The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-11


 ances, even if signed or spoken by men otherwise ever so respectable.
 From this incessant, imperious and deceptive pressure which forces itself mercilessly upon the appointing officer the private business man is wholly ex- e1npt. In selecting his employees he Is permitted to act upon his best judg- ment, while the appointing officer in the public service is not. Resistance to the constraining forces bearing down upon him requires a firmness of pur- pose and a fearlessness of consequences which but few public characters have proved themselves possessed of. His freedom to make his selections for ap- pointment according to his sense of duty and his knowledge of the require ments of the service of which we hear so much, is therefore q myth In q large majority of cases, if apparently left free, he himself does not make those selections at all, but they are made for him and forced upon him by political influences with the impelling motives of which the public interest has ordinarily nothing to do. And you may be assured that most of those who c1amor to have the appointing officer entirely free in his choice, do so only because they wish to make him their slavish tool What they are struggling for Is their own freedom to impose their choice upon him. Against these incessant efforts to enslave him to in- fuences foreign to the public interest the appointing officer needs protection; and that protection he can find only in a law, or rule having the force of law, which restricts the choice of a linn ited number of candidates found most fit for the performance of official duty by impartial test.
 After enumeratlng the evils of the spells system, MT. Schurz said:
 The party which was victorious in the late national election stands upon this platform: "The civil service law was placed upon the statute books by the republican party which has always sustained it, and we renew our repeat ed declaration that 1t shall be thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended wherever practicable" The republican candidate, MT. Mckinley in his letter of acceptance spoke thus: '"The pledge of the republican national convention that our civil service laws shall be sustained and thoroughly and honestly enforced, and extended Wher- ever practicable, is in keeping with the position of the party for the last twen- ty-four years, and will be faithfully ob- served. Our opponents decry these re- forms. They appear willing to aban- don all the advantages gained after so many years of agitation and effort
 They encourage a return to methods of party favoritlsm which both parties have often denounced, which experience has condemned, and which the people have repeatedly disapproved. The re- publican party earnestly opposes this reactionary and entirely unjustifiable policy. It will take no backward step upon this question. It will seek to im- prove, but never degrade the public service.'
 Nor is this clear and emphatic decla- ration a mere perfunctory endorsement of the party platform. It expresses Mir. McKinley's own honest sentiments, for, to his honor be it said, he has never failed as a member of congress to give the civil service law hearty and effec-
 tive support It was he who, in 1890,
 when some members of his own party sought to overthrow it, indignantly eX- claimed on the floor of the house of representatives: 'If the republican party of this country is pledged to any one thing more than another, it is the maintenance of the civil service law
 and it's efficient execution-not only that, but to it's enlargement and it's further application to the public ser vice. The merit system is here, and it is here to stay" And nobody who knows him doubts that MT. Mckinley meant what he said and that he is honestly determined to act, as presi- dent, according to that meaning.
 Thus the party in power and the new president have both solemnly promised, rot merely to maintain the merit sys- tenn as now embodied in the civil ser vice law, but to extend it. How are they to extend it? As to the strictly ministerial part of the national service President Cleveland has left them little | to do. It is true, the excepted list may still be somewhat reduced by classify ing the assistant pOstmasters the l deputy collectors, and so on. Also the employees of the District of Columbia may. and should. be brought under civil service rules. Likewise would the two houses of congress do themselves, and by way of reducing expenses, also to the people. a valuable service by put ting their own employees. excepting per haps the private secretaries, under the merit systemi nor would the judicial