Morning journal and courier., 1886-10-02
News by Telegraph
FROM ALL QUARTERS.
THE CIVIL SERVICE.
Changes Going On At Rapid
Rates.
SOME FINE YACHT RACING.
The Sachem And Thetis
Winners.
WlNTRY WEATHER IN THE WEST.
The Public Debt Reduced
Ten Millions.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
Clerks Compiling a List of All Those
Appointed TO Positions in all the De-
partments Under the Law.
BOSTON, Oct. 1.-Considerable interest has
been aroused here in political circles over the
act of the Massachusetts Civil Service Reform
association in asking the President for a list
of all those appointed to positions in all the
departments under the civil service law, en-
bracing the State each appointee halls from
and their politics together with their ages
and general character. It has been stated
that upward of thirty clerks have been en-
ployed for some days in completing the list;
that no one except the President knows what
is wanted with the list and that it has cost
the government in clerk hire about $3.50 to
prepare the list. R. H. Dana, secretary of
the association, was seen to-doy relative to
the matter. He said ''Lists are being pre-
pared for US which will contain record of
most of the changes in the unclassifed SER
vice of the government, but we make no in
quiries concerning the State each appointee
halls from and their politics together with
their age and general character, nor have we
involved the government in any such expense
as represented. Our inquiries grew out of .
desire on the part of members of the
association to do a little missionary
work by making them acquainted with the
exact truth, SO far as we could obtain it, in
regard to appointments and removals by
publishing in our little monthly, the Civil
Service Reform Record, the facts in regard
to the civil service of the government. We
have published tables giving some of the
facts we were in search of in two OF three
numbers of the Record and we shall continue
to publish them as fast received in our
paper. Several of the daily papers have
printed some of the more important figures.
You know that there has been a good deal of
talk about establishing proper balance be-
tween Republican and Democratic ofic ehold-
ers before putting the civil service rules into
general operation. This has been going on
pretty rapidly and already the cry beginning
to go up that more than half the oficeholders
are Democrats and far from being content |
with balance the administration is rap
idly pushing toward a clean sweep.
Well, without saying anything about |
those claims, can only tell you it was |
the feeling of the gentlemen interested in |
these inquiries that the figures should be OBJ |
tanned and published that the people should |
see them and draw their own conclusions |
instead of pinning their faith to loose asser- |
lions and unsupported denials. We tried to |
get at these figures through the printed re-
ports of some of the departments, but found |
the task hopeless one. About this time |
the Senate in executive document 219 June |
1e, 1867 called for an official list of the
changes in the classified service |
in the departments at Washington. The list |
was furnished and we published the |
figures. 1t was far from telling the whole |
story even in the classified service, for the /
resolve only asked for the changes in the |
ol of Waah 1ytn h1t no
account of the number equally large of the |
employees in the classified service outside of |
Washington. However, as far they went |
the figures showed the percentage of remov-
ais and appointments. This document was |
sent to me by Secretary Bayard. Now to
the unclassifed service. We had no way of |
getting at the figures without spe- |
cial authority of the President.
called upon President Cleveland |
and explained my desires and asked |
the necessary authority. We have thus far |
obtained figures more or less complete from |
all the departments of Washington except |
the Treasury. These figures do not include |
the unclassifed service at large, except that |
of the Postofice, Justice and State depart |
ments, and part of the figures have as you |
know appeared in the Civil Service Record. |
We found in the service at large of some of |
the departments, notably the War and Navy, |
that the employees were SO scattered as to |
make it we'll nigh impossible to obtain the |
statistics of removals and appointments |
without putting the government to heavy ex- |
pense. In some cases no figures appear to |
exist and the heads of departments are con- |
sequently in ignorance of some of the changes |
which are made in distant places. Surely it |
would be well to have tables that the heads |
of departments might look over and SO at |
least find out what was going on in their own |
departments. You will ask what this infor- /
nation tells us as to the evening up. Well, |
are as yet very incomplete. In the classified |
service it is hard to tell much about |
the politics of the appointees because |
applicants have an equal chance before the |
civil service examiners and it is hard |
to find the relative proportion of Republican |
and Democratic appointees. In the unclassi- |
fed service where it is the policy of the gov |
eminent to put in Democrats to fill vacancies |
when suitable Democrats can be found, the |
number of appointments shows the number |
of Democrats in the service. In the Post |
Office department, which includes the largest |
number of unclassifed employees, the Offices |
appear to be about equally divided between
and Democrats. In the depart
ment of justice some sixty per cent OF the /
employees are Democrats, while |
in all the other departments the proportion of
Democrats is something less than half-in one |
case not more than ten per cent, although |
I cannot give you the exact figures. We al |
SO find that inside the departments which
are more directly under the eye of the Presi-
dent the proportion of changes appears to be
much smaller than in remote sections of the
country. Icannot give figures to substanti-
ate this, but think it is as 1 have stated. I
believe the collection and publication of
these figures cannot but result in good in
several ways. It will lead Cabinet officers
to be careful not to make too many changes
and has already caused some to assign their
reasons for changes already made. It will
Il
grestly outstr1pping the others in the matter
of removals when it knows the figures are in
the hands of the President and of the peo-
pie. 1t will generally throw light upon our
svi1 service and we can't have too much
light"