these extraordinary pieces, it is doubtful if even Prince John B. Magruder himself could have avoided the demoralizing effect of this back-action; and it would not be said to-day that the Army of the Potomac sat down for four weeks making cautious scientific approaches on that little division of his!

The science of war and fortification could have been laid aside with "the shovel and the hoe," we could have put Barry and Hunt on picket with the "Boomerang Spankers," and about half the infantry could have gone on furlough with the Committee on the Conduct of the War.

"POINT BLANK,"

Late Maj.-Gen. U. S. Volunteers.

A CLERK'S VIEW OF CIVIL SERVICE

REFORM.

To prevent the use of the civil service for partisan purposes, to insure a high degree of efficiency in its work, and to place its employés on a just and equitable footing, are the chief objects to be gained by civil service reform. The constant agitation of the subject for the past few years, and the evident earnest desire of the best class of citizens that the "spoils system" should be abolished, bore fruit in the enactment of what is known as the Pendleton Civil Service Act. By this law the extortion of money from government employés is made a criminal offense, and appointments to certain clerkships are required to be made from those who have passed a competitive examination, and without regard to politics. These clerkships are thus raised above the plane of politics, and, as ascertained fitness is the basis of appointment, the efficiency of the service is materially increased. But the Pendleton Act was only intended as a forerunner of further legislation. What that legislation should be, viewed from a clerk's position, I shall briefly consider.

The first and greatest necessity observable from this stand-point is that a law governing discharges from office, and placing them beyond the individual caprice of the head of a department, should be enacted. Not only is it impossible that the employés be placed upon a just footing without such a law, but the highest possible degree of efficiency in the work of the civil service cannot be attained, nor can it be rendered entirely and completely non-partisan. The law, as it now stands, limits the power of the appointment, and as a political friend cannot be selected in his place, the motive for discharging a political enemy is to some extent removed, but only to a limited extent; for, although a friend may not come into office, an enemy is sure to go out of office. It would be singular, indeed, if the possibility of another political appointment coming in should counterbalance the certainty of one going out. It may be asserted, however, that the head of an executive department cannot carry on its business effectively unless his subordinates are in sympathy with himself, and hold views similar to his own. But the secretary does not make his department, nor does he pay the clerks

who are under him. The duties of the latter, like his own, are prescribed by law, and it is the business of the secretary to see that the clerks perform their duties as the law intends they should. While some of them may hold political views directly opposite to his own, and may be outspoken in their expression, this cannot detract in any way from their usefulness as clerks. What is to prevent a secretary discharging all those clerks in his department who differ with him politically? What is to prevent his using his power of removal, now unlimited, as a means of intimidating them into voting as he chooses? Why should he not select his strongest political opponents for dismissal, although they may be the best clerks? Under the civil service law as it now stands there is no check to this power, and, as a consequence, we must look for more or less of partisan dismissals with each change of administration. For it must be borne in mind that, while the object of the Civil Service Act is to render the offices it applies to non-partisan, the heads of the departments are, from the very nature of our politics, almost invariably strong party men. To the credit of the present administration it must be said that such arbitrary and unjust dismissals as I have alluded to have been few, but this is a result reflecting credit on the administration alone.

Until the employés are protected by law from capricious removal by their official superiors, the highest possible degree of efficiency in the government work cannot be attained; for the best class of men will not be likely to present themselves before the Civil Service Examiners. for admission into a service they are so liable to be discharged from. The consequence of a law governing discharges would be vastly to improve the personnel of the civil service, and, as a result, the character of its work.

It has been asserted as a reason for the omission of a law affecting discharges, that it would interfere with the constitutional power of the Executive. If this be true, then it necessarily follows that a law restricting appointments must be also unconstitutional, and the Pendleton Act is of no value.

It seems almost superfluous to add a word showing the injustice inflicted on the government clerks, by this omission. Their tenure of office is most precarious. They are permitted to feast at the government tables only with the drawn sword of dismissal above them, suspended by the slenderest thread, which may be broken at any moment and without the slightest warning. A hasty word, the machinations of a hidden enemy, a fancied transgression of rule, may be taken as sufficient cause for removal. The victim is afforded no opportunity for defense; he is rarely informed of the charges against him, but in an instant, at one stroke, he finds himself officially decapitated. A system of terrorism is thus always prevalent, and it has bred among a large number of government clerks a slavish spirit of sycophancy and toady

ism incompatible with true American manliness. It would be singular if this were not the case; and, as an instance bearing on the point, I mention that it is not long since a certain clerk was discharged because of an opinion (reported by an eavesdropper to the bureau chief) expressed to another in the street.

What provisions a law of discharges should contain it would be presumption in me to more than hint at. Disobedience of orders, bad habits, irregularity, incompetence, are, when established against a clerk, sufficient ground for his removal. Offensive partisanship, too, when that at present elastic expression shall have been compressed into some definite shape, should also be included.

So far, legislation for the civil service has not dealt with the question of improvement of the clerk's position. This is excusable, as those who were in office when the Civil Service Act was passed were, with but few exceptions, results of the "spoils system," petty politicians appointed because of small party services, hangers-on of influential men, persistent needy wire-pullers. That such men should profit by a law enacted for those who receive their offices because they are especially qualified to fill them would be unreasonable. But the political party to which the former clerks owed their places has passed out of power, and a new party has come in, armed with the necessary implements for weeding out the bad clerks. In July next, when a new civil service law would go into effect, this party will have been in power over half of its allotted four years. Now, then, is the time to consider what shall be done, in order that the new clerks who owe their places to no party, and the old clerks who have retained their places in spite of an opposing party, shall be placed where changes of party cannot affect them.

GAILLARD HUNT,

Clerk Class 1, U. S. Pension Office.

PATRICK FOLEY, LANDSMAN.

THE place is Panama, and the time noon of a blazing September day. The shadeless plaza would be entirely deserted were it not for the presence of a shabbily-dressed, sunburnt man, whose ambling gait, and-tarand-paint-smeared garments bear testimony that he is a follower of the sea. Regardless of the sun's heat, he walks slowly across the plaza from the vicinity of the Grand Hotel, pausing finally, as though to get his bearings, in the little star-shaped spot of shade underneath the solitary palm-tree that stands, or used to stand, near the monument which keeps alive the name of Tomas Herara. When satisfied as to his course, he continues on down the narrow street that leads to the custom-house landing, looking at each door as he passes, as though in search of some sign to which he had been directed. The street is not long, and he soon finds the object of his search, which proves to be the oval board which Americans see so often in foreign towns, having painted upon it the distorted eagle, holding a ribbon in his mouth, upon which appears this legend, "Consulate of the United States of America."

After ascending the narrow flight of stairs and explaining his mission to the clerks in the first office, our seaman was admitted into the inner office, where the consul sat dozing in his chair, and wondering why he had ever applied for the Panama consulate. Removing his woolen cap, and making vigorous use of it at once to wipe the perspiration from his face, the stranger remarked, with an accent that showed him to be a son of Erin,

"It's a hot day, sorr."

"Yes," said the consul, assuming his brisk office manner. can I do for you?"

"What

"Me name is Foley, sorr, Patrick Foley, an' I comes to ye for help. I belong to the British ship 'Ganges,' just here from Liverpool, and I wants ye to lock the captain up; he's been abusin' me all the

"Are you an American citizen ?" asked the consul.

"Me home? Why, yer honor, I am a sailor, and I have no home, barrin' me ship; leastwise none to speak of."