Evening star., 1933-04-30

ton to politics, and which has been
kept blessedly free of politics. The men
in the FOREIGN Service serve their coun-
try, and loyalty to the President OF
the United States takes no account OF
his politics Fortunately the new Presi-
dent has always stood firmly for the
service idea, at home and abroad. and
We have a right to believe that he viii
withstand the onslaughts Of the spoils-
men.
The Civil Service Commission re-
Gently has issued a book entitled "Po-
sitions Not Under the Civil Service.
They number about 10000. The book
is ironically called the Democratic
Bible" and would, of course. be called
the Republican Bible" If the situation
were reversed. One can imagine the
great army Of officeseekers delving in
its pages to find the job which seems
most appealing There IS. one fears,
all to little thought Of How can I best
serve the government" The idea in
almost every case Is. How can the
government most suitably reward me
for votes secured in the last election?'
There is all too little the idea Of Can
I do this job better than the in
can I get enough political influence to
oust the incumbent and get his
place for MYSELF" Patriotism Is at a
very low ebb at time like the present,
the very time when, in our abnormal
and critical situation, 1t should burn
most brightly.
1000 Held As Proper Limit.
The chairman of the Civil Service
Commission says that Of all these po-
sitions not more than 1000 should be
subject to the vicissitudes Of politics.
The President of the United States
could not carry on unless he had
around him men in whom he has con-
fidence. He must depend on them for
advice, must be able to take that ad-
vice unhesitatingly. If he had to study
every question himself because he did
not trust his advisers, the work of the
United States Government would stop
His cabinet, therefore; the chairmen
Of various commissions, the men. in
other words, who are preparing policies
for the Presidents consideration. must
be men Of his own choice, normally OF
his own party men also of such author
ity and standing that the country in
general will feel that their President
is getting the right kind of assistance.
But how about the subordinate per-
sonnel, those who have been trained
to run the machinery OF government? ?
If a firm manufacturing cotton goods
changes hands this does not mean
that all the expert spinners and weav-
ers, the watchmen, the stokers, the
overseers Of the different departments
of the factory will be dismissed and
their places taken by new and un-
trained hands. It means that under
new management the lazy and the in
competent will be replaced by others
brought in from outside who are COM
petent. A clean sweep might do ir-
reparable harm; it would certainly slow
down the work for many months.
Here is one trivial example of what
I mean. Recently I had occasion to
telephone Congressman. wasted
10 minutes trying to reach him. and
when at last he answered I remarked
that the House Of Representatives must
have very incompetent people at the
telephone desk "Oh," he said, "it will
be all right soon. You know when the
House became Democratic we naturally
appointed new telephone girls. They
will learn the job after few weeks. "
The Civil Service has never been al
lowed to penetrate the sacred precincts
of the Capitol. Only the few assistants
of the architect have permanent civil