The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 12, 1916, Page 18

X 1 AHE Civil Service Law which was S 8 placed upon the statute books of > the United; States January 16, N 1883, was one of the results of a demand, S ‘ 1. For efficiency in the work .of ‘the Government, and : 8. For the removal of: the Civil' ; 7 Service from political domination. oG et The law itself was entitled, “An Act, ; b to regulate and improve the Civil Service of the United States.” The law was enacted during the administration of Pr]e)sgg&lf; i ‘:imml i ludi bl ; 1 nine ions, including - ~those of Grover Cleve , in which the Civil Service Law was in force, prior to .. that of President Wilson, it was honestly ; enforced in letter and spirit. t The_law was broadened and extended : ) until from 18,789 competitive classified i f i s positions included in its . provisions in {3 [ iggg there were over 250,000 included in soe W '~ That the civil service principle had the e % = support of public opinion -when Mr. Wilson took the office of President is - shown by the facts that it had been ~ accepted and proclaimed in the platforms of all political parties; and that nine ) states and 250-cities had adopted it. . - The civil service plank of the Demo- cratic ‘platform upon which President gilson was elected to office decldred The law 'pertaining to the Civil V7 . Service should be honestly ~and i rightly enforced to the end that o o _merit and ability shall be the stan- : .~ dard of appointment ‘rather than -~ ‘service rendered to a political party, ete. ‘A further clause in that platform ; > declared; S v : 21 ey ¢ Our; pledges are made to be: kept :hen in l:)i?iice as ‘well ‘as relied upon i i uring the campaign. 2 - . Moreover, President Wilson himself, | aoni Rt .prior to his election to the Presidency, was one of the thirteen vica-presidents { vfij L, “ i o League, and was generall s S } B sincere sup ( > b .\ principles of civil service.. "As S o 2 % of New Jersey a short time before he * - became ‘President. he made the 'emphatic ‘declaration that “public office is'not"worth . ‘anything if ‘an entirely satisfactory ful- . fillment of the duties of an office :does. “not ‘entitle a man to consideration for: “ACTIONS BELIED WORDS- ? : e In view of the positive:. sof The National Civil Service: Reform service were authorized without reference to -civil service laws. and regulations. These were: ; 3 SUNDRY CIVIL ACT, approved June 23, 1913, authorizing the Secretary of the ury to employ persons in connection . with - the plans and construction of the central heating and power plant, Wash- ington, D. C., without reférence-to the ciyil service laws. i TARIFF ACT, approved October 8, 1913, directing the ' appointment ‘of agents, inspectors, deputy collectors and other employees “under such rules and regulations -as may be fixed by the Sec- retary of the Treasury Yo insure faithful and competent service.” URGENT ' DEFICIENCY. ACT of October 22, 1913, removing deputy mar- shals and deputy: collectors of-internal’ revenue from the classified service. FEDERAL RESERVE ACT of Decem- ber: 23, 1918, authorizjng the appoint- ment of such attorneys, erts, assist- ants, clerks, or other. employess: neces- sary to conduct the business of the Board, without reference to the Civil Service Act and regulations. The . “tut, tut” of President Wilson would have sufficed to prevent the enact- ment of all of these legislative backward steps, for it will be recalled, so coniplete. was his domination of Congress at that time, that he forced it to put sugar and wool on the free list over the objection of Chairman nderwood and other ivi League called President Wilson’s attention to the objectionable ‘measures and urged him ‘tlo veto the Urgent Deficiency A:l:t dt:lm:g eputy = revenue collectors: an puty marshals from th(: classified i exercise the power the language of the bill gave him and order the retention of %hethdeguties in fiefllclhsaified sex:vtife. '0: the’deep regret- e League, neither of these things was done. Instead, Pres- ident Wilson signed the bill and'issued a memorandum in which he said: I am ‘convinced, - after careful examination of the facts, that the offices of deputy. collector and deputy marshal were never ‘intended to be included “urider the ordinary m visions of the civil service law. control " of the whole method and spirit of the administration: of ‘the proviso in this bill ‘which concerns the appointment of these officers' is No t Qu s s v} The 53 tion. T OFS ra ty and - CIVIL SERVICE IS - Confidence Can- be Placed in a Party Which Violates Tts. / Pledges to the People or a Presi ident Who Has Vacillated on Eiery Republican Party and Its Representatives are True to : Wmfi _ Service for Better no less’ entirely in my hands now {.han it was belfdore the big became _law; my warm:advocacy and support both of the principle and of the bona fide practice of civil seryice reform is known ‘to the whole: country, and there is-no danger that the spoils principle will creep in with my approval or connivance. The Civil Service Reform League in its annual report for 1913 commented upon the President’s -statement: The League takes issue squarely - with the President on his statement that the deputies were never intended to be included under the ordinary . provisions of thé civil service law. * * % A most deplorable backward step has been taken which under an ;administration less favorable ‘to the merit system (sarcasm) may facili- tate a return to the worst evils of the spoils system in this part of the service. Under the law in question 1,321 deputy collectors and deputy marshals were taken from the competitive civil service and made subject to political favor 'in order to hold their positions. VICE-PRESIDENT MARSHALL A SPOILSMAN The inroad upon the principle of civil service in the Federal Reserve act was termed by the 'Civil Se Reform Tvice League “the most' indefensible spoils ‘grab in years.” On the eve of the pas- sage of the bill Senator Owen (Demo- crat) offered an .amendment directing that employees of the Federal Reserve Board: be ‘appointed: without complying with:the requirements of the civil serviceé law. . The vote in the ‘Senate was a tie, _but ViceEI;rhesideqt Max\sgmll cg:;efto ttfie rescue of the spoilsmen by vol or the. ;hdnendment, bthusbmal:.ii:yg ?xe tie fid opting. it by a majo: of one. e mc%?:gof the . Reform e u ~_President’ Wilson, the members of "the House and the tonferees on the bill to revise the action of the Senate, but with- out avail, and the President signed the e & Lage b ol b . order the places filled, in .accordance with the civil - service law.the President replied that hg, did not have that authority. : . RURAL CREDITS ACT " The latest specific ‘violation of the - principles of civil service laws by ‘the T L NS, President Wilson Democratic Congress and President Wilson is found in the rural credits law, a clause of which- provides: The Federal Farm Loan Board shall be authorized and empowered to employ such attorneys, experts, . assistants, clerks, laborers and other employees as it may deem necessary ‘to conduct the business of said board, * * ** All such attorneys, experts, assistants, clerks, laborers and other employees, and all registrars, exam= iners ‘and appraisers shall be ap- pointed without regard to the pro- visiong- of the Act of January six- teenth, eighteen hundred and eighty- three (volume twenty-two, United States Statutes at Large, page four hundred and three) and amendments thereto, or any rule or regulation . made in pursuance thereof: PROVIDED, That nothing herein ~shall prevent 'the President from placing said employees in the class- ified service. A motion made in the United States Senate by Senator Norris of Nebraska to strike that clause from the bill was defeated by a vote of 24 for the amend- ment and 84 against it. One Democrat —Senatol: -Lane of Oregon—voted for the Norris ‘amendment; no Republicans voted against it. RAIDS ON MERIT SYSTEM Attempted raids by Democrats *in Congress on: the civil service principle were made during the second year of the Wilson Administration, and would have been : ‘successful had it not been for Republican opposition. These were: The. attempt by “rider” on the post- office appropriation bill to remove all assistant postmasters from the classified service. 4 . The endeavor-in the Moon bill to abol- ish the office of assistant postmaster and fill the places by appointment of clerks regardless of the civil service law. : The attempt through-the Cullop amend- ment to remove all post-office employees from the operation of the merit system. - The proposal, through an amendment to the Indian appropriation .bill, to exempt more than one hundred physicians from selection ,under: civil service rules, “There is no record that in any one of' - these assaults on the merit system President Wilson raised his voice or even whispered to-aid in its defeat. EXECUTIVE ORDERS Durin the three and one-half years. ilson’s Administration he has Executive Orders exempting 246 ‘persons - from civil service rules and regulations, . Of these “exemptions, the Civil Service Commission approved 40 of Mr. issued During the correspondi; eriod of “President Taft’s Ad,mmlsi;z‘aSP i n%im!:), ec- tive Orders were issued exempting 136 _persons from civil service regulations, andof these 95 were approved by the Civil «Se:‘:ice-k _Cqmmismon_ yand‘ 41