The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-16
FAILED.


sineSS of that excuse appeared from
the fact that when examinations mlsnl
have been held, and eligible lists might
have been formed, that means OF keep
/ ing the offices in question pracucaIly
within the classified service was moi
resorted to; and that the cause OF TINS
is to be found not in any unwillingness
or unreadiness on the part of the com
mission, but rather in an lndisposltlon
Of the secretary of the interior to take
the officers or employees concerned
from such lists or TO cooperate WIN
the commission in holding the eXam-
nations for forming the lists.
1T has also been urged that many
of the offices in question require special
qualifications, which could be better as
certained by the appointing power than
by examination. This IS a well-knoWn
plea urged by the opponents of civil
service reform. How much that plea
holds good is strikingly eXemplitied by
the fact that the officers who by theil
misconduct helped to bring on the re-
cent Indian outbreak IN Minnesota be-
longed mostly to that identical class
which we are told must be excluded
from the merit system because of pc
culiar fitness required for the perform
ance of the duties imposed upon them
and which, we are told, can be secured
only by the department exercising al
untrammelled discretion in the selec-
ton Of candidates.
THE presidents order of July q, 1897
that no removals Srom positions sub
ject to competitive examination shall
be made without assignment of cause
in writing, and without giving the per
son to be removed an opportunity fol
! being heard in his defense, was at the
time hailed by public opinion as re
formatory step of great value. And sucf
it unquestiOnably was, not only mas
much as it established a rale desirable
in itself, but also IS It served TO con
firm the popular belief that it was the
presidents settled purpose to advance
the progress of civil service reform Sc
far as his power would go. / am sin
cerely glad to say that the order die
have the effect of making arbitrary re-
movals more rare.
TN my last annual address it was my
duty to mention the fact that in some
cases the presidents order had beer
set at defiance with great boldnessi
that such instances had been duly
brought to the presidents notice, ano
that it was hoped the president would
after satisfactory ascertainment OF
the circumstances, deal with the Of
tenders according to law, and make OF
some of them warning examples by
dismissing them from the service.
sincerely wish I could report that this
had been done, but l am compelled tC
say that it has not, and that so far
the offenders have escaped with i'm
punity."
Mr.. Schurz then gives a great deal Of
space to the discussion of the consular
service and how the civil service works
in this branch Of the government. He
thinks the examination for a consul
ship, as promulgated by Secretary Oh
ney under Cleveland's second admins.
tration, was not lived up to. The
league, said Mr.. Schurz, at the time
hailed the proposed system as a step il
that system of examination did moi
contain the feature of free competi-
ton.
ITO this apprehension. says Mr.
Schurz, Il gave expression in my an,
nual address of 1896, when I predicted
that eventually the waves of influence
will wash down the feeble breakwateI
Of the pass examination once more
Il must confess, however, that when
I said this l did not expect that my
prediction would be verified so soon
of the changes in the consular service
months Of Presfde,,+ NrcTTirie,,,e, -,
istration-tba nurnbar ~ encb oJa,,erl,s
even exceeding the number made dur
ing the corresponding period of the
Cleveland administration startled
many people also among those who
were not as warmly interested in the
members Of This iea5ue are
of ie tbarafo,e ,e(ses.so,,,1 ttot MI,
SURROUNDINGS rho ad,,1i,,ietra+i o, 90 s,oI,ii
4 ny administration should
as nossibIa eegins+ H., -,o.,, " a. -, N
aJanca and tba e+rore,e.t t,,,1I,-a,'i- ~
vet discovered ie tba eor9retiti,,, 60. a.
fem Of evatninatio, oman ~ On ~ a.
ei1-ae tb I,aet ~ a. "lIicll
9nnointnant v-itbn,,t ,a,o,.5 Ne L.
affiliations IN tbie ,.es,f9,.+ T - Peil -
repeat what 7 said in nv, iaet 5,,r niiiS
address CO.
:, re .,.,,,,,,,.-.-;.,, ..
a real reform in the r,et,od ~ e.
nnent to consuIo,. T,oeitio1,s - -
sist upon three things. co,r,tfti,.a -!
animation for admission ~ ~ ae N
suIar service. nro1no+ion orI,y fer, -
and removal only, fo,. ca, icy i'i MERIT
e.D-o,, - :.
~ IN IL pe Salu mat competitive
,,1lia are IHap3iIcaDle 10 con-
$3.50 sutSi 9iiiCe9' 10 which are
60. 81 ~ Goi ,i.. Dy the senate:
djsoro ~ - "ieoiy Wlthin me power and
~, ~ llie preslueht TO order, fer
ulp"lte open competitive OK
mo tba,,i ioi tne ganuluates present
r. tbn Co. aIlo Ihen 10 nominate
mo, rNV ,,,f seiiate, as ms own choice, the
nv Uotiles Qut pest. then the
firm snnb rei,.a ticaIly reluse 10 con-
their natronaea H., 7, IN 9ruer 10 save
o,,J,, eIIey wiz 90 SO on their
ents '0'Poiisi Dl'l'y 70 thelr consttu-
ayvbi1o +b, o,,,o,a.....,