The Oskaloosa herald., 1909-02-11
ROOSEVELT JOLTs
SPOILs SYSTEM
vEToEs CENSUS BILL I'M MES
SAGE TO THE HOUSE.
POINTS OUT ITS EVILS
Sees Efforts Of Professional Politicians
to Grab Perquisites Belonging
Ito. the PubIlc---Ao Ae-
tlon Taken.

feets OF the spoils system and OF the
custom of treating appointments to
the public service as personal per
quisites of professional politicians are
peculiarly evident in the case OF a
great public work like the taking OF
the census, work which should EN-.
phatically be done for the whole pso
pie and with an eye single to their in
terest."
In these words President Roosevelt
yesterday summed up a message to
the house OF representatives returning
without his approval the bill providing
for the taking of the next census, be
cause of the provision prescribing that
appointments shall be made on the
basis of non-competitiye examinations
Instead of through the civil service
commission. AS passed by congress
the bill permitted members and sena.
tors to designate persons for positions
after they had undergone simple ex.
animation. Ia. J,s..3. ..E.s
Incidentally the president referred
to the provision authorizing the print
Ing Of census reports by private con.
Germs and laid stress on the point
that where work was SO allotted the
eight.hour law should be applied in
effective fashion"
Outside of those matters, the pres
ident said that on the whole the bill
was satisfactory to him and repre-
scented an improvement upon previous
| legislation on the subject. The house
adjourned without action ON the mes.
sage. aH,..r .@
Text of the Message.
Il herewith return, without APP
proval, H. R. 1884, entitled AN Act
to Provide for the Thirteenth and Sub
sequent Decennial Censuses.' | do
this with extreme reluctance, because
] fully realize the Importance Of sup
plying the director of the census at
as early date as possible with the
force necessary to the carrying on OF
his work. But 1t is of high conse-
quence to the country that the statis-
teal work Of the census shall be con-
Quoted With entire accuracy. This is
as important from the standpoint Of
business and industry as from the
| oGlOhtlHS IL lhClCIOAOB
in my Judgment, essential that the re-
suit should not be open to the suspi.
cion of bias on political and personal
| grounds; that it should not be open to
the reasonable suspicion of being a
waste of the peoples money and a
| fraud 'Etrs'e'@, '''' tEE
Wants Competitive Choice.
Section of the act provides in effect
that appointments to the census shall
be under the spoils system, for this
Is the real meaning of the provision
that they shall be subject to noncom-
| petittve examination. The provisp is
added that they shall be selected with
out regard to political party affilia-
tions. But there is only one way to
guarantee that they shall be selected
without regard to politics and on
merit, and that is by choosing them
after competitive examination from
the lists Of eligibles provided by, the
fciyil service commission. The pres.
ent director of the census In his last
report states the exact fact about
these noncompetitive examinations
when he says f @
| . *
"A noncompetitive examination
means that every one of the many
thousands who will pass the examina-
tons VIII have an equal right to APP
pointment, and that personal and po-
| litical pressure must In the end; as al
ways before, become the determining
factor with regard to the great body
OF these temporary employments I
cannot too earnestly urge that the d.
rector of the census be relieved from
this unfortunate situation
81 Don't Believe in It,"
ITO provide that the clerks and
other employees shall be appointed aft
sr noncompetitiye examination, and
yet TO provide that they shall be Sc
lected without regard to political party
affiliations, means merely that the APP
pointments shall be treated as the per-
quisites of the politicians of both
parties. insteal OF as the per-
quisites of the politicians Of one party.
| do not believe in the doctrine that
to the victor belongs the spoils; but
think ever less of the doctrine that
/ INC opOlis sHHil De ulNlueu WltnOul
! fight by the professional politicians on
both sides and this would be the re-
suit Of permitting the bill in It's
present shape to become law Both
OF the last cersuses, the eleventh and
the twelfth, were taken under provi-
sion of law excluding competition;
that is. necessitating the appoint.
ments being made under the spoils
system Every man competent to
speak with authority because OF his
knowledge OF and familiarity with the
work of those censuses has stated that
the result was to produce extraya-
gance and Decentralization. Mr.. Rob
ert P. Porter, who took the census OF
1880, states that:
The efficiency OF the decennial
census would be greatly improved and
its cost materially lessened It we're
provided that the employees shonldsBe
selected IN accordance with the terms
OF the civil service lawtfga sp ~
THEODORE HooaEvEET.