The Washington herald., 1922-04-18
On Civil Service.

To the Editor. The Washington Herald:
In the interesting series OF let
ters on the Civil Service that have
appeared recently in the open Court
1t is surprising that only two con-
tributors have defended the serv-
ice. Its only champions are Mrs.
L. w. Farrell and a correspondent
who signs himself "Justinian." As
the latter has asked me some ques-
tfons. i should like to answer him
and to develop a little further some
Of the views l expressed in my
first letter.
Justinian inquiries. when did the
lo0.000.000 of Americans express
their dissatisfaction with the Civil
Service?" II Justinian means by
this a national election based on
this one issue the answer, of course.
is Never" But. OF the other ha nd.
no issue has ever commanded the
support of 100000. 900 Americans.
Even as one-sided an election as
the last one has left room for hon
est doubts as to its meaning with
respect to number of questions.
The opinion I expressed was based
On conversations with citizens of
different classes from all parts OF
the United States. The criticisms
were Il that the explanations did
not test an applicants fitness for
the work he would be required to
perform; (2) that the examinations
provide no sufficient test of an ap-
plicant's character: go that tho
applicant who makes the highest
grade is often passed over and
someone with a lower grade ap-
pointed: D that many who claim
the protection of Civil Service never
passed any examination, but were
placed in. it by Executive order.
The correspondent who signs him
self "Hitty Meginn" tells of his
own case. where the examination
he passed was no test of his fit-
ness for the work he was assigned
to. The correspondent who writes
over the initials ID. E. c." brings
out my third point of discrimina-
ton against the applicant with the
highest grade These criticisms
would seem to show that a system
devised to put an end to the spoils
system has merely substituted per-
sonal favoritism exercised by bu-
reduCTdlS lot 1dNoTllisIl eNSEClsHu
by politicians. If Mrs. l.. w. Far
rell. who terms the President
kaiser and a czar, had called on
some of our bureaucrats she would
have found them harder to approach
and more pompous and overbearing
than any kaiser or czar ever dared
to be. Although she uses these
names as terms os reproach. the
failure of both the Kaiser and the
Cxar was due in large part to the
bureaucracies of which they were
the responsible heads. The Car
especially had dreams of universal
peace and the advancement of his
own, people under, constitutional
government that camo to naught
because he was not strong enough
to overcome the dark and hidden
opposition of the Russian bureau
cracy.
A French authority who has
studied the governmental systems
Of the world comes to the conclu-
sion that efficiency in government
is incompatible with liberty. A
highly efficient government Is al
ways tyrannical. Permanent offi-
cials everywhere surround them
selves by cliques. Efficiency sys-
TENS are always administered un-
fairly. An efficiency system is al
ways accompanied by a spy system
ready to blast the reputation of
anyone in disfavor. Promotion b,
seniority is the only system that
works fairly for the individual en-
ployeS
A clear statement Of the problems