Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-05-19
THE CIVIL SERVICE.

In recent address to representa-
tives of several civil service commits
sions and civil service reform leagues
President Roosevelt declared himself
an advocate Of civil service and urged
those in charge of public servants to
act independently and wisely in the
enforcement of the law. The civil
service law has done so much to in.
crease the efficiency Of the service IN
many of the governmental depart.
ments that the views Of the President
as to how to best enforce the law are
of general interest. He says that he
is more and more inclined to feel that
the observance in letter and spirit of
the civil service law Is the first
requisite in obtaining clean, decent,
efficient service in any branch or blu.
reau Of the government. Regarding
the rules in making promotions and
the menace in politics the President
says:
ITO the great general rules that
you lay down you will find at times
that 1t is necessary to make excep.
tons. There are SO many places in
which it is possible to follow the rule
of competitive written examination
absolutely, undeviatingly; for en-.
trance to positions as clerks, stenog.
raphers, letter carriers, railway mail
clerks, ETC., for instance. But in max.
ing promotions the system of written
competitive examinations does not Sc
cure the best results.
Moreover, in the interest Of pre-
serving the necessary fexibility which
will no If va, ~ en- so1
cfes, special exceptions have to be
made to meet special cases. Some
times, though more rarely, classes OF
exceptions will have to be made. Dc
not be afraid at all to make these ex
ceptions; but be sure you are making
the exception for proper reasons. In
other words, do not believe for one
moment that any system of rules can
be devised under which it will be pos
sible to shield yourself from the duty
of exercising your own Judgment, your
own independence.
after considerable experience In
almost every kind of governmental
work, I have never yet found any po
sition or any branch OF the service as
regards which the intrusion of politi
cal reasons in making appointments
does not do damage.
"The result is always bad when the
appointment has to be complicated
with the question Of politics. 1t is
true at present that it is impossible
to disassociate certain classes of ap
pointments from such considerations
and as yet no way has been devised
to secure such disassociation. Yet il
remains true that, whether avoidable
or unavoidable, the intrusion Of politi
cal considerations into the choice OF
men whose duties are purely ministe
rial is always detrimental to the ser.
vice.
81 am now naturally brought into
relations with great number of i'm.
portant offices in different branches OF
the government throughout this coun.
try, and l continually have to consider
the question Of efficiency with which
they are handled. Practically, with.
out exception, find that an Office in
which there is laxness in the admins
tration of the civil service law, where
there is an effort to get around it, IS
an office in which poor service Is rem.
dered; the chance for fraud, for spec
ulation, for dishonesty, is always
greater in such an office than in the
office where the law is well and faith.
fully observed.
"If the appointing officer admins
ters the civil service law in spirit Of
hostility to it, # he tries to evade