Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-17
THE CIVH SERVICE ORDER.

THE C/VH SERVICE ORDER.
SO many attempts to mislead the public
as to the character and scope of Presi-
dent Mckinley's recent civil service order
have been made by the democratic press,
that the following from the pen Of Hon..
George +. Roberts of the Fort Dodge
Qowa) Messenger will be read with in
terest.
The criticisms current upon the presi-
dents order modifying the civil service
rules is not very creditable to the candor
or good sense of the advocates of civil
service reform. The fact is thai Presi-
dent Mckinley has been a faithful friend
to the cause of a n~on-Dartisan civil SER
vice. but because he has seen fit to mod
ify in slight degree the rules adopted in
the last days of the Cleveland admins
tration, in order to make them practical
and effective, he has been subjected to UNI
discriminating criticism that is simply
a buse. "a. -u
About 500 people are employed in the
Philadelphia mint. Under the Cleve-
land administration a wholesale dis
mlssal occurred, only about thirty-five
old employees being retained, and
these were filing technical positions
which made it impracticable to displace
them. After the election of Mckinley,
but before his inauguration. the mint
was placed by presidential order under
civil service rules, and those democrats
are there yet. The order was sweeping
including even the superintendent pri-
vatc secretary. his cashier and chief
clerk. Many republicans have felt that
1t was hardly fair to sustain this sweep
ing order and maintain the 3fniustice
| which was Innn nv tho yyhn1pSo1a lin
moval that occurred under the Cleve-
land administration. The pressure has
been very hard upon President Nc
Ktnley to loosen up the rules long enough
or far enough to establish at least a fair
representation of republicans in these po-
%sitions. The criticism upon him is based
upon the assumption that he has yielded
to this pressure, but in fact he has not.
1t was inevitable that whenever the
change from the spoils system to the
nonrartisan system was made COM
paint would arise that the change was
made to protect partisans in their
! places. That has not been a moving
consideration in the present case.
The following positions in the Phila-
delphia mint. under the presidents re-
cent order, have been excepted from
the rule which requires that they shall
be filled upon competitive examinations
Chief clerk. private secretary, cashier, de-
push NelSH l ASSISTANT COluCl >
sistant meter and refiner and assistant
assayer: in all, seven.
Now for the reasons: The chief clerk
is the superintendent main assistant
He is a deputy. He is the acting superin-
tendent in the absence of the superin,
tendent. Tn cashier has charge of the
money. The weigh clerk receives bullion
and gives the superintendent's receipt fol
it. The places are positions of trust. The
superintendent is held by heavy bono re.
sponsible for them, and he is fairly en-
titled to have these places filled by peo-
pie satisfactory to him. No written ex.
animation can be prepared which will
surely develop all the qualities that are
required in these positions. But under
the presidents orders these places are
thrown open to be filled by the free choice
of the superintendent. The criticisms al
assume this, blu it is untrue. The order
reads that these places may be filled by
the superintendent. provided the persons
nominated by him shall have passed the
noncompetitive examination prescribed
by the commission after consultation
with the proper officers Of the treasury
, department."
There is no letting down Of the stand.
ard Of qualifications. But in filling these
positions the superintendent Of the insti.
tuition is released from the necessity Of
choosing one of three passing highest ir
the examination. He makes a selection
and if the person he selects stands thu
tests provided by the civil service ! ex.
} animation, the appointment may be made
The party making the appointment doe.
not provide the tests. The tests apply
generally to all institutions, and hence
cannot be adapted to particular individ.
uals.
1 submit to any fair minded person thai
this is not an abandonment Of the meri'
system or a return to the spoils system
It is simply a modification which makes
the rules more flexible in cases where thu
good of the service requires that some dis.
elimination IN selection must be used.
You can take a bookkeeper in a compe-
titive examination, and run no great risk
but you do not wan to take a private
secretary or cashier without looking the
individual over and finding him accepta-
BILE personally. in traits that cannot be
estimated by written questions and an.
swers.
What is true Of the new rules in the
mint service is true Of all the changes
that have been made. The largest single
| list of officials affected is that Of deputy