Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1888 — A PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE. [ARTICLE]

A PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE.

li v Hie (ivll Serv e' CemmUaion an! It. Work Hi- > 1.-"«•«!. The President sent to Congress Monday the following message: To the Congress of the United .States: Pursuant to the second section of chapter XXA’II of the laws of 1883, entitled “An act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States,” I herewith transmit the fourth report of the United States civil service commission, covering the period between the 10th day of January, 1886, and the first'' day of July, 1887. AVliile this report has especial reference to the operations of the Commission during the period above mentioned, it contains, with its accompanying appendices, much valuable information concerning the inception of civil service reform and its growth and progress, which cannot but De interesting and instructive to all who desire improvement in administrative methods, During the time covered by the report 15,852 persons were examined for admission in the classified civil service of the government in all its branches, of whom 10,750 passed the examination and failed. Of those who passed the examination 2,977 were applicants for admission to the departmental service at'Washington, 2,547 were examined for admission to the customs service. During the same period, 547 appointments were made from the eligible lists to the departmental service, 641 to the customs service and 3,254-to the postal service. Concerning separations from the classified service, the report only informs us of such as have occcurred among employes in the public service who has been appointed from eligible lists under civil service rules. When these rules took effect they did not apply to persons then in the service, comprising a full complement of employes, who obtained their position independent of the new law. The commission has no record of the separations in this numerous class, and the discrepancy apparent in the report between the number of appointments made in the respective branches of the service from the lists of the commission and the small number of separations mentioned, is, to a great extent, accounted for by vacancies, of which no report was made to the commission, occuring among those who held their places without examination and certification, which vacancies were filled by appointment from the eligible lists. In the departmental service there occurred, between the 6tli day of January, 1886, and the 30th day of June, 1887, among the employes appointed from the eligible lists under civil service ruleß, seventeen removals, thirtv-six resignations and five deaths. This does not include fourteen separations on the grade of special pension examiners—four by removal, five by resignation and five by death. In this classified customs and postal service the number of separations among those who received absolute appointments under the civil service rules are given for the period between the Ist day of January, 1886, and the 30th day of J\ine, 1887. It appears that such separations in the customs service for the time mentioned embraced twenty-one removals, five deaths and eighteen resignations, and in the postal service 258 removals, twenty-three deaths and 409

resignations. More than a year has passed since the expiration of the period covered by the report of the commission. Within the time thus elapsed many important changes have taken place in furtherance of a reform in our civil service. The rules and regulations governing the violation of the law upon the . subject have been completely remodeled in such a manner as to render the enforcement of the statute more effective and greatly increases its usefulness. Among other things, the scope of examinations prescribed for those who seek to enter the classified service has been better defined and made more practical, the number of names ta.be certified from the eligible lists to the appointing officers from which a selection is made, has been reduced from four to three, the maximum limitation of the age 'of persons seeking entrance to the cassified service to forty-five years has been changed, and reasonable provisions have been made for the transfer of employes from one department to another in proper cases. A plan has also been devised providing for the examination of applicants for promotion in the service which, when in full operation, will eliminate all chances of favoritism in the advancement of employes by making promotion a reward of merit and faithful discharge of duty. Until within a few weeks there was no uniform classification of employes in the different executive departments of the Government, As a result of this condition, in some of the departments the positions could be obtained without civil service examination, because they were not within the classification of such department, while in other departments an examination and certification were necessary to obtain positons of the same grade, because such positions were embarrassed in the classification applicable to those departments. The exception of laborers, watchmen, and messengers from examination and classification gave opportunity, in the absence of any rule guarding against it, for the employment, free from civil service restrictions, of persons upder these designations,who were immediately detailed to do clerical worky All this lias been obviated by the application to all the departments of an extended and uniform classification, embracing grade of employes not heretofore included, and by the adaption of a rule prohibiting the detail of laborers, watchmen or messengers to do clerical duty. The path of civil sendee reform . has not at all times been pleasant nor easy, the purpose 5f the reform having been much misapprehended; and this has not only given rise to strong opposition, but this led to its invocation by its friends to compass objects not in the least related to it. Thus partisans of the patronage systems have naturally condemned it. Those; who do not un-derstand-dtirmeaning mistmstitr or, when disappointed because, in its present stage, it is not applied to every real or imaginary ill, accuse thosejeharged with its enforcement with faithlessness to civil service reform. Its importance has frequently been underestimated, and the support of good men has thus been dost by their lack of interest in its success. Besides all d&wa diflfenlties,-those -responsible for the administration of the Government in ita executive branches have been, and still are, often annoyed and irritated by the disloyalty to the service and the insolence aFeniployes who remain in place

as the beneficiaries and the relics or reminders of the vicious system of appointment which civil service reform wairinteded to displace. And yet these are but the incidents of an advance movement, which is radical and far-reaching. The people are, notwithstanding, to be congratulated upon the progress which has been made, and upon the firm, practical and sensible foundation upon wnich this reform now rests. With a continuation of the intelligent fidelity which lias hitherto characterized the work of the commission, with a continuation and increase of the favor jind liberty which have lately been evinced by Congress in the proper equipment of the commision for its work, with a firm but conservative and reasonable support of the reform by all its friends, and with the disappearance of (lie opposition which must inevitably follow its better understanding, the execution of the civil service law cafthot fail to ultimately answer the hopes in which it had its origin.

GROVER CLEVELAND,

Executive Mansion, July 23. 1878.