voting for House bill, and |
the salaries of Judges upon their amend
ing the rules of the Court as the House
shall dictate. The Senate need not sub
nit to its defeat in attempting to wrest the
removal power from the President, but |
may on your theory condition the payment |
of his salary upon his sending all his pri-
vate correspondence to the several commit
tees of that body Even the commit
tee on appropriations may become
great power by reporting against the
salaries Of all members of the Execu-
tive tnar DO not Yield TO its demands"
If the House proviso should prevail this
would be the effect Instead of the five
highest on the list of passed applicants for
position, the appointing officer would have
the whole list In his possession. Suppose
there were on it fifty names and twenty
five were Democrats and twenty-five Re |
publicans, the appointing officer could Sc
lect from among the Democrats, no matter |
if all or part of them stood below the |
others in the matter of excellence on ex-
animation. OF course this would defeat
the vital principle of the reform, which
proceeds upon the policy of greatest fit
ness ascertained by competitive examina-
ton, and to eliminate partisanship from
the scheme of appointments so far as the
limitations of the Civil Service Act per-
nit.