The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-08-21
THE CIVIL SERVICE.
MR., OBERLY IN REPLY TO THE
RECENT CHARGES
Against the Commission by Repub'
lican SenatOrs-A Plain State
ment of Facts.

against tu6 commission Was CO1tdlu6il
in the following remarks made by
Senator PLUMB during a debate in the
Senate: "The Senator from Con-
necticut says toe commission is doing
its duty aud l am not disposed to
dispute j., but il the commission is
doing is duty the commission is en-
tirely different from what it was sup.
posed to be when enacted. The Com
missioner OF Pensions was before the
COMMITTEES Of the Senate some weeks
ago, and had something to say about
the operations OF the law. In his
bureau, he said, he had got seventy
six or seventy-seyen CLERKS through
the medium Of the Civil Ss,vic Com.
mission, aud OF those sevsnty.one or
seventy-two were Dem lcrats that he
knew OF, and he was not positive of
the politics OF the other fYe." Then
the Senator adds: Either he was
very good guesssr or the commission
made very good guess, or perhaps
tleY both guessed well in regard to
the politics OF tsese men or the law is
somewhere at fault"
Senator Ingals then took the foor,
aud the charges made by the di.tin.
guished Senator from Kapsss were
summed p rs follows By Mr.. O5erlyi
The Civil Service Commission ga
now constituted with q Democratic
majority, has, by using Democratic
clerks and examiners, sscertained the
politics of applicants for the position
of special examiners in the Pension
Ohice and, after obtaining this informs-
N a m
cans to pass The examinations, but
he's passed Democrats, aud in this
way has packed with Democrats the
register OF persons eligible for appoint
ment as special examiners, thus CIV
ing to the Democratic Commissioner
of Pensions an oppo tuoity t ) select
and appoint Democrats ouly. II has
also been charged that, with the in
teDtion OF making easy the work of OBJ
tanning Democrats for the grade OF
special pension examiner, the
Civil Service Commis ion as
now consttu ed with Demo
cratic majority, has made an order
that in response to every reQuisliion
for eligibles OF this grade, the whole
list OF eigible5 shall he certified TO the
Democratic appointing officer. 1t hiss
been state ia this connection that
the Owl Stvics Commission az now
cons ituted W tn a d m Jcrat,c major
ity certified to the Democratic Com
miss oAer o. Pensions at one time the
names OF 40 parsons, who had been
examined fur sp scial pens on exami.
ners, who hal bean examined aud
graded by the commission and its
Democratic examiners aud clerks"
The Commissioner then says: "No
Democratic S nator contradicied the
charges thus made against the Civil
Service Commission, as now consti-
tu.ed with Democratic majority, and
no Re 5ubicsn EN- itor, bst or informed
than Senators Plumb and Inga ls, took
issue with those gentlemen. Ia view
OF these facts the silence Of the Civil
Service Commission, as now oonsti-
tUted, with a Democratic mai)Iity,
colc9IniUg tle serious charges made
sgaiast t on the floor i the Senate
and now being repea ed by the public
press, hrs been, it appears, construed
in'o an admission by the commission
of the tluthf1lness of those charges;
therefore, at ment of The fscs of
this matter is submitted in this paper"
Mr., Obsrly then stared that "the
appointments made by Commissioner
Dudley during the year 1884, which
we've made under the civil service
rules as then administered by a com.
missioner, all, or nearly all, were OF =.
Republicans, and that they numbered
100. Were these Republican special
examiners fairly obtained? How
could they have been2 At that time
the Civil Service Commission was Re- |
publican in its maj2rity aad honest, |
oh, OF course; the Secretary of the Ia. |
terror, to whom the commission ceiti.
fed the wi ole eligible list for the |
uses of the Commits 3loner of Pensions, |
was a Republican, and houest--of |
course; the Coumi.s oner OF Pensions,
who selected the names from the let,
was Republican, and honest OF
course; the civil service examiners
who conducted the exsminat ons snd
graded all the applicants were all Re-
pu0licans, and hones.-of course
therefore, is not the conclusion ire
sistible that by the processes Of the
civil service act, nearly, if not an en-
tire force of Republica special pension
examiners was honestly obtained in
1884, the last Presidential year,"
At the close of his letter Mr.. Oberly
sums up his statements as follows;
Now let me ask what has been shown
in this paper? Clearly that eighty
nine Of the $50 pension examiners OBJ
tanned by the machinery Of the civil
service act in 1884 were obtained from
certificates of the whole list OF eligi-
bles made by Civil Service Commits
slop, Republican in its majority; that
these elegbles we're procured by ex-
aminstions conducted by Republican
civil service examiners, and that the
great mass, il not all the $50 special
examiners elected in that year by the
Republican Commissioner of Pensions
we're Republicans. What else can be
shown? Certainly that of the $50
special pension examiners selected by
the Democratic Commissioner OF Pen.
sion in 1885, about seventy. five of the
$50 appointed in 1884 were all Repub-
llCans, and five of unknown politics.
1t has also been shown that of the
special pension examiners OBJ
tanned by the Democratic
SohlullsSlouer OF PENSIONS, nifty one
were obtained from the LETS prepared
by the Civil Service Commission while
it was Republican in it's ma jority, and
by Republican civil service examiners
and clerks. The other Democratic
special pension examinerTobtained by
the Democratic Commissioners of Pen.
sions we're obtained, it is true, alter
the Civil Service Commission had be-
come Democratic in its msjoiity, but
not one OF the Democratic pension ex-
aminers was ever obtained who had :
not been gained by Republican civil
service examiners and whose meme
bad not been put upon an eligible reg :
ster made by Republican clerks under =
he jealous eye OF careful and com.
oetent Republican Chief Examiner.
And in tbis connection it may be stat y
ID that the Civil Service Commission, II
IS now constitu ed, with Democratic
nsjoriiy, is not responsible for the
,ractice Of certifying the Whole list Of G
llipiblFs TO the Amounting officer .