The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-18
IA DEFENDER | OF ROOSEVELT MT. FOulke'S Campaign Contribution. LETTER TO MR. GILLETT Reply to Charges Made By a
 Democrat. Instead of Enemy of Civil Service, the Rough Rider is the Sword
 and Buckler of the
 System.
LETTER TO MR. GILLHTT

Civil Service Reform, recently wrote | w. D. Foulke, former civil service com missioner. calling his attention to re- l cent congressional and other criticism of President Roosevelt .'on the ground that he had made larger number Of appointments to the classified service than any of his predecessors," and in view of the fact that the period cov- cred was while Mir. Foulke was com missioner. asking his opinion as to the charges.
 In reply. MT. Foulke. under date of April IS, wrote:
 Letter of Foulke. The fact Is exactly the other way. There have been fewer appointments without competitive examination under President Roosevelt than under any President, and there has been no ad- ministration since the passage of the civil service act in which the compet- tive system has advanced with great CT rapidity and certainty. It has been necessary for every President to per- init certain positions to be filled with out examination. The number has been 1 reduced from time to time and the range of the competitive system ex- tended.
 This process has gone on faster un- der President Roosevelt than under
 
 cases of suspensions of the rules dur ing his administration only thirty three are of persons who were allow ed to enter the service without exam ination In other words out of mora than 10000 applications for service since MT. Roosevelt became President. | 1t was deemed necessary in only these thirty-three cases to require competi- tive examination.
 These eases form less than one- twentieth of one per cent. of the np- pointments. They comprise. for in~ II Ance, . steward in the White Ho0se. | Q coachman In the Navy Department, two special agents in the Bureau of Corporations. the superintendent of the government hospital for the Insane, and other eases where, on account of espe- ciaI reasons, the application of the rules was considered impracticable. un- wise. unjust, or unnecessary. Coachman and Steward. These cases are explained in detail in the annual report of the civil ser- vice commission. They were usually made on the recommendation of any officer and with the approval Of the commission. In all of these caaes the person was excepted and not the posi- tion. This has been found by experi- ence to. be much better plan. If, for instance, the position of coachnan had been excepted generally and not tho particular man, 1t would be found that the number of coachmen would in@ crease and many exceptions would creep in instead of one.
 The statement of Representativa Hay that during the administration of Presidents Cleveland and Harrison there. were no suspension of the rules and only three during the adsninistra- ton of Mir. Mckinley and sixty during that of President Roosevelt, leads to a most erroneous inference.
 Under previous administrations. ex- captions were not usually made by means of suspension of the rules, but by means of changes in the rules, thus excepting certain classes of persons from competing.
 Tn the Days of Old.
 From time to time, Presidents Cleveland, Harrison and Mckinley ex- cepted from competition hundreds of persons, On one occasion, alone May 2s, 1S9s) s,047 such parties were ex- cepted. But these exceptions were not in the main in the form of Suspensions of the rules, which was the only mat ter called for by the House resolution. President Roosevelt made the new form of such suspensions for the pur-
 
 Moreover, prior to April 15, 1908, there was provision allowing ap- pointments without examination where the position to,be filled required such peculiar qualifications in respect to knowledge and ability. or such scien- 'tific or special attainments wholly or in part professional or technical. as are not ordinary acquired in the ser vice of the United States" Under this provision President Mckinley made twenty-one appointments and President Roosevelt only five. Instead of making appointments of this kind under a general rule, President Roosevelt pre- ferred to deal with each case sepa- rately, by a suspension of the rules, and several of the thirty-three ap- pointments referred to are of this character as. for instance. that of an engineer in the signal service.
 During the last year. 4.5SS more appointments were made through com petitive examination than in the pre- vious year. and 3,007 more appoint ments made in that year than In the year before. Under President Roose- welt 30,0OO persons have been added to the classified service.
 Heretofore extensions of the classi- fled service have usually taken place near the close of an administration. and the exceptions made soon after the new administration commenced. But President Roosevelt, at the very beginning of his administration began to extend the number of competitive positions and to strengthen the rules. He also dealt out summary justice to offenders, several of whom held high positions in his own party"
 
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