New-York tribune., 1909-02-06
CENSUS BILL VETOED
PRESIDENT DENOUNCES
SPOILS SYSTEM.
Measure DisapwoUed as Bloc at
CiuI Service Reform-House to
VOte on 1t To-day.
From The 7Sfbune Bureau ]

ing. with his disapproval the bill which provides
! regulations for taking the thirteenth decennial
| census. Although it was announced several days
| ago that this action was contemplated at the
/ White House few expected that the message
would be such an arraignment OF professional
! politicians" and the spoils system The bill
meets with the Presidents dsapproval because
It provides for the appointment Of employees after
! a competitive examination. and in providing
! that the Director OF the Census may have the
| printing done outside the Government Printing
! Office it does not specify that only those firms
! which have the eighth hour day shall be en-
! ployed These two objections expressed in
forceful language and the message has served
| to make the passage Of the census bill in it's
| present form improbable.
THE VETO MESSAGE.
The text of the Presidents message follows:
To the House Of Representatives:
I herewith return. without approval H r
| 1884 entitled AN act to provide for the thir-
teenth and subsequent decennial censuses." 1
| do this with extreme reluctance, because fully
| realize the Importance of supplying the Dlrec-
| tor of the Census at early date as posi-
! BILE with the force necessary TO the carrying
of his work. But it is of high consequence
| TO the country that the statistical work or the
| census shall be conducted with entire accuracy
! This is important from the standpoint OF
business and industry from the scientlhc
/ standpoint 1t is therefore, in my judgment
! essential that the result should not be open to
| the suspicion of bias political and personal
! grounds; that It should not be open to the rea-
! sonahle suspicion of being waste of the peo-
! pies money and fraud.
Section of the act provides in effect that
/ appointments to the census shall be under the
/ spoils system, for this is the real meaning or
the provision that they shall be subject only
! to non-compettive examination. The proviso is
! added that they shall be selected without re-
gard 10 political party affiliations But there IS
/ only way to guarantee that they shall be
selected without regard to politics and on merit
. nd e by choosing them after competitive
examination from the lists of eltgibles pro
/ vided by the Civil Service Commission. The
present Director of the Census in his last report
/ states the exact fact about these non-compet-
: tive examina tions when he says
A non-competitlve examination means that every
! one OF the many thousands who will pass the ex-
ment and that personal and political pressure must
ing factor with regard TO the great body of these
'rre ttet the Director Of the census he relieved
! from this unfortunate situation
To provide that the clerks and other employees
shall be appointed after competitive exani-
nation aud vet TO provide that they shall be Sc
I PCted without regard to political party 8fhlia-
tions. means merely that the appointments shan
! be treated as the perduistes Of the politicians
! OF both parties instead Of as the perquistes OF
/ the politicians of one party. do not believe IN
the doctrine that TO the victor belongs the spotls
/ but I think even less OF the doctrine that the
| Spoils shall be divided without fight by the
I professional politicians both sides, and this
J would he the result or permitting the b IN IT'S
/ present shape TO become a law. Both Of the last
censuses the eleventh and the twelfth, were taken
| under "A provision or law excluding competltloh'
/ that is uecessitating the appointments being
| made under the spoils system Every man conpe-
/ rent To speak with authority because of his
/ lnoy.Iedye of and familiarity with the work OF
! those censuses has stated that the result was
/ 20 produce extravaganza and deTnorall1aloI;
| Mr. Robert p Porter. who took the census OF
| 1890. states that
The efficiency OF the decennisI census would be
greatly improved and its cost materially lessened II
! il were provided that the employees should be Sc
lected in accordance with the terms or the CIVIL
/ Service Law.
Mr.. Frederick H Wines the Assistant Director
of the Census OF 1900 states as follows:
A mathematical scale was worked out by which
the number OF asslsnmenIS, 20 e91H 5 ssnce so
many aUpointrnents n Senator, a smaller NUMBER
| 10 a Representative half as many to Democrat
as a Republican, and in Democratic states and Con
gressionai districts the assignments were made 10
the Republican state and district committees ne
assignees named In the hrst @ ibed & % "a c
be examined lhey were a 5i[ b had passei' and
requested name those whom they desired 10 nave
appointed Vacancies were filled in the same man
! ner This system was thoroughly satisfactory TO
the majority OF the politicians interested thouel
there few who refused to have anything 10
| may readily be imagined thoroughly demoralizing.
Mr. Carroll d. Wright, who had charge Of the
| Census Bureau after the census OF lS'U est
mates that S2,0OOOOO and more than year
time would have been saved If the census torce
had been brought into the classified service
and adds:
do not
expended under my own administration was + aDSO
gteN wasted. and wasted principally & on ,a aTc9ant sa
I DlCe Tues s ,ne Census Once there was an office
yce of oq9 There had been a constant reduc-
ton for months and TINS vas was HePs up Tbere
was never d month after october. iss3 that the
clerical reached the NUMBER then IN oInSe, me-
being made and in the absence Of any necessity
for The increase force, $50 new appointments
were made.
-,, -. oo,,rse meant the destruction OF
economy and efficiency for purely political con-
siderations. .- -. -,
work II would be well to waive the require
n,ents of the CiviI Service law regards geo
graphical apportionment. but the appolntees ppE
should be chosen by competitive examination
from the lists provided by the Civil Service
Comnnission The non competitive examination
in case like this is not only vicious but is in
effect a fraud upon the public. No essential
change is effected by providing that IT be con
Quoted by the Civil Service Commission: and to
nroy,ide that the employees shall be selected
without regard TO political party Affiliations IS
en,ntv and misleading, unless. at the same time,
II is made effective in the only way in which 1t
is possible to make Il effective. that Is by pro-
viding that the examination shall be made com
petitive. =. .. +, .,s
that the census printing work be done outside
the Government Printing Office 1t shall be ex-
rIicitIy provided that the government authorities
sbeU see that the eight-hour Law is applied in
effective fashion to these outside offices.
outside of these matters, believe that the
hin IS on the whole, satisfactory and represents
sn Improvement upon previous legislation on the
s,,biert But II Is Of vital consequence that We
should not once again permit the usefulness OF
this great decennial undertaking on oehalf or
the whole people 10 be- marred by permitting 1t
70 be turned into engine 10 further the self
interest of that small section OF the people Whlch
makes a profession OF politics.
The evil effects of the spoils system and or
the custom of treating appointments TO the pub
10 service as personal perqusites OF professional
politicians are peculiarly evident IN the case OF
tIe .reat public work like the taking of the
,-E-saF GTr1Ta t1l