Carl Schurz

“ One is the democratic quality of the competitive principle upon which the merit system is based. The artful pretence of the spoils politicians, that the examinations as they are held under the civil service law give college-bred men an undue advantage over all others, and are therefore calculated to impart to the public service an aristocratic character, has long been exploded by statistics proving that where the merit system was in force not more than ten per cent. ”

“ It is a well-known fact that persons who want things to which their title is questionable are apt to become the most prolific letter-writers; and if the members of Congress who hear so much from the enemies of civil service reform would only publish the names of their correspondents, it would at once become manifest how little these deserve to be called “the people.” ”

“ The ignorant and flippant recklessness with which they misrepresent the effects of the merit system cannot fail to convince any candid mind that they have nothing in view but the distribution of spoils among their hangers-on, no matter how the public interest may suffer. ”

“ The brutal cynicism with which certain Republican Senators and Representatives kick aside the solemn pledges of their party contained in its national platforms for a quarter of a century — pledges upon which the party has constantly asked for the votes of the people — shocks the popular conscience. ”

“ It is therefore the declared policy of the friends of civil service reform to secure, wherever possible, the submission of the embodiment of the merit system in State constitutions and in municipal charters to the popular vote, with the full confidence that the system needs only full and fair discussion to secure for it the approval of the sound sense and the patriotism of good citizens. ”

“ Indeed, the assailants of the merit system in Congress will have no reason to be surprised if before long they hear something very disagreeable to them from “the people” whose approbation of their course they claim with such noisy assurance. ”

“ They prove only that a number of persons who have long been anxious to get to the public crib without passing the examinations prescribed by the civil service law are now shouting more loudly than ever before, because they think that if their present chance pass away they will never have another ”