The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-09-30
4 PARTISAN CENSUS
The Civil Service Reform League
Discusses it.
HARRIS0N'S BROKEN PROMISES
Enumerators Appointed for Political Pur
posos-The People Lack Confidence
in its Accuracy.

special committee of the National Civil
Service Reform league, appointed to en-
qulre into the condition Of the civil service,
and which will be read before the league
tomorrow at its meeting here, is very
extensive one and deals wholly with the
last census. 1t quotes the civil service
plank of the last Republican platform and
declares that if any branch of the service
should have BEEN kept free from party
controversy, 1t was the census bureau. If
the administration has a free choice in a
nom political and political agency for tax
lnk the enumeration, and chooses the latter,
composed of officials of its political faith,
the presumption is against the fair
ness of the census so taken. The
defective results in the census of
1870 were directly traceable to the patron
age system. The improvement produced
by the elimination Of craftsmanship from the
census is shown in the comparatively salts
| factory results and general confidence in
the census of 1880. This was before the
CIVIL service law, but the essential element
of political consideration in the appoint
ments was largely observed.
Coming down to the present census, the
report says if the promise of the Repubi-
can platform had any significance al all it
meant that the President would extend the
competitive system to clerks OF the census
bureau when that bureau should be estab-
Lshed. Mr.. Harrison, in concurring with
and adopting the platform, distinctly made
! this promise his own. The well known
opinions OF Mr.. Porter, who was selected
| by the President as superintendent
OF the census, made it certain
| that appointments would become, in a
great measure, matters of political patron
age. Porter's opposition to civil service
| reform methods clearly appears in his tes-
| tlmony before the House committee on Sep
| TENDER 9, 1890, when he said the civil serV-
Ice methods a"were creating a system of
! barnacism." The act of March |, 1889. di-
reefs that each supervisor shall designate to
| the superintendent suitable person, and
with his consent, employ such persons as
! enumerators who shall be selected solely
with reference TO their fitness and without
reference to political party affiliations If
this provision had been fully enforced,
| complaints OF partisan character of the
census could not justly be made, but unfor-
tunately, the supervisors were themselves
| largely appointed upon political consider
aJlons and the result was the appointments
| Of numerators were in many localities of
| political patronage.
Careful inquiry by your committee
| shows that while IN some places political
|
Vlsors were influenced in many other cases
by partisan consideration. Men were often
| chosen without reference to their fl illness
on account of their political services and in
such cases the work was often badly done
in many instances thoroughly dlscredited.
The committee then goes on to give at
| great length reports from the civil service
associations in different sections of the
country. The general tenor of the reports
is that the work of men said to have been
appointed as reward for political pur-
| poses was Enthusiastically. Much space is
devoted to New York where, says the COM
mittee, the worst effects of the patronage
system are apparent. c. H. Murray, q
! Republican politician, was made supervisor
of New York city and circular letter from
him is quoted as showing the manner in
which the enumerators were selected.
This letter says: "You will please for
ward this office list of applicants that the
Republican organization of your district
| desires to have named as census enumera-
| tors.n
The men named in these lists were subse-
quently appointed and, says the committee.
It's is evident enough that among them
there must have been considerable num-
Der utterly unfit for the work, and it is not
surprising that among them Police In
spector Byrnes should recognize we'll
known criminals.
The committee goes over the dispute be-
tween New York city and the federal
authorities on the census; quotes many
inaccuracies alleged to have been found in
the government reports: instances incom-
petent work of inumerators, ETC.
In conclusion the committee considers
that e following propositions have been
established as result of their inquiries
That the refusal to apply the civil service
system Of open, non-partisan, competitive
examinations in appo ntments to the census
bureau, was violation by the President OF
the promise contained in the Republican
platform of 1883 and endorsed in his letter
of acceptance.
That by the appointment of enumerators
on political grounds In. open violation OF
section of the census act, great number:
of incompetent mep had been engaged il
taking the census and in many places at
tempts had been made to use the OIL ia
position for the benefit of the party ir
power, that while in some places results Of
and to be accurately and wei
done, yet IN many places the worl
has been carslessly and badly
done and is open to the suspicion
that partisan considerations have no
been absent and that, finally, there is 6
widespread distrust of the accuracy of the
census, which greatly impairs is value tt
, the country and which is caused in grea
measure by the fact that the census bureau
has been conducted on the spoils system
The committee expresses the beloef ~
census will hereaf ter receive the confidenc,
of the people until il has been wholly re
moved from partisan influence.