The Portland daily press., 1889-12-04
The Civil Service Repoy,.

The annual report Of tho civil service COM
missi0ners has been published, and bears
abundant marks that the fine hand of Com
missioner Roosevelt was engaged In making
1t up. The classified civil service now in
eludes about $4,000 government employees en-
gagged in the departments, in the postal SER
vice, In the customs service and in the rail.
way mail service. These 2S,OOO employees
are about fourth of the entire number of
all servants of Uncle Sam. And it should
be noticed that instead Of decreasing this
number is constantly increasing. 1t was
only last year that the railway mail service
was put under civil service rules and thereby
rescued from another such decentralization as
followed the application Of the spois theory
to 1t by the Cleveland administration Other
departments Of public service will undoubt-
sdly follow, until the spoils system is prac-
tically abolished as far as the minor offices
are concerned. But the reform has not yet
become SO firmly established that the com.
missioners feel that they may neglect little
forcible argument on a few points at which
the attacks Of the opposition are the most
vigorous. The gravest charge. IL we may
judge from the yigor with which 1t is de-
claimed, Is that the civil service system is
''undemocratic" and "un-American." The
commissioners very effectually dispose of
that charge. If 1t is undemrcratic it must
be because 1t discriminates against the
masses In favor Of the classes. But In re-
atty 1t does the direct opposite of this. Civil
service examinations are open TO the whole
people; any one may aspire to the public SER
vice with reasonable prospect of attaining
place. Under the spOils system this is not
SO. The masses stand no show beside the
favorites of those in power when situations
are dispensed not according to merit, but &C.
cording to favor No one will for moment
maintain that the system that gives every
one chance is more sun American" than
the system that gives a show only to the
favoritles OF those in power. 1t has been ar
gued. however. with some show of force
that the civil service system gives an undue
advantage to college graduates and others
favored with higher educations. The COM
missioners shLw that this is not So The
boy or girl fresh from school, or from col
iege has no apparent advantage over the
maturer person taken from the business of
life. The last report Of the commission had
iuii tables of results Of examinations, show
Ing that those who have good common school
eoucations do about as we'll as those who
nave college Quotations, and that the sue
cessiui applicants are not the very young.
put persons OF about % or 30 years of age.
Nor are the examinations so difficult, or the
chances OF getting place so few as to prac-
tically debar a reasonable hope of succeed.
ing In years past nearly two-thirds of the
applicants for examination have succeeded in
passing. and of those who have passed about
two-hfths have been appointed. The con-
gressmen who have been spending their va
cations evolving bills for repeating or Grip
pliDg the civil service law would do well to
read the report OF Mr.. Roosevelt and his as
sociates before pressing their measures to
public attention,