Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-07
OLD IN TIE SERVICE
HOW THE CIVIL SERVICE RULES
WORK.

other citizens of New Haven Conn ms fol-
lows: IF a due participation of office is a
matter of right, how are vacancies On the
civil service) to be obtained? Those by
death are few; by resignation none sad
an old Washingtonian to Star reporter.
Jefferson came to the presidency as the
successor of two federalists whose party
friends were snugly ensconced in office,
and his supporters were hungry for the
emolumerts of public station. The ex-
tract from his letter. as quoted. sounds al
most like a cry of despair
twenty -eight years later President
jackson made many changes in the per-
sonnet of the civil service and from Sena-
tor William L. Marcy, who was afterward
Secretary of State in the cabinet of Presi-
dent Franklin Pierce, in a speech delivered
In the Senate in 1892. came these words:
They see nothing wrong in the rule that to
the yictors belong the spells of the enemy
From these incidents have come two
aphorisms familiar as twice-told tale, one
peculiarly applicable to the conditions that
existed In Washington prior to the passage
OF the act of January 18, 1883, TO regulate
and improve the civil service of the United
States and the other suggestive of the
permanence and stability enjoyed under the
beneficent provisions of an act that is more
honestly and strictly enforced under Pres
ldent Roosevelt than 1t was by amy of his
predecessors.
To the victors belong the spoils' has
lost its terrors to Uncle Sans army of en-
ployes, and the somnolent few die and
none resign has taken its place as the
ra1lying cry.
These thoughts are suggested by the
fact that recently 1t was announced that
the oldest department clerk had just cele-
brated the completion of forty years of
continuous service. Well the oldest de-
partment clerk may not be as numerous
as the oldest Mason, or the last survivor
of Balaklava and the Light Brigade. but
there are hundreds of them, each with
forty years service or more to his credit
Survival of Fittest.
Just as matter of record, let us pick
here and there from the various executive
departments a few of the exemplars of
the survival of the fittest In the State
Department the number of employees is few.
and there is none now with a forty-year
record. William Hunter and Thomas
barton. In bygone years, each rounded out
n1ty continuous years of faithful service.
Let US pass on to the Treasury and its
veterans, naming here and there type of
the hundreds with forty years service
Inomas j. Hobbs is the dean, with more
than hfty-two years of service, and he still
continues twice month to make the
hearts of the clerks glad, paying out mil
lions annually, and doing 1t with the ease
and facility born of ripe experience
Thomas K. Wallace at eighty has ffty
years to his credit, having been appointed
in 1855, and he still continues to audit in
trlcate accounts with celebrity and eff
cheney.
R. E. Preston of the mint bureau. for
merly director of the mint dates his con-
nectlon with the treasury from April l.
1886, and Samuel 1. Kimball, the chief of
the nfe-saving service, began his continu-
Gus service January 10. 1852.
Mrs. Helen L. McKimball has fine rec
ord for efficiency since her appointment,
October %, 1863, and Miss Juliet G. Shear
er is bOOkkepnpr in ba acfc
where she began her career of usefulness
October 49, 1863.
Henry A: Whallon was appointed clerk
August !, 1853; William c. Tyler October
%, 1853; Howard NJ. Gilman September l.
1864; Charles T. Nutze, March %, 1854 Jer-
emiah c. Lott, September 20, 1862, and
Russell B. Taylor, May TO- 1854. The limit
of their efficiency has not been reached
and their salaries are the highest paid for
clerical services.
Others who have come up through the
grades and whose services extend beyond
forty years are: James F. Meline, assist
ant treasurer, appointed September "a,
1854; Edward r. True, cashier, March l.
1854; George w. Maher, assistant chief of
division June l. 1864: Charles A Bates,
chief of division, August 81, 1864; John Ir-
win, May 15 1864; John w. Stokes, Septem-
Der 20, 1854, and some two hundred others.
I'm the War Department official longev-
fty is quite as marked as in the treasury,
and the same is true Of the Post Office,
Navy and Interior Departments.
Charles B. Tanner. chief of division.
War Department, has been there since Feb
ruary 20 1864. and back of that has three
years of honorable service in the army
"Elon A. Woodward has similar record.
except that his clerical services began
Joseph S. Mccoy began April l. 1858.
and prior to that date his soldiers record
dates from August q, 1860 Edmond Cot
terill. August 1, 1863; John William Pal
mer, April /, 1864. George w Salter. April
l, 1864; Thomas M. Exiey, October 6. 1884.
As Efficient as Ever.
All these men, as efficient now as they
ever were. have army service records that
run from three to five years. Bentley P.
Murray, now a chief of division. began De-
cember Z, 1863, to work for the govern
ment, and Marcus NJ. Bartlett was ap-
pointed October Q. 1854. William T. Kent,
the expert accountant Of the War Depart
ment, was originally appointed June Is:
1863, and George K. Ftnckle, the dean Of
the official force, dates his service from
October 20. 1856. Another veteran is War
rem H circuit, who was shot almost to
pieces at Fredericksburg, Va. December
49, 1862, and whose clerical service began
May IA, 1863
I'm the Interior Department few of the
veterans are: Joseph A. Decide Of the land
office, appointed April %, 1852; Theodore
F. Stokes, May %, 1861; James Edmunds,
May 1, 1861, and James ]. Barnes, July
10, 1864.
I'm the pension bureau the veteran clerk
Is quite as numerous the veteran SOL
der and often embodied in the same indi-
vidual Henry T. Hutton, appointed a
clerk April A. 1854; Henry w. Babbitt.
March l. 1853; John Bresnahan, Septem-
Der II, 1854. and George A. L. Merrifeld,
June 8, 1865.
In the Patent Office.
I'm the patent Office are George A. Will
kinson. a principal examiner. appointed July
/, 1864, and James NJ. Fowler August 8,
1854.
1.-THE youngest veteran of the Interior. in
many ways, is the disbursing clerk. George
w. Evans. appointed April 10. 1864. Like
Maj. Hobbs of the Treasury, who leads him
by half a score of years. he is always
ready to give the boys a show for their
money on the 18th and last day of each
month. and what these two vets have done
with Uncle Sans good money all these
years would fill volume. Gladness Is their
speciality. with the cash on the side.
THE Post Office Department has its full
quota of veterans. Thomas E. Roach, ap-
pointed August l. 1861; John L. Elliott,
June 16, 1866. and numerous others.
The new Department of Commerce and
Labor is not without its veterans William
P. Titcomb, disbursing officer of the fish
commission, first entered the public service
August % 1864. and Arf.old B. Johnson,
the chief clerk of the lighthouse board, be-