Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1889-12-04
RoANuKE VIRGINIA WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER f. 1880

TIC lliou ~ pololy SlNl oISuniLloioiA
and of the other purely military
staff corps. The report OF the CHIEF
signal officer shows that the work o.
the corps On its military side ha!
been deteriorating.
The proposition to observe the foul
hundredth anniversary Of the discov-
cry of america by the opening Of 6
worlds fair, or exposition, in some Of
our great cities, will be presented fol
the consideration of congress. The
value and interest of such In exposi
ton may we'll claim the pi3motion Of
the general government.
On the 4th of March, last, the civil
service commission had but single
member. The vacancies were filed
on the 7th day of May, and since then
the commissioners have been indus
triously, though with an inadequate
force, engaged in executing the law
They were assured by me that q cor
dial support would be given them in
the faithful and impartial enforce
ment of the statutes and rules and
regulations adopted in aid of it.
Heretofore the book of eligibles has
been closed to every one except as
Qualifications were made upon the
r.ouisitions OF the appointing
offices. This secrecy was the source
of much suspicion and Of many
charges of favoritism in the admins
tration of the law. What is secret IL
always suspected. WHAT'S opon can
be judged. The commission. with the
full approval of all OF it's members has
now opened the list Of eligibles to the
public. The eligible lists for the elias
sified post offices and custom houses
are now publicly posted in the respect
i've offices.as are also the certifica
lions for the appointment. The pur
pose OF the civil service law was abso
lutely to exclude any other considera-
ton in connection with appointments
under it than that of merit as tested
by the examinations. The business
proceeds upon the theory that both
the examining boards and the ap-
n, lting officers are absolutely lgno
raj as to the political views and
ash cations of ali persons on the civil
ser,> We lists. 1t is not too much to
say, oweyer, th"t some recent con
gress nal investigations have some
what laken the public confidence IN
the in partiality of the selections for
appointment.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
The reform of the civil service will
make no safe or satisfactory advance
until the present law and its equal
administration are well established in
the confidence of the people. 1t will
be- my pleasure. as it is NV duty, to
see that the law is executed with
firlnness and impartiality. If some
of its provisions have been fraudu-
lently evaded by appointing of
officers, our resentment should not
suggest the repeal of the laY but
reform in it's administration. We
should have one view of the matter
and hold it with sincereity that is
not effected by the consideration that
the party to which we belong is for the
time in power. My predecessor. on
the 4th day of January, 1889, by an
executive order to take effect March
IS. brought the railway mail
service under the operation OF
the civil service law. Provision was
made that the order should take eff
feet sooner in any state where an
list was soonest obtained. On
the 18th day of March Mr.. Lyman,
then the only member of the com
mission, reported to me in writing
that it would not be possible to have
the list of eligibles ready before May,
and requested that the taking effect
of the order must be postponed until
that time, which was done subject to
the same provision contained in the
original order as to the states in which
an eligible was sooner obtained.
AS a result of the revision of the rules
of the new classification, and Of
the inclusion of the commission, it
has been greatly increased, and the
present clerical force is found to be
/ recommend that the
clerks asked by the COM
mission be appropriated for. The
duty Of appointment is devolyed by
the constitution on the law.
Lam satisfied that both in and out
of the classified service great benefit
would accrue from the adoption of
some system by which the officer
would receive the distinction and ben
fit that, in all private employments.
comes from exceptional faithfulness
and efficiency in the performance of
duty. | have suggested to the heads
of the executive departments that
thew consider whether a record might
not be kept in each bureau of all
these elements that are covered by
the terms "Faithfulness'' and Eff
and a rating made showing
the,relative merits of the clerks Of
each class. This rating to be regarded
as a test of merit in making promo
tions.
have also suggested to the post
master general that he adopt some
plan by which he can, upon the basis
of the reports to the department and
of frequent inspections, indicate the
relative merits of postmasters of each
class. They will be appropriately in
dicated in the official register and in
the report of the department. That
a great stimulus would thus be given
to the whole service ] do not doubt,
and such record would be the best
defense against inconsiderate remov-
ais FROM office.
PUBLIC EDUCATION.
The interest of the general govern
ment in the education of the people
found an early expression in the
and sometimes warning
utterances OF the ablest statesmen.
Aid to education has heretofore taken
the form of land grants, and in that
form the constitutional power of con-
gress to promote the education of the
neople is not questioned. l do not