New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-03
c,v,1 srRVfcE DIFFICULTIES.

CIVIL SERVICE DIFFICULTIES.
poorIe who care for the public welfare are
NOT indifferent to the difficulties which are en-
papinr the attention of authorities at WASH
irg.,n in connection with the enforcement and
the extension of Civil Service Reform. Per-
hans the pubc may understand these dlnl-
cuIties better If they are briefly described with
ont regard TO the confusing multiplicity OF de-
toiIs which embarrass official action. The
citizan wants better government. The Official
necessarily seeks some workable RUE ior acuon'
under which the object Of the law can DC at
tanned and at the same time necessary quallh-
cations of which competitive eAamiha1lons
make no account. may be secured IN appointeeS
Tins no competitive examination can deter
m;ne whether a person has the right moral
Qualities. the executive faculty, and the per-
sona habits TO render the best service as a
chief Of division. This is but an illustration Of
n large number of cases in which the service
70 he performed requires mental and moral
o,alit;eq that can in no way be tested by ex-
animation.
no cases Of this kind there must be added
o4bers in which the personal and political re-
Io+ions If n chief with his subordnates are of
onn.rol,;,g inheritance. The refOrmer who
IGNORES the element of personal congeniality in
public work is simply an impractical crank.
Every business man knows that there are THOR
ouphy competent assistants with whom he can
not get along at all, though employers OF difer-
emf tastes and peculiarities could obtain from
them excellent service. In another class OF
cases the political bearing of work to be done
renders confidence and harmony between SUI
periors and subordinates essential to the good
of the service In great NUMBER oil olnces
the duty to be performed has no Legitimate
poitica influence. But there are many others
which cannot be successfully filled, except by
persons who understand and heartily sympa-
tbize with the political beliefs and aims of the
Administration.
Thus IL comes to pass that there are Offices
in large number for which qualifications are
required that no examination can test. The
law becomes a practical failure if 1t does not
leave to the appointing power sufficient dis
cretion to secure in such cases the requisite
moral, mental or political qualifications For
convenience these may be called Offices Of
necessary preference in appointment, and they
are not exclusively Of high grade, for IN
numerous subordinate positions the same per-
sOnal qualifications or relations are essential
to the efficiency of the service.
At the other extreme there is host OF places
which can be properly filled by any person OF
qualifications that an examination may deter
mine. These are also very numerous, but the
applications for them are far more numerous.
revolving bookcase in the Office OF the Civil
Service Commission IS filed with the registries
of names Of those who have successfully passed
examinations, each State having volume for
those who have passed for departmental places
alone. Although those who have been eligible
for one year without appointment are scratched
thus becoming ineligible until they have passed
another examination, the list constantly en-
lalgeS by the addition of multitudeS who apply
and pass. But the proportion of those who
can by any possibility obtain appointment IS
very small. To the far greater number the
examination is cruel deception. 1t raises
hopes which must forever be disappointed. By
some process the appointees must be selected
from the long list of elgibleS, and no method
has yet been discovered, if it were desiIable
to deprive the recommending or appointing
officer of all choice in the selection. To what
good end is this great army of applicants kept
waiting and hoping for places which to most
of them can never come? How many are thus
spoiled for lives which should have been use
full in private stations by the false hope Of
official position?
The Civil Service toward which genuine re-
formers are working must be one that does
not ignore these difficulties, but meets and
overcomes them A long step backward was
/ taken during the four wears of Mr.. ClcVeand's
administration by the persistent endeavor to
secure the selection of partisan workers under
forms Of competitive examination. But with
the most earnest and honest effort on every
side the difficulties cannot with reason be ex-
pected to be overcome without some delay.
some tentative efforts not wholly successful.
and considerable modification of opinion as to
methods in the light of charging experience.