164 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



tional legislation in this regard will be deemed de- 

 sirable until the effect of existing laws shall be more 

 closely observed and studied. 



I congratulate you that the commissioners, under 

 whose supervision those laws have been put in opera- 

 tion, are encouraged to believe that the evil at which 

 they are aimed may be suppressed without resort to 

 such radical measures as in some quarters have been 

 thought indispensable for success. 



The close relation of the General Government to the 

 Territories preparing to be great States may well en- 

 gage your special attention. It is there that the Indian 

 disturbances mainly occur, and that polygamy has 

 found room for its growth. I can not doubt that a 

 careful survey of Territorial legislation would be of 

 the highest utility. Life and property would become 

 more secure. The liability of outbreaks between In- 

 dians and whites would be lessened. The public 

 domain would be more securely guarded and better 

 progress be made in the instruction of the young. 



Alaska is still without any form of civil govern- 

 ment. If means were provided for the education of 

 its people and for the protection of their lives and 



g'operty, the immense resources of the region would 

 vite permanent settlements and open new fields for 

 industry and enterprise. 



The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture pre- 

 sents an account of the labors of that department dur- 

 ing the past year, and includes information of much 

 interest to the general public. 



The condition of the forests of the country and the 

 wasteful manner in which their destruction is taking 

 place give cause for serious apprehension. Their 

 action in protecting the earth's surface, in modifying 

 the extremes of climate, and in regulating and sustain- 

 ing the flow of springs and streams, is now well under- 

 stood, and their importance in relation to the growth 

 and prosperity of the country can not be safely disre- 

 garded. They are fast disappearing before destructive 

 fires and the legitimate requirements of our increasing 

 population, and their total extinction can not be long 

 delayed unless better methods than now prevail shall 

 be adopted for their protection and cultivation. The 

 attention of Congress is invited to the necessity of ad- 

 ditional legislation to secure the preservation of the 

 valuable forests still remaining on the public domain, 

 especially in the extreme western States and Terri- 

 tories, where the necessity for their preservation is 

 greater than in less mountainous regions, and where 

 the prevailing dryness of the climate renders their 

 restoration, ifthey are once destroyed, well-nigh im- 

 possible. 



The communication which I made to Congress at its 

 first session in December last contained a somewhat 

 full statement of my sentiments in relation to the 

 principles and rules which ought to govern appoint- 

 ments to public service. 



Eeferring to the various plans which had thereto- 

 fore been 'the subject of discussion in the National 

 Legislature (plans which in the main were modeled 

 upon the system which obtains in Great Britain, but 

 which lacked certain of the prominent features whereby 

 that system is distinguished), I felt bound to intimate 

 my doubts whether they, or any of them, would afford 

 adequate remedy for the evils which they aimed to 

 correct. 



I declared, nevertheless, that if the proposed meas- 

 ures should prove acceptable to Congress they would 

 receive the unhesitating support of the Executive. 



Since these suggestions were submitted for your 

 consideration there has been no legislation upon the 

 subject to which they relate : but there has meanwhile 

 been an increase in the public interest in that subject ; 

 and the people of the country, apparently without 

 distinction of party, have in various ways and upon 

 frequent occasions given expression to their earnest 

 wish for prompt and definite action. In my judgment 



I may add that my own sense of its pressing im- 

 portance has been quickened by observation of a 



practical phase of the matter, to which attention has 

 more than once been called by my predecessors. 



The civil list now comprises about 100,000 persons, 

 far the larger part of whom must, under the terms of 

 the Constitution, be selected by the President, either 

 directly or through his own appointees. 



In the early years of the administration of the Gov- 

 ernment the personal direction of appointments to the 

 civil service may not have been an irksome task for 

 the Executive ; but now that the burden has increased 

 fully a hundred-fold it has become greater than he 

 ought to bear, and it necessarily diverts his time and 

 attention from the proper discharge of other duties no 

 less delicate and responsible, and which, in the very 

 nature of things, can not be delegated to other hands. 

 ' In the judgment of not a few who have given study 

 and reflection to this matter, the nation has outgrown 

 the provisions which the Constitution has established 

 for filling the minor offices in the public service. 



But whatever may be thought of the wisdom or ex- 

 pediency of changing the fundamental law in this re- 

 gard, it is certain that much relief may be afforded, 

 not only to the President and to the heads of the de- 

 partments, but to Senators and Representatives in 

 Congress, by discreet legislation. They would be 

 protected in a great measure by the bill now pending 

 before the Senate, or by any other which should em- 

 body its important features, from the pressure of per- 

 sonal importunity and from the labor of examining 

 conflicting claims and pretensions of candidates. 



I trust that before the close of the present session 

 some decisive action may be taken for the correction 

 of the evils which inhere in the present methods of 

 appointment, and I assure you of my hearty co- 

 operation in any measures which are likely to conduce 

 to that end. 



As to the most appropriate term and tenure of the 

 official life of the subordinate employes of the Govern- 

 ment, it seems to be generally agreed that whatever 

 their extent or character, the one should be definite 

 and the other stable, and that neither should be regu- 

 lated by zeal in the service of party or fidelity to the 

 fortunes of an individual. 



It matters little to the people at large what compe- 

 tent person is at the head of this department or of that 

 bureau, if they feel assured that the removal of one 

 and the accession of another will not involve the re- 

 tirement of honest and faithful subordinates, whose 

 duties are purely administrative and have no legiti- 

 mate connection with the triumph of any political prin- 

 ciples or the success of any political party or faction. 

 It is to this latter class of officers that the Senate bill, 

 to which I have already referred, exclusively applies. 



While neither that bill nor any other prominent 

 scheme for improving the civil service concerns the 

 higher grade of officials, who are appointed by the 

 President and confirmed by the Senate, I feel bound 

 to correct a prevalent misapprehension as to the 

 frequency with which the present Executive has dis- 

 placed the incumbent of an office and appointed 

 another in his stead. 



It has been repeatedly alleged that he has in this 

 particular signally departed from the course which has 

 been pursued under recent administrations of the Gov- 

 ernment. The facts are as follow : 



The whole number of executive appointments during 

 the four years immediately preceding Mr. Garfield's 

 accession' to the presidency was 2,696. 



Of this number, 244, or 9 per cent., involved the re- 

 moval of previous incumbents. 



The ratio of removals to the whole number of ap- 

 pointments was much the same during each of those 

 four years. 



In the first year, with 790 appointments, there were 

 74 removals, or 9-3 per cent. ; in the second, with 917 

 appointments, there were 85 removals, or 8'5 per 

 cent. ; in the third, with 480 appointments, there were 

 48 removals, or 10 per cent. ; in the fourth, with 429 

 appointments, there were 37 removals, or 8'6 per cent. 

 In the four months of President Garfield's adminis- 



