Evening star., 1896-08-06
REPUDIATING CIVIL SERVICE
Hr. Bryan and the Chicago Convention in
Full Accord.
A Brutal Scheme BASED Upon False
hood and without Regard for
the Public Interest.
From Harper's Weekly.

cently held AT chicago, a1ter having aQVo-
Gated the reputation of just obligations. af-
ter having denied the binding force Of con-
| tracts after having struck a blow at the
| authority Of the Supreme Court. also turned
| its hand. quite consistently. we admit,
against that reform which has done so
| much to increase the efficiency and to ele-
| vate the morals Of the public service that
| every good citizen has become its friend
and advocate. The ravage OF the public
service is part Of the scheme Of general
| spoliation. The civil service clause In the
Chicago platform reads thus: I'VE are op-
posed to life tenure in the public service
We favor appointments based upon merit
| fixed terms of office. and such an admins
tratiop of the civil service laws as will af-
| ford equal opportunities to all citizens Of
| ascertained fitness" If there were any
| doubt as to what this means, Mr.. Bryan
vention, furnished the explanatory coms
| ment. They complain" said he. about
the plank which declares against the life
| tenure in office. What We oppose In that
plank is the life tenure that is being built
up In Washington which excludes from
| participation in the benefits the humber
members Of our society.
The platform well as the explanatory
| speech accuses the reformed system Of
| things which do not exist, with the evident
purpose Of making 1t odious. to the end OF
SuDvortlnE II. Inc aCCuSduOu ~ S"VhOiu.
First, that the merit system in practice has
| established life tenure in office; and second
| ly, that 1t does not furnish equal oportuni-
ties to all citizens OF ascertained htneSs, or,
| in the language Of Mr. Bryan. that 1t "ex-
| cludes the humber members Of our socie-
| ty." Both charges are absolutely unIouno-
| ed They are the charges which from the
| very beginning of civil service reform have
been used by spoils politicians to excite
| prejudice in the popular mind against a re-
| form which threatened to do away with
| their nefarious trade. 1t Is neither the aim
nor Is 1t the effect Of the reformed system
| to establish life tenure in the official places
| it controls. 1t Is not life tenure but merit
| tenure that 1t contemplates. 1t demands
| that the public servant shall be secure In
| his place. not 80 long as he lives. put 80
| long as he Is able to do his duty and does
it. and as his general character ana conduc1
are fitting his station. This Is merit tenure.
| The tenure Is to cease as soon as tne merit
| ceases The charge brought by the CnISAso
platform and by Mr.. Bryan is therefore,
| false.
And what do they propose to substitute!
Fixed terms of office. The meaning Is.
| of course that they not only Will preserve
| the fixed terms of office where they already
| exist, as in most of the so-calied presiden-
| tial appointments. but introduce them wnere
| they do not exist. as in the clerical force OF
the departmental service. Every well-fn-
formed man knows that the enactment Of
| the law first establishing fixed terms OF
| office-the so-called fOur-years-term law
was lnStlS8loO Dy fTeSlOent MOuIOc . ocCIc-
| tary of the Treasury. Crawford. under the
pretense that 1t would serve to enforce the
| accountability of officers handling public
| money. but that his real purpose was to
build up an off1ce-holders machine to serve
| his ambition for the presidency. The bill
| was signed by Monroe without considera-
| ton in the dying hour of his administration.
Thomas Jefferson, whom Mr.. Bryan Is SO
| fond of quotfng-nOt always correctly, how
| ever-addressed to James Madison a letter
in which he called this act 1.-The mischievous
| law vacating every four years nearly all
| the executive offices of the government"
| and with characteristic foresight he thus
| described its inevitable effects: "It saps the
constitutional and salutary functions of the
| President, and introduces a principle of in
trigue and corruption which will soon leayen
the mass. not only OF Senators, but of citi-
| zens. 1t will keep In constant excitement
all the hungry cormorants for Office. render
them. as well as those In place. sycophants
| TO their senators; engage them in eternal
| 1ntr1gues to turn out one and put in another,
| In cabals to swap with, and make of them
what all executive directories become. mere
| sinks Of corruption and faction" To all of
| which Madison assented. They spoke wise
| ly. There has been hardly anything more
deleterious to the efficiency as well as to the
| honesty Of the public service, and more de-
moralizing in its effects upon our whole
political life. as this law, which. by estab-
| fishing the system of fixed terms of office
| encouraged frequent changes. stimulated the
| greed of the hungry cormorants'' for
| place. turned Congress into an assembly of
| patronage-brokers and spoils-mongers. and
| our election campaigns into scrambles for
plunder.
And this system, according to the Chfcapo
| convention and Mr.. Bryan is not only to
| be preserved SO far as 1t unfortunately ex-
| lists. but 1t Is to be extended over the whole
| service, especially that part of 1t which Ia
now governed by the civil service law and
| enjoys happy exemption from the barba-
| rous ravages Of party warfare. The gov
| ernment departments are now. on the whole,
n t1ad nd
| majority OF their force owe their places to
| merit tested by competitive examinati ton
and term Of probation. and have received
tneir appointments without regard to party
| connection. The standard Of character
! aDiilty and efficiency among them is higher
| than ever before. To break I'D this system
| and to substitute for it one Of fixed terms.
with all its demoraliSing tendencies ia an
| idea worthy Of a vandal. That a political
party should contemplate such a thing is
| hardly conceivable, except upon the suppo,
sltion that In 1t the greed Of spoil has killed
| every consideration Of the public interest.
Certainly the second charge brought nv
| the platform and the candidate canno,
| serve as palliation for so brutal a scheme.
mat charge is that the existing system
| does not afford equal facilities to ali cfti-
zens. and that. as Mr.. Bryan says it .ex-
| cludes the humber members of sociery .,
rms second charge is as fiagrantly false
as and dne nrst. @ Just the contrary is the truth.
| ohder the spoils system appointment to
| pubic place depended upon the favor of
some influential politician. Under the mer-
1t system the son Of the hodcarrer has ex-
actly the same rights and privileges as the
son OF the millionaire. He does not need
| the favor or influence of anybody. The
| chances OF the two in the competitive test
| are exactly the same. Whether rich OR
poor, the best man wins and gets the prize
| II mas been said by the spoils politicians
| that the examinations are so Conducted "a
to give college-bred men a decisive advan-
| tage. This, too. is false. OF the .aany
| thousands Of winners of Dlaoo. b,- 49,
| Ietttive examination in the federal service
the college-bred men count hardly 10 rer
| cent. and outside of the departments re-
| quiring scientific knowledge hardly per
cent. The merit system is. therefore. en-
pnaticaily the peoples system. It repre-
sents the true democratic idea In the puh.
| lie service And this Is what the populfst-
democratic party and Mr.. Bryan would de-
| stroy.
Fought Over n PrOtracted Meeting.
| GREENVILLE. KY. August 6.-Yester-
day afternoon two farmers. Tom Hall and