The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-12
GREAT RUSH FOR
Civic SERVICE
May Indicate That Times Are
Harder Than They Were
4 Last y ear.
POLICY OF. The PRESIDENT.
4 Constantly Extending Service
and Closing ck-Door' En-
frances to Departments.

tFrom Our Regular Correspondent0
WARRINGTON, .. ca April II 1t ID
announced at the Civil Service Commls
sion. that while the number OF applicants
FOR Federal positions under the civil SER
vice rules vas only seven thousand. in
round numbers. last year. the number
this year. In round numbers is eighteen
Thousand. The tremendous increase In
the number OF applicants for examination
may indicate that tines are harder now
than they were last year and this is
feared.
II Is remarkable that while the NUM-
Der OF applicants for. position IN the Fed
4 efal service Is Increased SO largely this
4 year, the number OF offices to which APP
y pointmcnts are made under civil service
4: rules has been about doubled since Mr..
q Roosevelt entered thcSYhitc House. When
he became President on the death Of Mr..
Mckinley, there were 3d. 900 officials hold
Ing office through appointment under
the merit system. In round numbers
there are now l5b 900 persons In the class
\ fled service. appointed after examination.
4 OF course, some Of this Increase Is die
d to growth In the service but the greater
n part of 1t comes from extension OF the
service through executive order. The
a President has issued no less than seven
teen orders extending the service since
Il he became President. The result Is that.
ut Is well nigh impossible form member
d Of Congress In search o. Il job to give
II q hungry constituent to find anything not
Il included \ In the classified service. The,
a Pretcnseac OF members that they are dis Y
& gustcd wlthSthe great extension may fool
v thcsnppllcant for the job. Asa matter OF
s fact, IL would be OF great benefit TO .-i,,
las usefulness to& constituents is con-
cerned. II there were not n single place
4 under the government to which they.
y could practically make appointments. The
y time consumed by Represerl tally Slemp.f
a who. as the sole Republican from Vir-l
+ ginin. and by other Southern members
who are Of the prevalent political faith
though they are few. In settling fights
u over appointments at home, prevents
I their being OF any great value to- their
W constituents at large.
No More Back Doors. 81
" There are no longer any back door
Ten frances to the departments Under
former administrations. 1t was a CONF
4 mon practice to have Il man appointed
z to a clcrkship In a postoffice, for instance.
4 which was about 10, be raised TO the dg-s
4 nifty OF IAN Office OF the first class. n In
which the clerks would be under the
IJeIll 2SySkeHlEf war
y raised.E the order putting the clerks under
the civil service rules would be issued
The clerk would then be "transferred"
y to the department at WaAlfingto Ton and
B from the Postoffice Department he
K might later be transferred to some 9TH
VI err department. In this way he would be
II IN II the service In washington without
ever having passed a. civil service exam
'sinntIon. The investigation Of the Post
Office Department two years ago revealed
H tho fact that there were clerks OIL the
rolls In various posto1ices OF the coiln-3
n try. and drawing salaries attached to the
b positions who had never seen the In.
y terror OF the offices to which they We're
accredited. They were waiting to have
Il the offices raised to a free delivery OF
y n &C when the clerks therein would be put
under the civil service classification and
could be struggled into the department
here. # 5#
The President stopped all this by maxi
ing a rule that a person should not be
i transferred from an Office unless he had
q actually served SIX, months therein and
\ that when such transfer, was to be made.
Y thegclerk SO transferred should first stand
Il the, examination prescribed.
Extend System Farther.
Another back door, into the civil SER,
\ vice was the laborer's rolls. It was FREE
y to the unclassifletl laborers' service In one
OF the departments and then. after. the
lapse OF some time. to have him put into
n the classified service without an cxami-.
nation. The President stopped this by
N an order issued November Is. 1904 tand
another Issued December u. 1905. which
= orders provided that un classified laborers
5Sa,t washington and elsewhere, should
-