Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-30
THE CIVIL SERVICE ORDER
Press Opinions of the Exclusion of Offices
From Competition.
The President Upheld as Well rs Cri-
ticised for His Action of
Yesterday.


| Yesterday.
From the Philadelphia Press.
| President McKinley's order removing
about 4 600 places from the classified civil
| service examinations will almost equally
| diSappoint Spoismen who wanted whole de-
partmentS, and critics, VINO stood ready
| to condemn the President for giving up MS
| advocacy of civil service reform. He mas
| not. These offices are. with a very few
| exceptions, semi-coufidential posts. where
| the responsible head ought to be able TO
pick and choose for himself. If our deputies
held permanent under posts, as they do
| in England. there would be sense in having
| them part of the classified service. They
| do not They are personal deputies and call
| for a personal selection.
| Deputies and StenographerS cover the
| largest number of the new cases. Another
| necessary and wise exception is found in
special agents for research and in statistical
! work The War Department is put on the
same basis in its labor employees as the
| Navy Department in its yards, and this
| plan has been tested and works well. The
examining surgeons IN the pension ONCE
| call for special explanation for their eX-
| Ception, and it ought to be given to the
public. The other exceptions made are
| clearly justifable and candid man will
| suspend judgment on this until all the facts
| are known.
| No nlace should be removed from the
classified service without good reason The
| burden OF proof rests on the change. and
any man who will take the trouble to read
the list will see good reason apparent Tor
all but very few. A memorandum eN-
planning them would be wise.
| From the New York World.
! President Mckinley today issued an order
removing absolutely from the operations OF
the civil service law about 5000 of the most
| important places among the 'Ho,Un in the
| classified lists. These places Include hun
| dreds that pay good salaries and should
| be and now filled by men who are es-
pecially qualified for the duties. In addi-
| ton to this direct turning over as spoils all
| these places for which examination is par
| ticularly necessary and from which examl-
nation excludes those whose talents are
purely political Mr. Mckinney has so
| modified the rules that it is now possible to
appoint the faithful to laborers positions
without examination and then advance
| them to any positions, however high. with
| out their having to pass a competitive ex-
animation.
| From the New York Journal.
This radical amendment to the rules was
made without any consultation with the
civil service commissioners. 1t Is an an
| solute surrender to the spoilsmen led by
| Hanna who has been urging the President
| to this course.
| So confident were the republican senators
and congressman that the bars to the green
| office pastures would be let down that they
| filed enough applications for PAGES in adj
vance to fill every possible vacancy half
dozen times over.
| Among the exemptions are the gaugers
and storekeepers in the internal revenue
service. These appointments are always
given by the collector to the most 1nftuen-
| tial local politicians. men who can be de-
| pended on to control primaries and district
| and state conventions. With the national
convention only year off. a practical man.
ager like Hanna knows the Importance OF
| attending these details,
! From the PHILADELPHIA Times.
Ultra-civil service reformers will doubt
| less asSail this order as a backward stem
| a violation Of the Presidents pledges and
| en- indication of his complete surrender to
| the spells politicians. In the main. how
ever, criticism of this kind will be unjust.
No practical man will contend. for in
stance. that an executive officer should be
compelled to accept a private secretary or
confidential clerk about whom he knows
| nothing at all except that he has passed
| a successful examination. In the selection
| of appointees to fill confidential positions
personal qualifications should rightfully be
given paramount consideration and of
those qualifications the official to be served
should be the best judge. No business firm
| or corporation would be willing to accept a
cashier or confidential agent at the mere
dlcuOn of an outside board of examiners,
| and the same principle should apply in The
| selection of those who are to hold confiden-
| tai relations to responsible public officials.
AS 10 some OF the olner places excepted
| from the classified service by the order, the
proof of justification will have to be dem
onstrated by experience.
Subject to these possible exceptions how
| ever, we believe the President is justified in
his position and that his order does not
mean in any important sense an abandon
ment of the civil service reform principle.
Civil service reform, like everything else
must be made practical in order to com
| mend Itself to enlightened public opinion.
The principle has been given a very wide
application since the passage Of the exist
ing civil service law, and 1t is
not surprising that in certain di-
rections it has been stretched too
| far for the good of the service The with
drawal for special reasons of 1000 cut of
6oW, appointments included within the
classified service cannot be construed into
an abandonment Of the civil service prin-
cipte, dII the President deserves to be sus-
tanned in the matter until ii is shown that
he has made a mistake, and even in that
case criticism should not extend beyond the
especial appointments in which experience
demonstrates that the service has retro
graded.
From the Baltimore Sun.
President Mckinley has been unable to re-
sist the opportunities and in some cases
the threats of the Spos7nen in the repub-
lican party, and has finally plucked up
courage enough to violate the pledges con-
tanned in the platform on which he was
elected in 1896
Under the Presidents order a great many
places are removed from the protection of
the civil service rules without reason or
justification. Pension examining surgeons
hereafter will be appointed because they