The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-04-04
3
Commissioners Roosevelt Wants to See Civil
Service Greatly Extended.

Commissioners Roosevelt Wants to See Civil
Service Greatly Extended.
WASHINGTON, April 4.-Civil Service
Commissioner Roosevelt is thoroughly
committed to the doctrine of including
many more offices under the civil serv-
ice laws: Speaking on this subject, he
said:
We have got to have civil service re-
form, not only in the nation, but in the
state and municipality, and we have
got to have it, not only a it now ap-
plies in the nation, but to very many
other officers that are not properly po-
litical in character. Our people have for
20 years been educated to regard the
spoils system as part Of the natural order
Of things, SO that they are wholly inca
pable of understanding as yet that q
postmaster, for instance, has nothing
whatever to do with politics il he at
tends to his duty, and that there is no
more need of filing the fourth-class
postofices with people who sympathize
with the views of the administration
for tho time being, on the questions Of
tariff and currency, than there would
be in having the express or telegraph
business Of the United States admins
tered by protectionists or free traders,
accordingly as n party or the other
triumphs at the elections.
Not So In England.
In England postmasters are appointed
by promotion from within the ranks,
1900 - <ha lo~uoS< Drodo u,horo fbov
are appointed directly from the outside.
They are neve removed for political
reasons. In our country, it would per-
haps be difficult to allow q system of
transfer from Office to Office, through
out the nation at large, but such trans
fer could be certainly made within the
borders Of q state and the postmasters
in the big cities, at the. largest Offices
should be appointed, whenever a va
cancy occurs, from within the ranks of
the postal service Of that state.
Nominal Head . Figure Head.
A curious result Of the present sys-
tenn is that the nominal head Of an
Office is Of no consequence whatever in
the administration of the Office. In q
great many offices throughout the coun-
try the work is done by the assistant
postmaster who 10 permanently re.
tanned. He could do his work quite a.
well if there were not a postmaster.
The decent people Of this country are
greatly interested in political questions.
and they are also greatly interested in
such non.political questions as honesty
and efficiency Of the public servants,
but they are not interested in seeing q
lot of little politicians get Office.
Merely Ministerial.
The question Of tariff, the question Of
currency, the question of our foreign
policy, are all of immense concern to
all American citizens who have the
welfare of America at heart, but these
questions are fixed by the actions of the
peoples representatives in congress, by
the president and the cabinet. There
will be no need Of changing more than
a hundred officials in the treasury de-
partment. to make a complete and rad
ical revision in the tariff or financial
policy of the government. Almost all
the government employees perform du-
ties merely ministerial in character.
The enormous majority Of them do not
have to deal with political questions at
all.
Demoralizes and Degrades.
I want to see that civil service system
become universal, in the first place be-
cause the offices ought to be out of pol
itics, and the service would be improved
II they were ont in the second place,
and chiefly, because I wish to take out
of public life the utterly d~emoralizing
and degrading influence Of the spoils
system. It has been on the whole, the
most fruitful Of the causes which tend
to the degradation Of American politics,
and in no way can VI 80 strengthen the
forces which tend to the elevation of
our political lie as to utterly destroy
the spells system.