River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-01-25

| executive order.
| Ia my recent message to the con-
| gress / urged consideration OF the
| necessity of placing in the classified
service all of the local officers under
the departments Of the treasury, the in
terror, postoffice, and commerce and
| labor.
Classification of Local Officers.
| The importance of the existence OF
a competent and reasonably perma-
| nent civil service was not appreciated
until the last quarter of the last GEN.
! fury. At that time examinations were
instituted as means of ascertaining
whether candidates for appointment
possessed the requisite qualifications
for government positions. Since then
| it has come to be universally admitted
| that entrance to almost every subor-
dinate position in the public service
| should be dependent upon the proof
in some appropriate way Of the ability
of the appointee.
AS yet, however, little If any attempt
has been made by law to secure, either
| for the higher administrative posi-
lions In the service at Washington or
! for local Offices, the qualifications
which the incumbents of these posi-
| tions must have if the business of the
| government is to be conducted In the
most efficient and economical man.
ner Furthermore, in the case Of many
of the local officers the law positively
! provides that the term of office shall
be OF four years duration.
The next step which must be taken
is to require of heads of bureaus in the
departments at Washington, and of
most OF the local officers under the
departments, qualifications Of ca
| pacity similar to those now required
| of certain heads of bureaus and of To-
| cal officers. The extension Of the
merit system to these officers and a
| needed readjustment of salaries will
have important effects in securing
greater economy and efficiency.
In the first place, the possession by
the incumbents of these positions of
requisite qualifications must in itself
| promote efficiency.
In the second place, the removal
| Of local officers from the realm of po-
litical patronage in many cases would
reduce the pay roll of the field serv-
| ices At the present time the incum-
bents of many of these positions
| leave the actual performance Of many
Of their duties to deputies and assist
ants. The government often pays
two persons for doing work that could
easily be done by one. What Is the
| loss to the government cannot be
/! stated, but that 1t is very large can
!; not be denied, when it is remembered
| how numerous are the local officers
in the postal, customs, internal reve-
nue., public lands, and other field serv-
ices of the government.
In the third place, so long as local
officers are within the sphere of po-
litical patronage it is difficult to con-
| slider the question Of the establish
ment or discontinuance Of local offices
apart from the effect upon local po-
litical situations.
| Finally, the view that these vari-
/ Gus offices are to be filed as a result
! Of political considerations has for its
consequence the necessity that the
president and members Of congress
] devote to matters of patronage time
which they should devote to questions
| of policy and administration.
The greatest economy and eff
| cheney, and the benefits which may
accrue from the presidents devoting
his time to the work which is most
| worth while, may be assured only by
treating all the distinctly administra-
| tive officers in the departments at
| Washington and in the field in the
same way as inferior officers have
been treated The time has come
when all these officers should be
| placed in the classified service. The
time has also come when those pro-
visions of law which give to these
officers a fixed term of years should
be repealed So long as a fixed term
is provided by the law the question
Of reappointment of an officer, no
| matter how efficiently he may have
performed his duties, will inevitably
be raised periodically. So long as ap
! pointments to these Offices must be
confirmed by the senate, and so long
as appointments to them be made ev-
cry four years, just so long will it be
impossible to provide force Of en-
ployes with reasonably permanent
tenure who are qualified by reason Of
education and training to do the best
work
Superannuation.
Attention has been directed in re-
cent years to the need of a suitable
plan of retiring the superannuated
employees in the executive civil serv-
| ice. In the belief that it is desira-
| BILE that any steps toward the estab-
lishment of such plan shall be TAX
en- with caution / instructed the COM
mission to make an inquiry first in
to the conditions at Washington. This
inquiry has been directed to the as
certainment of the extent to which
approximation now exists and to the
consideration of the availability of
the various plans which either have
| been proposed for adoption in this
country or have actually been adopt
ed in other countries. / shall submit,
in the near future, for the considera-
ton of the congress a plan for the re-
tirement of aged employees in the civ
IL service which will safeguard the
interests of the government and at
the same time make reasonable pro-
vision for the needs of those who