Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-14
lying slseping quietly In The committee on 10
form in the civil service.

According TO Mr.. Grosven0r IL was the in
tention to build mp, BY means Of appropria-
ton bills, separate department Of civil serv-
ice where The intention had been 10 establish
merely subordinate board. Mr.. Grosvenor
dehied having made any attacks on account Of
the personnel of the commnission. A
report, he said, had been made
by the investigating committee, which strongly
condemned one OF the commissioners. No
attempt had been made to call this report up
and he thought that before the report was
called up Gabricl's trumpet would be an obso-
lete piece Of furniture.
Mr.. Grosyenor proceeded to slide gracefully
of from the Chicago republican platform
According to the gentleman the platform did
not indorse the present system Of reform, but
only the general theory Of civil service reform.
The census bureau, he said, vas grand example
| Of what could be done without the present COM
mission. The system Of having bureau exam
nations was the proper one, and the one which
would produce the greatest efficiency. The
| chiefs Of departments were honest men and
more than any one else interested in having a
| proper force in their departments. In advo-
| cacy Of his plan Mr.. Grosyenor said:
The system which advocate prssei YES all
the valuable elements Of civil service reform,
and at the same time 1t keeps the government
away from the building mp Of . bureau that has
shown itself TO be aggressive, unreasonable,
disposed to have controversies and conflicts
with everybody, ineOnsiderate CT other peoples
opinions, determined to grasp power which was
never given to it. And II is FOR these elements
in its administration that the people of the
ooan.r! almost unanimously everywhere are
oPPoSeo 70 ~.
Mr.. LODGE DEFENDS rHH COMMISSION.
Mr. Lodge said the effect Of the present iegis-
lation would be to entirely stop the working of
VIC oosson Nouiu snu' on an =, ta'
cfericai iorce. ~ was easy 10 say dfaW clerks
from the departments, but impossible to do 30
in practice. Neither party would take the re-
sponsitility Of repeating the law, but deliber-
ate attempt was being made to stab 1t from
behind.
ION yea and nay vote" said MIR. Lodge,
hibit the same courage which is exhibited an
| nualy when the House comes to vote on the
question OF providing clerks for themselves.
Laughter Gentlemen do not care to repeal
| the law, SO they go around and attempt, under
| point of order, to cripple its operations, and
| not only to cripple the operations of the civil
service law, but to make 1t impossible to carry
| 1t out"
/ never heard an intelligent man in this
House or In the SENATE speak OF the work OF
his, ~ gas.Snsge xn WIS .o.Syu upon a
than an annovoncs and a trouhlaMs constant
source of embarrassment and political weak
ness. But some gentlemen seem to feel that
1t sounds little better to take ground against
system which would relieve them in this re-
be called Miss Nancies, that they may be
considered sentimental They want to be
thought rough and manly; and they fancy 1t is
good thing to stand up and say, oh! this civil
service reform u humDug ana only MISS
Nancies and dudes have anything to DO with
it. The attitude OF some Of these gentlemen
reminds me irresistibly OF the famous MAJ
Bagstock. Tough IL joey B.; tough and
deviiish sly tLaughterl
Mr.. Lodge attacked the charge Of hypocrisy
made against friends Of the r0fOrm- IL
| charged that they went to the departments to
secure places.
''Of course, every man who belongs to the
party in power IL forced by the existing sys-
tenn to do this very thing" continued Mr..
Lodge. There is great body Of messengers,
| laborers and other officers who are not under
the civil service law; and We are all Of us
forced, II our constituents are to have an
opportunity to get any Of those offices, to do
our best as Representatives to aid them in get
ting them. There IL no other way for man
to get his application before the departments,
but It is degrading necessity. 1t is one Of the
PAYS Hw RESPECTS TO GEN. eRosvxxoa.
| Mr.. Lodge paid his respects to Gen. Grosve-
NOV ". s.;d. Mo- h.. H...,aa "a M,
nor. ne sala: NOW, ! nave na.enea 70 my
iriend rom Onso Snf. 1rosSenor) WIN great
deal OF attention. l was anxious TO md out
exactly what the matter was, and also what sys-
| tenn he proposed to substitute for the existing
ter is. The present commission, We are told, ID
| too aggressive. 1t has been familiar sport In
] this House to make these speeches in regard to
civil service reform, and to assail the commits
| sion; but Ii has never been part Of the game to
| have the commission or any one of the commits
sioners answer back and make defense against
these assaults. .,..
One Of the present commissioners did that
| when he was attacked here. I think he was
ryssnsibls 10 90 II; bat it was inconsiderate
OF the feelings of the gentlemen engaged In the
annual practice Of assAiiing civil service reform.
He was not put there, according to the idea of
the gentlemen who attacked him, to resent at
tack. He was put there simply to be made Q
| text for speeches In regard to the "humbug Of
civil service reform" and to receive attacks in
silence. :.
| Now, will just quote from the printed Record
to show some Of the difficulties which the gen.
tlsman from Ohio Or. Grosvenor) has found
| in the civil service. He stated in his speech
last year:
will vote not only to strike out this appro-
priation, but will vote to repeal the whole
law.
He then went before the committee; and in
his testimony of August q, 1880, page 81, he
| said:
| do not want TO repeal the civil service law
and never said DO.
(Laughter.I
| In ms testimony ~ sne same pme ne saaa 2.
wash;u..o,, conntv Ohio never };ved IN Wa.S'
Il