Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-01-21
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.

OlNll oEhNlOC iNGE Oh"''
AS usual in the advent of new admin
istrations there has been among the lie
publicans of the present congress, and
perhaps elsewhere, mutterlngs or rebel
lion and protest against the rules of the
civil service, which now interfere very |
materially with the old Jacksonian |
principle or war cry that to the victors
belong the spoils. Your average .politi-
clan becomes very inqusitive as to why /
he belongs to a party if there are no
offices to distribute. This question has
become so serious lately with many Re
publican congressman that organized re-
bellion against the civil service rules has
been attempted by them, but, thanks to
the better sense of the more sensible,
has thus far failed, and probably will
fail. at least of any very serious result.
Upon this question, and in support of
the civil service reform. two very able
speeches were made by Representatives
johnson of Indiana and Brosius of Penn
sylvania. These speakers did very much
to calm the troubled waters and stay
the threatened destruction of the new
principles.
Civil service reform, as is well known,
has been accomplished largely under
the auspices of the Republican organiza-
ton. which has heartily endorsed it in
several national platforms. Both Mr..
Brosius and Mr.. johnson are Republi-
cans. and rank easily among the ablest
and most trustworthy members of the
house.
Mr.. Brosius, in the course of his
speech, said:
The pendulum of opinion ON the question
of civil service in the United states nj this
time swings over a very long arc. At one eX-
IRENE are those who believe that all places
in the government should be filled under
what is known Is the patronage system. AT
the other extreme are those who believe that
every place in the government without DIS
tincton should be filed under what is known
as the competitive system Of examination
and ccrtihcatiOn. These extremes Illustrate
two types of men who figure in affairs. one
thinks il is making no Roadway unless the
boiler il ready 10 burst. the other that there
is no safety in proceeding at all rs long is
there l.. "a drop Of wateriu the boiler There
il happily midd &c typeHnd Il middle ground
whercOn it stands. hope that the members
OF the house i'm the end viii come and stand
with me on the middle ground. will now
state as clearly rs can what that ground Is
The public good is.the supreme law. Public
Office is "a public trust, to be administered in
advancement of the public gooi. The civil
service of the Omitted States does not belong
to any party or faction, but to the whole
neOple. They are entitled to have the best
and most efficient service atiainable. There
is no excuse for putting ON the government
an average servant when it can just as wei
obtain superior one. TO obtain the bes
servants the suitable way is to select then
with reference to their fitness to serve. This
requires an examination of some kind to as
certain their qualifications. When examined
those best qualified as tested by the eNami
nation must 20 on an eligible list ana be
certified in the order of their percentages
when vacancies occur. This system as
matter OF course excludes all political or par
tisan considerations. That system has beer
in operation in Il large part of our civil ser
vice for many years. II has given great sat
isfaction, ana has greatly improved th'
efficiency and economy of the service. since
the last extension of the classified list b!
President Cleveland II new question ha
arisen. 1t being admitted that some place
in the service are suitable to the system
have described, and some OF them are not
the question arises, who shall determine
what places are suitable and what are no
suitable for classification. There never ha
been in the fifteen years that this law ha
been in operation any discussion of tina
question. II arises now from n desire on IN
part of some Republicans TO legislate out o
the classification those persons who wer
covered in by the order of President Clevo
land. The question having been thus raised
il is necessary to decide it. Believing, as
do, that some places have been covered int
the classified service that ought to renal
out, il follows that in some way they nov
should be taken out, and the chief ditterenc
between myself and those who advocate les
islative interference nj this point with tn
civil service is that they think the place
should be taken out of the classification b
legislative enactment, whereas believe IL
more suitable and more comfortable to tn
best interest of the service 70 have any neeC
full notifications made by the eXecutiv
branch of the government. The chief reasO
for this view IS that a civil service systeI
must be 10 some extent flexible IN order I
be useful. The principle of legislative int
ference, either 10 place in or take out of III
classified service, particular places involve
the seeming absurdity of passing a Ia
whenever it is discovered that one or anotht
place has by mistake gotten into the classii
cation when it ought to be out II seems to m
that this is not a legislative function. tn
executive department of the government
responsible for the executive service. TIL
law and the constitution cOnferupon II powC
to regulate the discipline of the service an
the extent of classification on its own view
what will best promote the betterment OF I'll
service Members of congress are not
capable of Judging of the propriety of putin
"A particular place I'm or out of the Classics
ton as are the executive departments, VIII
are constantly in touch with the service an
are conVersant with its needs.
1t therefore seems to me obvious that II
better view in the premises is to relegate II