196 



CONGRESS. (TaE CENSUS BUREAU.) 



me that it will be a saving of money by estab- 

 lishing the bureau as proposed in this bill. 



" When the director of the census first suggest- 

 ed this matter, he called the attention of the 

 members of our committee to the extravagant 

 expenditure of money in establishing some .of 

 the subheads in this bureau; and I violate no 

 confidence in calling the attention of members 

 of this House to the fact that in taking the 

 agricultural census alone there was an expendi- 

 ture of $600,000 more than would be required 

 under a trained force of clerks for the same 

 work. 



" As was stated by the director of the twelfth 

 census, not a person, from the highest officer 

 down to the lowest clerk, had any specific knowl- 

 edge upon the subject that would enable him to 

 properly and economically plan the work and 

 then see that it was properly executed. It was 

 only by experience, groping in this direction first, 

 and then in that, they were enabled to gather 

 statistics and make a report as required by law; 

 and it is by reason of such experience, had in this 

 special department of the bureau itself, that the 

 director came to the conclusion that in the in- 

 terest of economy alone it was important to the 

 interests of the Government of the United States 

 that a bureau of this character be established." 



The main point of discussion was the provision 

 in the bill as reported making permanent the ap- 

 pointment of employees already engaged in census 

 work temporarily, and putting them under the 

 civil-service rules. This occasioned some contro- 

 versy, and the civil-service law came in for harsh 

 criticism in both houses. In the Senate Mr. 

 Stewart, of Nevada, said: 



" Mr. President, while this matter of putting 

 clerks who have been in the service under the 

 protection of the civil service is before the Sen- 

 ate, I desire to put myself on record as being 

 totally opposed to the present method of securing 

 service in the departments. It has an element in 

 it which in all ages, so far as we have any record, 

 has led to unfair means and, perhaps, corruption. 

 It has the element of secrecy about it. The pub- 

 lic at large, although a few people may know it, 

 do not know how a person gets into office 

 through the civil service. They do not know upon 

 what basis they are marked ; they do not know 

 how they are selected, and how it is all done. 

 This undoubtedly could be explained if the people 

 had access to the information, but they have not. 

 It is all much of a mystery. Thousands of peo- 

 ple have made trial to get in, have been exam- 

 ined, and they are now on the waiting list. 



" I do not believe that this is the best way to 

 select men for office. I think we should bring 

 to bear some of the practical experience that 

 great corporations the railroad companies, who 

 are so successful in the management of their 

 affairs use in selecting their employees. There 

 should be more attention paid to the effectiveness 

 of the parties in the particular line. Six months 

 or a year of service is a great deal better test 

 than any casual examination. There are a great 

 many questions which are entirely irrelevant. 

 Some persons can not get in who make the best 

 and most efficient clerks. They can not answer 

 these far-fetched questions; they are not right 

 from school. 



" As I said, we have thousands of people on 

 the waiting list. I do not believe in the system 

 at all. The great objection to the system is that 

 the people do not know how it is done. 



" I believe that every man is naturally honest ; 

 but he can only be kept so by publicity. Where 

 there is secrecy, there is always a chance for 



fraud and an opportunity to go into fraud. 

 There is undoubtedly favoritism. We hear of it 

 every day. The people are constantly talking 

 about this service. It is a mystery to them. I 

 believe in that portion of the civil service which 

 retains competent and meritorious officials. I do 

 not believe in them being turned out every time 

 a new administration comes into power. 



" The mode of selecting these officials is, I think, 

 entirely defective. The old mode, which was 

 called ' the spoils system,' had some defects, but 

 it was better in many respects than the present, 

 and secured for the Government better clerks. 

 Before the civil service was inaugurated there was 

 a chance for the departments to secure good 

 clerks, for the reason that the heads of the de- 

 partments had more discretion in the selection; 

 but it was defective by reason of the fact that it 

 permitted Senators and Representatives to make 

 their recommendations orally. If the old system 

 could be corrected and its defects cured by secur- 

 ing publicity, it would give us a most efficient 

 service. 



" So far as this bill is concerned, I have no 

 doubt that the employees who have had experi- 

 ence in the Census Office have been much more 

 fairly examined and have proved their efficiency 

 in a much more satisfactory way than those who 

 have been appointed after examinations which 

 have very little to do with the particular work 

 to which they are to be assigned. If the census 

 clerks should be transferred to other departments, 

 we should get a better class of clerks than we 

 now get under the mysterious system which pre- 

 vails, for many of the civil-service questions are 

 abstract and mysterious and can only be an- 

 swered by those who have just come from col- 

 leges and schools. 'An ordinary man can not an- 

 swer such questions as are propounded. I do not 

 suppose that five members of the Senate could go 

 through a civil-service examination for a clerk- 

 ship in any department. That does not prove 

 the fact that Senators would not make fair clerks 

 that is, those of them who can write well 

 enough but still they could not pass the civil- 

 service examinations. Such examinations, as I 

 have said, can only be passed by those who are 

 fresh from schools and colleges, who have had no 

 experience in clerical work, and who have had 

 no trained habits of work or industry, but who 

 have the education which enables them to answer 

 these conundrums. 



" I do not believe that is the way to get an 

 efficient service. I do not believe there is any 

 railroad company desirous of employing a con- 

 ductor, for instance, who would examine him in 

 astronomy or in botany or in a great many of 

 the things that the Civil-Service Commissioners 

 require. No railroad company would subject a 

 conductor or anybody who was to be placed in 

 an important position on the railroad to any 

 such examination. I think most of the questions 

 asked in these examinations are entirely irrele- 

 vant and relate to matters with which persons 

 will have nothing to do in the event of their 

 appointment, but the persons who have been in 

 the Census Bureau and have proved their effi- 

 ciency will make the best clerks that can be ob- 

 tained for the departments. There is no doubt 

 about that, because they have had the experience 

 and have already undergone such an examination 

 as tended to develop their capacity for this kind 

 of work. The civil-service examinations as they 

 are conducted are of no consequence, and great 

 harm has been done by the thousands who are 

 now on the waiting list being kept out of other 

 employment. This is doing injury to the coun- 



