Carl Schurz

“ I will not say that there are not politicians left who, seeking to build up political machines or to reward henchmen and finding the merit system in their way, will denounce it as a nuisance; or office-seekers who, unable to pass a civil service examination, find the competition rule woefully un-American. ”

“ The President may be ever so scrupulous in scrutinizing the reasons for suspending, in behalf of any individual, a rule which is recognized as just and necessary, yet a single case in which the suspension of the rule was not unavoidable in the interest of the service, will throw suspicion on the whole practice, and the charge of favoritism, personal or political, will not only be made, but it will be very widely believed. ”

“ Even that appeal to indolent conservatism which at the beginning of the reform movement was so dangerously effective and discouraging—I mean the argument that, while civil service reform might be a good and desirable thing, the spoils system was so deeply imbedded in the political habits and ways of thinking of the American people that the attempt to uproot it was utterly hopeless—has, because of its evident futility, fallen into disuse and almost disappeared from people's memory. ”

“ The theoretical discussion of the question, whether the merit system or the spoils system is to be preferred as to its effect upon the honesty and efficiency of the public service, as well as upon our political life generally, may be considered as closed. The intelligence of the country, enlightened by practical experience, has, I think, pronounced its judgment in favor of the merit system so overwhelmingly that further argument of a speculative nature seems no longer needed. ”

“ Reading the statement of the reasons given for the various suspensions of the rules, my mind received the impression—and I expect this will be the impression received by the average reader—that, while there are a few cases in which extraordinary action may have been called for to secure men of exceptional qualifications for certain official positions, and while the President, in taking such extraordinary action, has been actuated by the best of motives, the whole proceeding bears in some important respects a striking resemblance to the distribution of places under the spoils system. ”

“ Hardly anybody was ever punished or seriously held to account for ever so flagrant a breach of the civil service law, and appointing officers came to understand that they could do pretty much as they pleased, which not a few of them did, as if not civil service law had been in existence. ”

“ How, in such cases, the interest of the public may be best served or substantial justice may be done without injury to the integrity of the merit system and without subjecting the appointing power to the suspicion of arbitrary action or of favoritism, is one of the complicated questions on which there may well be a difference of opinion. ”

“ And as to the very few instances in which the men of extraordinary qualifications needed for a particular place could really not be obtained by the ordinary competitive process, I doubt not that the ingenuity of the Civil Service Commission will be able to find a method of making proper appointments possible in a regular way, without exposing them to the least possible suspicion of arbitrariness or partiality. ”

“ It is one of the most fundamental principles of the merit system that appointments to places in the classified service, under the competition rule, shall not be made at the arbitrary will of the appointing power, but solely on the ground of merit, as shown by open competitive examination supplemented by practical probation during a certain period. ”

“ And the larger the number of such applications grows, the less will the President be able to give each case his personal attention, the more will he have to depend upon the advice given him by his subordinates high and low—some of whom may not be nearly as conscientious in such things as he is himself—and the more certainly will the new practice slide into the old ruts of the spoils system with its questionable recommendations, and petitions, and appeals and intrigues. ”

“ The Administration would thereby add to the many excellent things it has already done for the cause of civil service reform another one, and, indeed, one no less important than any of them, and thus encourage the hope, which we all confidently cherish, that it will carry the work as far onward as Executive action can carry it. ”

“ It is, therefore, supremely important that whatever may be calculated to weaken that popular confidence be carefully avoided, and that in this respect even appearance creating suspicion must be regarded as hardly less dangerous than evil practice. ”

“ The contagion will inevitably spread to the government offices throughout the country, and the President will be crowded with requests for suspensions of the rules from Collectors of Customs and Collectors of the Internal Revenue, and Postmasters and other heads of government establishments, whenever they want for one reason or another to place some particular person in some particular berth and find the civil service rules in their way. ”

“ Under such circumstances we have to console ourselves with the reflection that nothing human is absolutely perfect, and that it will generally be better to bear such imperfections and to seek proper remedies with patience than precipitately to resort to medicines, the effect of which will be far worse than the troubles originally complained of. ”

“ It is evident that in this respect hardly anything can be more questionable, more liable to an unfavorable interpretation than the suspensions of the rules in favor of, or for the benefit of, certain selected individuals. The appointing power will have to satisfy public opinion that the suspension of the rules has taken place in the public interest, and not in the interest of favored individuals. ”

“ Neither did the practice of suspending the rules prove itself reliable, in more important instances, in the appointment of better officers than could otherwise have been obtained. Under President McKinley's administration the rules were suspended for such purpose three times, and two of those suspensions resulted in the preferment of men who a short time afterwards found themselves under indictment for fraudulent practices in the Post-Office Department. ”

“ The shortest way to solve the difficulty is no doubt that the President should take each case of that kind in hand, form his judgment upon it, and, if he finds that what he thinks the best thing to do cannot be done under a strict enforcement of the rules as to this special case, order action according to his judgment. ”

“ It appears from those records that in several cases the rules were suspended for the purpose of securing the services of men peculiarly qualified for the discharge of certain special duties—their special qualification being attested either by the authority of learned bodies or by persons considered trustworthy, or by evidences of expert knowledge. ”