STATEMENTS

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON CIVIL SERVICE AND RETRENCHMENT,

UNITED STATES SENATE,

ON THE

BILL (S. NO. 133) TO REGULATE AND IMPROVE THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES; AND THE BILL (S. NO. 939) PROVIDING FOR ENTRANCE INTO AND PROMOTION IN THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT BY COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION.

A bill to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States.

[Introduced by Mr. Pendleton, December 6, 1881.]

Whereas common justice requires that, so far as practicable, all citizens duly qualifed shall be allowed equal opportunities, on grounds of personal fitness, for securing appointments, employment, and promotion in the subordinate civil service of the United States; and

Whereas justice to the public likewise requires that the government shall have the largest choice among those likely to answer the requirements of the public service;

and

Whereas justice, as well as economy, efficiency, and integrity in the public service, will be promoted by substituting open and uniform competitive examinations for the examinations heretofore held in pursuance of the statutes of eighteen hundred and fifty-three and eighteen hundred and fifty-five: Therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is authorized to designate and employ five persons, not more than three of whom shall be adherents of the same party, as Civil Service Commissioners, and said five commissioners shall constitute the United States Civil Service Commission. Three of said commissioners shall hold no other official place under the United States, and the other two shall be experienced officers in the public service in Washington, but not in the same department, and shall remain commissioners no longer than they remain in the public service in some department and reside in the District of Columbia.

The President may remove any commissioner for good cause, after allowing him an opportunity for making an explanation in answer to any charges against him, such cause to be stated in writing in the order of removal, which shall be filed with the Secretary of State; but no removal shall be made by reason of opinions or party affiliations; and any vacancy in the position of commissioner shall be so filled by the President as to conform to said conditions for the first selection of commissioners. The three commissioners required not to hold any other official place shall each receive a salary of three thousand five hundred dollars a year, and the two members holding some other public office shall each receive a salary of five hundred dollars a year in addition to their respective salaries in said office. And each of said commissioners shall be paid his necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of his duty as a

commissioner.

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of said commission:

First. To advise and submit to the President for his approval and promulgation, from time to time, suitable rules, and to suggest appropriate action, for making this act effective; and when so approved and promulgated it shall be the duty of all officers of United States in the departments and offices to which any such rales may relate to

aid, in all proper ways, in carrying said rules, and any modifications thereof, into ef

fect.

Second. And, among other things, said rules shall provide and declare, as nearly as the conditions of good administration will warrant, as follows:

First, for open, competitive examinations for testing the capacity of applicants for the public service now classified or to be classified hereunder ;

Second, that all the offices, places, and employments so arranged or to be arranged in classes shall be filled by selections from among those graded highest as the results of such competitive examinations;

Third, that original entrance to the public service aforesaid shall be at the lowest grade;

Fourth, that there shall be a period of probation before any absolute appointment or employment aforesaid;

Fifth, that promotions shall be from the lower grades to the higher on the basis of merit and competition;

Sixth, that no person in the public service is for that reason under any obligation to contribute to any political fund, or to render any political service, and that he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so;

Seventh, that no person in said service has any right to use his official authority or influence to coerce the political action of any person or body;

Eighth, there shall be non-competitive examinations in all proper cases before the commission, when competition may not be found practicable;

Ninth, that notice shall be given in writing to said commission of the persons selected for appointment or employment from among those who have been examined, of the rejection of any such persons after probation, and of the date thereof, and a record of the same shall be kept by said commission.

And any necessary exceptions from said nine fundamental provisions of the rules shall be set forth in connection with such rules, and the reasons therefor shall be stated in the annual reports of the commission.

Third. Said commission shall make regulations for, and have control of, such examinations, and, through its members or the examiners, it shall supervise and preserve the records of the same; and said commission shall keep minutes of its own proceedings. Fourth. Said commission may make investigations concerning the facts, and may report upon all matters touching the enforcement and effects of said rules and regulations, and concerning the action of any examiner or board of examiners, and its own subordinates, and those in the public service, in respect to the execution of this act. Fifth. Said commission shall make an annual report to the President for transmission to Congress, showing its own action, the rules and regulations and the exception thereto in force, the practical effects thereof, and any suggestions it may approve for the more effectual accomplishment of the purpose of this act.

SEC. 3. That said commission is authorized to employ a chief examiner, who may also be the secretary of the commission, a part of whose duty it shall be, under its direction, to act with the examining boards, so far as practicable, whether at Washington or elsewhere, and to secure accuracy, uniformity, and justice in all their proceedings, which shall be at all times open to him.

After an opportunity of being heard in explanation of any charge against him, he may be removed by the commission for cause, to be entered on its minutes, and successor appointed. The chief examiner shall be entitled to receive a salary at the rate of four thousand dollars a year, and he shall be paid his necessary traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of his duty.

The commission is also authorized to employ a stenographer and copyist, who shall be entitled to receive a salary of sixteen hundred dollars a year, and may be removed and a successor appointed as is provided as to the chief examiner. The commission may also engage the services of a messenger, at a salary of six hundred dollars a year, and may dismiss the same at pleasure.

The commission may, at Washington, and in any other part of the country where examinations are to take place, designate and select a suitable number of persons in the official service of the United States, after consulting the head of the department or office in which such person serves, to be members of boards of examiners, and may at any time substitute any other person in such service in the place of any one so selected.

And any person so selected shall be entitled, during the period he shall serve on any such board, to receive a compensation for such service at a rate not exceeding five hundred dollars a year in addition to his regular salary in the public service; the amount of such additional compensation to be approved by the President, but the whole of such additional compensation which shall be authorized to be paid in any one year to all the examiners shall not exceed ten thousand dollars. It shall be the duty of the collector, postmaster, and other officers of the United States, at any place outside of the District of Columbia where examinations are directed by the President

or by said board to be held, to allow the reasonable use of the public buildings for holding such examinations, and in all proper ways to facilitate the same.

SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to cause suitable and convenient rooms and accommodations to be assigned or provided, and to be furnished, heated, and lighted, at the city of Washington, for carrying on the work of said commission and said examinations, and to cause the necessary stationery and other articles to be supplied, and the necessary printing to be done for said commission. And the cost and expense thereof, and the several salaries, compensations, and necessary expenses herein before mentioned, upon the same being stated in detail and verified by affidavit, shall be paid from any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SEC. 5. That any said commissioner, examiner, copyist, or messenger, or any person in the public service who shall willfully and corruptly, by himself or in co-operation with one or more other persons, defeat, deceive, or obstruct any person in respect of his or her right of examination according to any such rules or regulations, or who shall willfully, corruptly, and falsely mark, grade, estimate, or report upon the examination or proper standing of any person examined hereunder, or aid in so doing, or who shall willfully and corruptly make any false representations concerning the same or concerning the person examined, or who shall willfully and corruptly furnish to any person any special or secret information for the purpose of either improving or injaring the prospects or chances of any person so examined, or to be examined, being appointed, employed, or promoted, shall for each such offense be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not less than ten days nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SEC. 6. That within sixty days after the passage of this act it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury, in as near conformity as may be to the classification of certain clerks now existing under the one hundred and sixty-third section of the Revised Statutes, to arrange in classes the several clerks and persons employed by the collector, naval officer, surveyor, and appraisers, or either of them, or being in the public service, at their respective offices in each customs district where the whole number of said clerks and persons shall be altogether as many as fifty. And thereafter, from time to time, on the request of the President, said Secretary shall make the like classification or arrangement of clerks and persons so employed, in connection with any said office or offices, in any other customs district. And, upon like request, and for the purposes of this act, said Secretary shall arrange in one or more of said classes, or of existing classes, any other clerks, agents, or persons employed under his department in any said district not now classified; and every such arrangement and classification upon being made shall be reported to the President.

Second. Within the said sixty days it shall be the duty of the Postmaster-General, in general conformity to said one hundred and sixty-third section, to separately arrange in classes the several clerks and persons employed, or in the public service, at each post-office or under any postmaster of the United States where the whole number of said clerks and persons shall together amount to as many as fifty. And thereafter, from time to time, on the request of the President, it shall be the duty of the Postmaster-General to arrange in like classes the clerks and persons so employed in the postal service in connection with any other post-office; and every such arrangement and classification upon being made shall be reported to the President.

Third. That from time to time said Secretary, the Postmaster-General, and each of the heads of departments mentioned in the one hundred and fifty-eighth section of the Revised Statutes, and each head of an office shall, on the request of the President, and for facilitating the execution of this act, respectively revise any then existing classification or arrangement of those in their respective departments and offices, and shall, for the purposes of the examination herein provided for, include in one or more of such classes, so far as practicable, subordinate places, clerks, and officers in the publie service pertaining to their respective departments not before classified for exami

nation.

SEC. 7. That after the expiration of four months from the passage of this act no officer or clerk shall be appointed, and no person shall be employed to enter or be promoted in either of the said classes now existing, or that may be arranged hereunto pursuant to said rules, until he has passed an examination, or is shown to be specially exempted from such examination in conformity herewith.

Bat nothing herein contained shall be construed to take from those honorably discharged from the military or naval service any preference conferred by the seventeen hundred and fifty-fourth section of the Revised Statutes, nor to take from the President any authority not inconsistent with this act conferred by the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of said statutes; nor shall any officer not in the executive branch of the government, or any person merely employed as a laborer or workman, be required to be classified hereunder; nor, unless by direction of the Senate, shall any person who has been nominated for confirmation by the Senate be required to be classified or

to pass an examination.

AMENDMENT intended to be proposed by Mr. Ingalls.

After line 19, section 2, insert:

And shall be apportioned among the several States upon the basis of population as ascertained at the last preceding census.

A BILL (S. 939) providing for entrance into and promotion in the civil service of the government by competitive examination.

[Introduced by Mr. Dawes, January 24, 1882.]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every application for appointment to a position in the civil service of the government shall be in the handwriting of the applicant, and be addressed to the head of the department in which service is sought, and shall state the date and place of birth of the applicant, his legal residence, and his previous occupation. It shall be accompanied by no recommendation from any other person, except as to the personal character of the applicant, and shall contain or disclose no political opinion or affiliation of such applicant.

SEC. 2. That applications for appointment in the departments in Washington will be received only for appointments to clerkships of class one, and to places of the compensation of one thousand two hundred dollars or under a year. These appointments are open to competition to any citizen of the United States, male or female. Vacancies in offices in the departments above class one, or in those of higher compensation than one thousand two hundred dollars a year, shall be filled by competitive examination, under rules and regulations to be approved and promulgated by the President, from among applicants already in the service in the departments; but if no such applicant be found qualified and fitted, upon a competitive examination of all such applicants, the vacancies shall be filled by competitive examination open to all citizens, in conformity with the provisions of this act for admissions to offices in the departments not above the grade of class one, or of one thousand two hundred dollars a year. The head of the department may, at his discretion, open to competition exclusively by women the vacancies occuring in offices of the rate of compensation of nine hundred dollars a year; but all admissions to that grade or class of compensation shall be by competitive examination under the rules prescribed by this act.

SEC. 3. That applications for appointment in custom-houses, post-offices, and other offices connected with the civil service can be received only for places of the compensation of one thousand two hundred dollars a year or under; and vacancies in offices above class one, or above the salary of one thousand two hundred dollars a year, shall be filled from among clerks applying who are already in the service, if any such applicants shall be found competent upon a competitive examination of all such appli, cants, conducted in accordance with the provisions for admission to the lowest grade; but if no such applicant shall be found qualified and fitted upon such examinationthe vacancies shall be filled on a like examination open to all citizens applying in manner provided in this act.

SEC. 4. That the President shall designate in each of the executive departments three persons to act as a board of examiners, which board shall, until changed by him, conduct all examinations for admission into or promotion in said departments, under rules and regulations to be approved and promulgated by him.

SEC. 5. That the provisions of this act shall apply to custom-houses, post-offices, and all other bureaus and offices connected with the civil service in which more than twenty persons are employed; and the head of the department which controls such customhouse, bureau, or office may designate a board, to consist of one of the board of examiners in such department and two others employed in any such post-office, customhouse, or office not situated in the city of Washington, to conduct the examinations provided for in this act.

SEC. 6. That the times and places for all such examinations shall be fixed, and such rules and regulations for the conduct thereof shall be made, subject to approval and promulgation by the President, as shall be best calculated to disclose, so far as possible, the fitness of all applicants for the service sought, including, among other things, personal integrity, good habits, industry, temper, patience, and special aptitude for the service required; but no disclosure of political opinion or affiliation shall be required or permitted.

SEC. 7. That every person thus examined shall be marked and graded accordingly, and the appointments shall be made from among the three highest on the list of those so examined, marked, and graded.

SEC. 8. That the appointment of all persons entering the civil service in accordance with these regulations shall be made for a probationary term of six months, during which the conduct, fitness, and capacity of such persons shall be tested, and if at the ed of said probationary term satisfactory proof of their fitness shall have been fur