St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-28
TEDDY TALKS.

Commissioners Roosevelt Conn
ments on the Politics of Office
holders.
WASHINGTON, July 2T.-Civil Service
Commissioner Roosevelt, discussing to-
day the current changes in departments
and the general comments which these
changes had elected from both political
parties. said:
well. am not in sympathy with the
cutlery for wholesale dismissals from the
clerical force in the departments i'll or
der to even them up between the two
parties. The published statement that
80 per cent or any such proportion of
the clerical force in the departments in
Washington is Republican is all non
sense. There are in the departmental
force about 5000 persons, all told. who
are subject to competitive examination.
Of these about 4.000 now in office have
been put in through the examinations
of the civil service commission, wholly
without regard to political considera-
ton. and are probably about evenly
divided between the two parties. The
remaining 1900 represent those still III
Office from among the 5000 who were
originally classified in 1888 by order of
President Arthur. aud are mainly Re
pUblicans. They also represent the
1000 who are included in the classified
ton of 1855 by order of President Cleve-
land. the great bulk of whom are Demo-
crats- Probably about the same pro-
portion of these two classes are now i'll
Office, or, in other words, of the 1900
persons now in the department service.
about three-fourths are Republicans and
one-quarter Democrats.
in addition to this there are about
1,490 excepted places. such as chiefs OF
divisions. private secretaries and the
like, and 1000 laboTerS and others below
the classified service. making 8, 400 in
ali, the great majority of whom are
changed with each administration. 1t
is fair to assume that nearly all of these
places either are or soon will be filled
by Democrats. 1t is probably d fact that
in the entire departmental service here
IN Washington the parties are now SUBJ
stantiaily balanced.
I'm the railway mail service there are
about 1000 places. Here. also. the par
ties are on practical equality.
About so per cent of Republicans
WGLG ulSCudISeu DetW66H 1863 ana 1852.
and Democrats put in their places.
ION the change of the administration
in 1889. and prior to the time the civil
service law went into effect. nearly one
half of these Democrats were turned
out ana replaced by Republicans, divid-
ing the force about equally between the
two parties
Mr.. Roosevelt said he protested as
strongly as he could against the dismiss
al of this large number of Democratic
postal clerks at the time. although the
reason given was that they were dis
placed in order TO reinstate experienced
Republican clerks who themselves had
been dismissed by the previous admin
istrRton.
Nothing but HARM" he said. can
ever come from turning out one-half the
people in office on the theory of equal
iZing the representation of the parties. d
The only honest way TO act is when an
office is classified to treat it as entirely
removed from politics. The working of
the civil service law itself. if honestly
enforced, will speedily bring about
state of things where the Democrats
and Republicans alike will be treated
wholly without regard to their politics."