Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-06-11
Civil Service Reform

include posto6ices, custom houses, etc,
while you maintain that all federal olhcee
are "ollices of consequence"-a view, by the
way. which our first President could not
possibly have held or he would not In the
paragraph under discussion have made dis
elimination.
But not only do you think thus of all fed.
eral offices but that "all who I'LL them, II
the right sort Of men, do what they can to
prolonQ the operation Of the principles AID
policies of the administration by which they
were appointed" 1t is just this position
which the civil service reformer of to-day
alphabetically disputes, and your distinct an.
nouncement of which eicits this note.
The civil service reformer maintains that
when person ia appointed TO any ordinary
subordinate employmentin the departments
at Washington, or to any duty in the postal,
customs, internal revenue, or other like
service of the country, he becomes servant
of the whole people whose taxes pay his
salary and whose work he does, and not OF
the party in power who provide only half
his compensation and have but half inter-
est in the work he performs. This position
is assumed as self-evdent and as one which
no candid and sensible man will gansay in
theory, however long vicious precedent may
have implied the contrary. The four years
tenure law hints nothing different, as it was
enacted dozen years before the spoils sys'
tenn was inaugurated and for the special
purpose, distinctly announced at the time,
of compelling settlement OF all accounts at
that interval, il not oftener.
TO what end then is civil employee OF
the governmental postmaster for example
appointed? Simply to attend to the duties
Of his, office which, at least in the large towns,
are ample to fill his time. II, in addition to
this, ne does what ne can IN the way OF
political work, he is not only at1ronting
those OF his fellow citizens who are OF the
opposite party and whose servant be is quite
as much as of others, but-as ample ex
perience has demonstrated-he Deglects his
proper work Nor is this oil. IF the old
idea, happily to a large extent discredited
duriog the late administration, prevails, that
a measure of political service is required or
expected of civil servants, false standard
of efficiency and fidelity is set up. mans
favor with his superiors depends, then, not
on how he does the peoples work, but how
he fulflls his party's behests, and the for
mer becomes quite secondary to the latter
Everybody knows this was true before
Cleveland, and every body fears it may be
to see how anybody can regard such state
OF things without disgust. If object lessons
are required, look back to the days when
President Arthur helped Gen. Malone to
debauch public sentiment and, mediately, to
complete the disgrace of Virginia by the
free Gift of every federal Office within her
bounds. The atrocity of the spoils system.
both as to State and federal oflices had in
that day its best illustration, and without it,
in fact, Malone and all the harm he wrought
would have been impossibiities.
You say, editorislly. in reply to my COM
mupication of May q ITO prevent the
President from removing or appointing any
or all Of them e. e., federal ofiicials) is to re-
lieye him of the obligations of bis oath to
execute faithfully the laws and constitution
of his country, because it depriges him of
his authority erthose upon whom he must
rely for the execution of his orders" In
this view entirely coincide, and 30 does
every civil service reformer. 1t cannot be
too distinctly reiterated that the civil ser
vice law does not affect in the least the
power Of removal, nor do those who most
favor its extension, so far as | know. desire
any change in this respect. Neither does it
affect the power of appointment except in
limiting it to the eligible list, and as much
the larger part Of the classified service
(which includes no appointments that have
to he confirmed By the Senatel is made up
of those not appointed directly by the chief
executive, it affects but slightly his preroga
tive in that particular. l.. III. b.
June IL 1883.
Tho mon employed in the postofico, customs
and internal revenue services, como directly in
contact with the people, and therefore necessarily
have more or less influence with them; yet, OK
cept in Washington and the few larger cities, they
are not subject to the unequal civil service law.
The fact that a man holds an Office docs not de-
p,ive him of any political right privilege pos
sessed by his follow.ctizons. He has, under the
constitution of his country, the same right to do
political work-aftor his Office hours-as any body
else has, and his political opinions be the result
of conviction !; if he sincerely believes that the
principles and policies of his party will rebound to
the benefit of his country he is not the right sort
of man if he does not attempt to prolong their OPP
Grafton. AS well expect sincere Christian to
abandon the work of proseyting on Sunday be-
cause he holds an Office on week days, as expect
sincere office holding democrat to abandon demo-
cratic work for the democracy after office hours.
To conoede that the President has the right to
remove and appoint at will is equivalent to the |
abandonment of the whole so.cslled civil service |
reform case for il that right be exercised there is
40 place for the civil service law to come in. That
t was not exercised by the last administration is
proved by tho well-known fact that the almost in
variable reply to sill democratic applicants for
,lsces was, 'there are no vacancies" though sll
he places applied for were held by republicans
ED. GAZETTE.
Roslyn's Trust. by Drury G. Lille, one of
he American series of popular novels. has
e. T. IL Il RI,E.