Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-02-06

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
am an empiOye of the government. / have
been asked by some OF nv fellow workers to
express our views Of the bills presented and
statements made in Congress by Mr.. De Almond
and Mr.. Martin. / therefore ask to have space
in your paper for a few plain statements Mr.
Martin : bill, providing THAT whenever any
person shall have held place in the classified
service Tor four years such persons tenure of
Office shall be deemed to have terminated at
the expiration OF such four years. and that
mo person shall be eligible for more than
eight years, is plainly introduced for strictly
partisan purposes. That it lacks all the ele-
ments OF business principles every person with
a grain of intelligence will acknowledge. Can
Mr.. Martin mention single dry goods COM
pany that makes II a rule TO discharge all it's
clerks after the latter have been IN its employ
eight years.
Will be please mention a single railroad COM
pany that makes 1t rule to discharge all its
brakemen, engineers and conductors as soon
as they have completed eight years of service9
suppose there was company that discharged
its engineers and brakemen as soon as they had
served 1t eight years and filled their places with
new men. Would the company make any
money! Would not the public avoid travelling
on its lines because OF danger to life and limb?
Mr.. Martin would probably be one of the first
to advocate a law forcing such a company to
retain Its skilled and trusted employees. on the
ground of public safety, providing such a law
we're constitutional. Will he please name a
single business company Of any sort whatsoever
that proceeds on the principle that eight years
of constant faithful service are deemed full
and sufficient cause for discharge?
The proposition contained in Mr.. Martin 9
bill ID unbusiness-lke and, therefore, to use Mr..
DE Almonds expression. ''un-American." OBJ
lection should be raised against bis bill on the
ground that the longer person works at a
CIV of W. he rfnnr 81 fuI ba harn
in II and the fewer mistakes he will make; also,
no new man can take hold Of the work OF
handling the mass Of papers and documents of
all kinds found in government Offices without
being slower and making more mistakes than
those accustomed To handling them. Objection
could also be made by the political majority in
Congress on the ground that. if passed, it would
Dust many Of their own political belief. The
I civil service examination is the fairest method
vet introduced to produce an equable distribu-
| ton OF the subordinate positions OF government
among the differen; political parties.
Fully one-half Of the employees with whom !
am acquainted in one of the departments are
I democrats, and they were democrats before the
election. too. Many of them have been in
Office fully eight years and others have come in
during the past four years. The partisan spirit
l that has been exhibited in this government
from Andrew Jackson's famous partisan sub
sutution act to the Inauguration Of the civil
/ service examinations is equal to the spirit of
I Iehglous piSotiy winch prevailed previous to
/ the verge Of the eighteenth century 1t was
simply a change from the religious bigotry of
] the seventeenth century to the political big
otry Of the nineteenth century. fhe men who
denounce the religious bigotry Of the past and
vet advocate the political bigotry of the pres
en' are hypocrites, for they are carrying out
the same principles they denounce in others.
The bills and amendments intended to nullify
the spirit OF the present civil service law are
the embodiment Of political bigotry. E. C. p.