66 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. as to the nature and needs of the public service and as to the tendency of the evils that had fastened upon it. Clay denounced the new movement as "a detestable system drawn from the worst periods of the Roman republic "; and Webster epitomized the arguments of the three mighty intellectual giants in the memorable and weighty words: "The theory of our institutions is plain; it is, that government is an agency created for the good of the people, and that every person in office is the agent and servant of the people. Offices are created, not for the benefit of those who are to fill them, but for the public convenience." But the lofty and patriotic view of these great statesmen was not allowed to go unchallenged. They were to see other policies prevail, the spirit of which was badly and unblushingly proclaimed by Senator Marcy of New York: "The politicians of the United States are not so fastidious as some gentlemen are as to disclosing the principles on which they act. They see nothing wrong in the rule that to the victors belong the spoils." Thus it came about that, after every election involving a change of administration, an almost complete change in the personnel of officeholders took place, from the consular service as well as foreign ambassadors to fourthclass postmaster-ships. No one was secure if some one in the opposite party wanted his place and the emoluments that went with it and usually not one, but many, "were hungry and 513 thirsty "for it. Elections, save perhaps that of 1860, became more and more contests for spoils and less and less disputes about principles. Candidates would promise certain offices in return for support. Officeholders would not only work less efficiently, but less honestly, when insecure in their tenure of office. The prevailing tendency was to curry favor with those in power and to use every means, lawful or otherwise, to continue them in power and "hold their own jobs down." It was a sordid, disgusting, corrupting state of affairs, difficult to realize in these cleaner days, whose effects ramified into many channels that could not have been foreseen and would not have been believed possible. One of the worst of its morally debasing aspects was the system of political assessments under which government employes were forced to pay a considerable fraction of their salaries into party funds, besides giving much of their time-time belonging to government service to active work for the party in power, in order to retain their places. It came to pass also that the time of the Presidents was so encroached upon by the pressure of office seekers that at least one-third of every working day was consumed by appointive details, and six-sevenths of the President's callers were of this pernicious class. pernicious class. It was a serious handicap to the transaction of public business. As President Lincoln once quaintly expressed it: "I wish I could get time to attend to the Southern question. I think I know what is wanted, and believe I could do something toward quieting the rising discontent, but the office seekers demand all my time. I am like a man so busy letting rooms in one end of his house that he cannot stop to put out the fire that is burning in the other." Perhaps the situation has never been better summed up than was done by Senator Oliver P. Morton in the early 70's: "The countless minor offices of the United States are filled by a distinct class known as 'professional politicians.' These men live by politics, receiving place as reward for political work. Their control of public office is monopolistic. Mr. Brice estimates their number at two hundred thousand, but this is under-estimated. in the Federal service brought about by the achievements of the "merit system." The change has been gradual, it is true, and is not yet fully accomplished; but it is a marvelous change, nevertheless, and it is now only a question of a comparatively short time when every government position, save those that are elective or confidential, will be rescued from the clutch of the spoilsman. It was about the time that Senator Morton was uttering the words quoted above that the first active efforts were made in Congress to secure the enactment of reform laws; but not much of a practical nature was accomplished, until the assassination of President Garfield by a disappointed office seeker awoke the Nation to a realization of the depths to which the spoils system had reduced public morals and the need for a return to better principles. This crime led directly to the passage in January of 1883 of a law entitled "An Act to Regulate and Improve the Civil Service of the United States." The object of the law was to secure The influence which the officeholders wield is altogether out of proportion to their numbers or to their intellectual attainments. But they possess this advantage over other classes—they are unified and organized. They make the management of primaries and conventions the serious business of their lives, and acquire a skill and experience in wire-pulling' which ordinary citizens cannot hope to cope with. The politics of the country is in the hands of these men. In this barter and sale of public place, the proper transaction of public business is lost sight of. Competency does not appoint an applicant and cannot save an incum- appointment and promotion in govern bent. Other motives of a selfish or mercenary character control in both cases. Office brokerage is a shameless and conspicuous fact, as the newspapers and congressional debates daily attest. It is the great object of civil service reform to restore these offices to the people, and to overthrow the bastard aristocracy who have debased them." The iniquities of the "spoils system" have been dwelt upon at some length in order to emphasize the almost complete reversal of conditions ment offices for fitness, instead of on the basis of party services or fealty. The act was drawn on such broad lines that successive Presidents have been enabled to bring different classes of offices within its scope-hence the name classified service," under which its workings are known. By the provisions of the law, competitive and non-competitive examina CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. tions are held at intervals in different parts of the country. Candidates who wish to try these examinations make application in regular form, and then appear before the examiners at the specified time and place. An "eligible list" is kept of those who pass the examinations, arranged in the order of candidates' standing; when a vacancy occurs, selection for the position is made from the three highest on the list. The appointment is probationary for a term of six months. If the service of the applicant be satisfactory, the appointment is made permanent; if not, the applicant is discharged. In the non-competitive examinations, the same procedure is observed, except that appointments are made without regard to relative standing. There is absolutely no distinction of candidates on the ground of party connections or party services; all are on equal footing within certain age limits and other necessary qualifications. As for the examinations, the law requires only that they "shall be practical in their character and, as far as may be, shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the relative capacity and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the service into which they seek to be appointed." It is the practical, specific character of these examinations that have commended them to confidence. For clerks and accountants, for instance, tests are made as to quickness and exact 515 ness in figures, clearness and rapidity in writing, familiarity with bookkeeping methods, etc. For technical positions, such as engineering, architec ture, and mining, technical knowledge is of course required; and in all cases practical experience and business capacity are the chief requisites. The merit system" of selection of candidates for government office, while highly developed, has not reached a state of complete perfection, to be sure; but it is by far the best that has yet been devised and infinitely superior to old methods. There is no question but that it is extremely effective in securing far more honest and efficient public service than was possible under the old régime, besides removing the corrupting influence of the dictum that "to the victors belong the spoils." When a man is secure in his position no matter which party is in power, he will not only do better work but be of morally higher tone than when his abilities and much of his salary were diverted into efforts to keep his party" at the public crib." President Arthur, who signed the Civil Service Law in 1883, brought nearly 16,000 places within its provisions. Every President since his time has added to the number, President McKinley having the lowest record, and President Cleveland the highest, civil service with the latter being a practical application of his famous aphorism: "Public office is a public trust." There are now more than ronage has seen some of its worst abuses, from the field of politics. * William Harrison Clarke, The Civil Service Law (1891); George William Curtis, Orations and Addresses, vol. ii. (1894); Theodore Roosevelt, American Ideals, pt. ii. (1900); Carl Schurz, Some Object Lessons (1903); George S. Bernard, Civil Service Reform v8. The Spoils System (1905); Carl Russell Fish, The Civil Service and the Patronage (1905); Henry 1. Greene, The Enforcement of the Provisions of the Civil Service Law in Regard to Political Assessments (1906); annual reports of the United States Civil Service Commission; reports of State and municipal commissions; and the reports, pamphlets and ad dresses issued by the National Civil Service Reform League. TREATIES WITH FOREIGN NATIONS. Ever since the colonies succeeded in winning their independence from the Mother Country and formed a National government, American statesmen have endeavored to foster the spirit of friendship and trust between the United States and foreign nations by means of treaties, conventions, compacts, agreements, etc., and scarcely a year passes that does not witness the enactment of one or more of such evidences of mutual confi dence. Furthermore the United States is noteworthy among the nations of the world as a treaty-keeping power, for while the history of foreign countries will show many pledges ruthlessly broken upon the slightest provocation, the history of the United States is remarkably free from Treaties of course have been abrogated but their abrogation, in the majority of cases, was at the notice or request of the foreign power. In addition to treaties with separate and distinct countries, the United States has been a party to many important international agreements, executed at Geneva, Brussels and The Hague, and has shown its willingness to avoid war by the great number of disputes submitted for settlement to the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague. The following is a list of the important international agreements to which the United States has been a party: May 20, 1883 June 11, 1887 For international exchange of official documents, scientific and literary productions. For international protection of industrial property (supplementary convention) Relative to settlement of international disputes.. Relative to launching of projectiles and explosives from balloons, etc. July 29, 1899 July 5, 1890 Dec. 17, 1890 For adaptation to maritime warfare of the principles of the Geneva convention. July 29, 1899 Nov. 1, 1901 July 29, 1899 April 11, 1902 Additional act for protection of industrial property.. Dec. 14, 1900 Aug. 25, 1902 Treaty with Latin-American republics for arbitration of pecuniary claims. Algeciras conference. April 7, 1906 Convention exempting hospital ships from dues and taxes. Dec. 21, 1904 International convention for amelioration of the wounded of armies in the field July 6, 1906 Jan. 22, 1907 |