The Topeka state journal., 1914-01-26
1t viii Come With Postmas-
ter Generals New Order.
Civil Service to Really Apply
ON Fourth Glass p. M.
IT IS Administration IDEA
No Winking Other Eye During
Examinations.
But Merit and Service Will Pre-
vail Over Politics.

Washington, Jan. 26-The postoffice
department is getting ready for 1T
eral enforcement Of the spirit and pur-
pose of the civil service law in the Sc
lection of fourth class postmasters.
Postmaster General Burleson is about
to send to all members of congress
letter announcing that hereafter the
man at the top of the merit list made
by the civil service commission WILL get
the job, politics or no politics.
This innovation will mean-Weli, IL
will mean grief and sorrow and gnash-
ing Of teeth to powerful array OF
Democrats who have been hoping tnat
ministering the merit system that pre-
vailed under the Taft regime might
continue under the Wilson.
In the past, the method Of selecting
q fourth class postmaster has been
somewhat like this:
Stage setting shows postoffice with
modest salary attached.
Enter long line Of applicants. Repub-
licans and Democrats.
Business of taking civil service ex-
animation.
Roll of successful candidates is made
up by commission. Suppose Taft is
president. In q southern town Demo-
crat passes the best examinations; per-
centage. S9.5. Second places goes to
another Democrat, 873 Third place
That list Is certified to the postal au-
thorities. and the congressman or
referee in that region is asked to In
dicate which one Of the three ought to
be named. He never hesitates. He
names the Republican, at the bottom OF
the list, and the Republican is prompt
1y appointed.
Business of winking the other eye
while the chorus does a refrain. telling
how devoted we are to the merit sys-
tenn. '.
Well! The Democrats had seen that
sort of merit system in operation for
years. They understood how it was
done. So when they came into power
they calculated that, with the boot on
the other foot. they would do the same
thing. the Republican at the top Of the
list would be forgotten. and the Demo
crat down in the medieval region
would, of course. be named.
But the postmaster general doesn't
congressman and senators that here
after he is going to pick the high man
on the list, and name him, without re-
gard to anybody's recommendation, or
to politics. The letter announcing this
new and revolutionary policy has not
yet been mailed. but it is learned from
people who have seen a draft of it, that
IL is determined upon as a part Of the
department policy. That 1t is backed
by President Wilson is not doubted.
Inat IL VIII DrlnS q STORM OF protest
also isn't doubted.
The letter will state that hereafter
applice etions for fourth class postoffice
jobs will be decided solely upon the re-
suit of the competitive civil service ex-
aminations. and that politics shall have
nothing whatsoever to do with the Sc
lection of postmasters. 1t has been
generally supposed that this rule has
been followed to the letter since Presi-
dent Wilson assumed charge Of the ma
tion's affairs.
But the spirit of the law has been
violated. Not that the Democratic
party has disregarded the civil service
provisions any more than the Repub-
licans; they have not had the oppor-
tunity. But since it was announced
that appointments to fourth class Of
fices should be selected from the eligi-
bic list, 1t has been a standing joke in
Washington that a Democrat would be
the lucky man. II a Democrat took the
examination.
Postmaster General Burleson intends
to adhere strictly to the civil service
laws. and the common practice of per-