Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-23
HOUSE DISCUSSES CIVIL SERVICE.
ll,Lll,s IAnrl- In, III.i.

Republicans Find Fault with CIcye-
LANDS work I'm This Direction.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.--The house to-
day passed the legislative executive and
judiciary appropriation bill and then ad-
Journed for the holiday recess. This is the
first time in the history of congress that
the legislative bill has been passed before
the holidays. The day devoted to the
annual debate of the civil service law and as
usual, the attempt to strike out the provis-
ion for the commission was overwhem-
ingly defeated. There was a good deal of
threshing over of old straw and sparring
Tor political points. Mr.. Rrossius. chairman
OF the civil service committee defended the
law. Others who participated in the de-
bate were Messrs Baker, republican of New
Hampshire Walker, republican of Massa-
chussetts; Williams, democrat of Mssis-
sippi; Bowers, republican of California and
Neill, democrat of Arkansas. Mr. Settle of
North Carolina made the motion to strike
out the paragraph relating to the civil
service, which was defeated, % to 81 The
bill, as passed. carries $2l ,669. .369O OF $36-
379 more than the current bill. During the
morning hour a bill was passed authorizing
the railroads of the Indian Territory to
change their alignments Mr.. Baker, re-
publican of New Hampshire, attacked the
method OF administering the civil service
laws under the present administration. He
asserted that 1O6 Gcorgians had been ap-
pointed to places i'm the Interior depart
ment by this administration; that of SIG
dismlssals from the department 1S5 were
veterans and the Treasury department also
had Disseminated against republicans in ap-
polntlnents and dsmssals, leaving one re-
publican in the secret service. Under the
spoilS system, the public business had been
better handled than now, when clerks are
Kept under secret espionage and are no bet
ster OF than factory hands. Yet the civil
service commission had never protested
against such maladmnistration. MIR. Bros
sius. republican of Pennsylvania, chairman
OF the committee on civil service, replied
at some length to Mr.. Bakers structures.
He culogiHed the merit system and arraigned
the remnant OF the spOils system He
charged that the complaints against the
CLASSIFIED service were in fact complaints
against the spoils system. The civil service
rules, ho declared, precluded the possibility
of political influence in admission to the
service,
Mr. Brossius defended the presidents re-
cent order extending the scope of the civil
service as II "thoroughgoing merit system"
order.
AFTER the president secured those offices, "
intcrposea Mr., Baker was not the order
an attempt TO keep them"
"You don't suppose" replied Mr.. Bros
sius, turning to his interrogation that he
made the appointments for the purpose Of
having his appointees dismssed?"
1T is for that reason" said Mr. Baker,
"that he should not be entitled to the
usufruct of his sin"
81 have always believed" responded Mr..
Brossius, that what a man has done in his
degenerate days ought not to be thrown up
10 him when he has repented and occupies
a front pew in the church"
Mr.. Richardson, democrat of Tennessee
expressed the hope that II any further ex-