Compelling Policy Question: When is Civil Service Reform needed?

Policy Case Study:

S. 133 -"to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States" (modified/link to original)

The President is authorized to create the United States Civil Service Commission.

SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the Civil Service Commission to create competitive examinations for testing the fitness of applicants for the public service.

No person in the public service is for that reason under any obligations 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.

Sixth, 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.

SEC. 5. Any person in the public service who shall corruptly obstruct any person in their right to government work, shall be punished by a fine, or by imprisonment.

SEC. 11. No Member of the Government shall solicit or receive any contribution for political purposes.

SEC. 13. No officer or employee of the United States shall discharge, or promote, or degrade, or in any manner change the official rank or pay of any other officer or employee, or promise or threaten so to do, for any political purpose.

SEC. 14. That no person working for the United States shall give to any person any money or other valuable thing to promote any political goal.

Timeline of Spoils System / Gilded Age / Civil Service Reform

1757: After George Washington encouraged people to vote for him colonial Virginia by throwing them a party, the government passed a law making it illegal for candidates to give voters money, meat, drink, or any present.

1828: Andrew Jackson elected President. Under the “Spoils System” he gives his political friends and supporters positions in the Government

1832- In a speech to Senate Marcy William Learned says politicians ”see nothing wrong in the rule, that to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy”

1865 Senator Charles Sumner introduces first Civil Service reform bill. No action taken by Congress

1867:Naval Appropriations bill makes it illegal for government officials to solicit naval yard workers for money.

1969 President Grant’s Brother in Law is involved in the Gold Panic scandal.

1871 Congress creates the United States Civil Service Commission. Its purpose is to make suggestions for Civil Service Reform.

1872 Crédit Mobilier scandal- Railroad company Union Pacific creates Construction Company called Crédit Mobilier. Crédit Mobilier used the construction company to inflate the costs of construction. The Government, who was paying for the construction, paid this. Senators were bribed to make laws that would help the railroad company

1873 William “Boss” Marcy Tweed Trials- Tweed- the head of New York City’s Tammany Hall Political Machine charged with 55 criminal offenses relating to embezzlement of public funds. His organization stole between 20 and 200 million of public funds.

1875- Whiskey Ring -A group of distillers who bribed federal agents to avoid paying millions in whiskey taxes.- President Grant’s private secretary was involved.

1876- Grant’s Secretary of War bribed to sell lucrative Indian trading posts in Oklahoma.

1881 President Garfield Assassinated A lawyer named Charles J. Guiteau gave speeches supporting Garfield for President. He shot Garfield for not giving him a government job.

1881 National Civil Service Reform League is formed

1881 Dorman B. Eaton, Secretary of the National Civil Service Reform League, writes a Civil Service reform bill and Senator Pendleton agrees to sponsor it.

Historical Context:

As with all of the other legislation you are working to craft, S.133 is very much a reflection of a pressing issue of the times, in fact it is in response to what the time is actually known as- the "Gilded Age"

Where did the term Gilded Age Come From? Answer- the Mark Twain & Charles Dudley Warner 1873 book “The Gilded Age” “Gilded Age” referred to the late 19th century. People viewed the Gilded Age as time of greed and lies, when robber barons, money speculators, and corporate pirates used shady business practices and vulgar displays of wealth.

Quote from "The Gilded Age";

"Unless you can get the ear of a Senator and persuade him to use his “influence” in your behalf, you cannot get employment of the most trivial nature in Washington. Mere merit, fitness and capability, are useless baggage to you without ‘influence,’ It would be an odd circumstance to see a girl get employment ... merely because she was worthy and competent, and a good citizen of a free country that “treats all persons alike."

Some terms/phrases to be familiar with:

Gilded: To cover something with a thin layer of gold to make it look valuable.

Graft: Dishonest activity when politicians use their power to get money and benefits.

Patronage: A politician's ability to give jobs or reward s to people for their support

“To the victor goes the spoils”: The “Spoils System” is a political theory that a reward of being a politician is you get to use your power how you want.

Political Machines: A system politicians used to organize their patronage and graft. They were led by a politician known as the “Boss”

Source: Sean M. Theriault , Patronage, the Pendleton Act, and the Power of the People. The Journal Of Politics, Vol. 65, No. 1 2003

Section #1 guiding question: Why do people think the Government needs Civil Service reform?

In 1881, a Democrat Senator from Ohio named George H. Pendleton said in his speech introducing S. 133....

- Source (modified/link to original) (Pendleton's bio).

The administrative offices of the Government impact all Americans. The men best fitted for the work should work in these offices. Yet they are used as political prizes; and are given to political henchmen. This exists in all levels of our Government, from workers on the streets to the President’s Cabinet

This is the spoils system. The name opens up to every man a vision of wrong, injustice, brutality, wastefulness, and fraud, ruining people and political parties. It has driven from public life our country’s greatest ideas and our morals. It fills even the most hopeful mind with sadness for the present and worry of the future.

The idea that 100,000 jobs, paying $100,000,000, are distributed by the President and his men after every election as the rewards of political service or a gift of money, is a crime against civilization.

The love of money and patronage create brutal politics. It makes fair elections impossible. It corrupts the voters.

We must end this system. We must replace it with a system based on the idea that public offices are for the public good; that the fittest men shall run them. This is the merit system. It appoints honest men proven to be the best by fair competition. It would eliminate the brutality of our politics.

In 1881, during President James A. Garfield's Inaugural Address, he said...

Source: (modified/link to original)

After serving in the Union Army, Garfield became a Republican member of Congress from Ohio. In 1880 he was elected President. -the Inaugural address is the first speech a President gives. (biography) sketch below is of Garfield being Inaugurated.

The civil service can never be satisfactory until it is regulated by law. For the good of the service itself, for the protection of those who are entrusted with the appointing power against the waste of time caused by people pressuring them for place, and for the protection of incumbents against intrigue and wrong, I shall ask Congress to fix the civil service problem.

Acting always within the authority and limitations of the Constitution, invading neither the rights of the States nor the reserved rights of the people, it will be the purpose of my Administration to maintain the authority of the nation in all places within its jurisdiction; to enforce obedience to all the laws of the Union in the interests of the people; and to require the honest and faithful service of all executive officers, remembering that the offices were created, not for the benefit of incumbents or their supporters, but for the service of the Government.

And now, fellow-citizens, I am about to assume the great trust which you have committed to my hands. I appeal to you for that earnest and thoughtful support which makes this Government in fact, as it is in law, a government of the people.

William E. Foster, “Purposes of the Civil-Service Reform League.” , The Civil-Service Reform Association of Philadelphia, 1881 (modified/link to original)

It has been claimed that the proposed reform of the civil service is undemocratic. Considering the origin of our government, and the intent of the founders of the republic to make this “a government of the people, by the people, for the people,” this point becomes of the highest importance. Is it not the spoils system which is undemocratic, rather than the proposed reform?

The very conception of a democracy needs a government “for the people.” Yet how can that government be so described, in which the civil service is regarded not as a service for the public, but as a source of profit and gain to a few?

When the end in view is not the advancement of the public interest, but the chance of strengthening one’s self, rewarding one’s party friends, and punishing one’s party opponents, the system is one of private patronage, and not public service.

This reform provides for competitive examinations, open to all classes and localities, and shades of opinion, and demanding only that the applicant be found for for the place.

Edward Winslow Martin [pseudonym], The Credit Mobilier Scandal Recounted, Behind the Scenes in Washington. New York: Continental Publishing Company, 1873 (Modified/link to original)

One of the great public works of the Union, is the Pacific Railway, extending from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. In September, 1864, a contract was made between the Union Pacific Company, and H. W. Hoxie for the building of one hundred miles of the road, from Omaha west. Mr. Hoxie at once assigned this contract to a company, known as the Credit Mobilier of America.

In 1865 or 1866, Oakes Ames, then and now a Member of Congress from the State of Massachusetts, and his brother Oliver Ames, became interested in the Union Pacific Company, and also in the Credit Mobilier Company, as the agent for the construction of the road.

All the large stockholders in the Union Pacific were also stockholders in the Credit Mobilier. The managers of the company placed all the risks of the railroad on the Government, while they secured to themselves all the profits.

Mr. Ames was deeply interested in the scheme, being one of managers of Credit Mobilier. The object of the Credit Mobilier was to drain money from the Pacific Road, and consequently from the Government, as long as possible. In order to stop Members of Congress from making any law that would cause problems for Union Pacific or Credit Mobilier they bribed them.

To sum up the story of the Credit Mobilier is simply this: The men entrusted with the management of the Pacific Road made a bargain with themselves to build the road for a sum equal to about twice its actual cost, and pocketed the profits, which have been estimated at about Thirty Millions of Dollars--this immense sum coming out of the pockets of the taxpayers of the United States.

William H. White, The Effect of the Spoils System on National Legislation, 1881 (Modified/link to original).

This essay by William H. White won an essay contest about the “spoils system” put on by the Brookline Civil Service Reform Association.

Senator Marcy said New York politicians saw “nothing wrong in the rule that to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy”. There is nothing wrong with the rule, only in the way some politicians use it.

Any elective system of government makes politics a warfare in which there are spoils that belong to the victors. These spoils include the privilege of shaping government policies. But the “spoils system” for some politicians doesn’t stop here. It includes in the spoils of victory offices that have nothing to do with politics

The best legislation is possible only if the best men are willing to do political work. Any system that makes the best men not want to join the government, throws the control of national affairs into the hands of an inferior class, and makes the best legislation impossible.

The spoils system is directly opposed to democracy. It is a source of corruption, and makes American politics be looked down upon. Allowing it to grow would be reasonable ground for alarm.

George William Curtis, Address to the National Civil Service Reform League, 1882. (modified/link to original)

Curtis was the editor of Harper’s Weekly and president of the National Civil Service Reform Association.

The assassination of President Garfield, like the sudden flash of electric light, revealed the dangers of the spoils system to the whole country. The popular verdict upon that tragic event was quick and just. Except for a factional quarrel, produced wholly by the strife for patronage or spoils, the President would not have been murdered.

President Garfield’s death has fixed general public attention upon the abuses of administration inherent in the present system of civil service, abuses which have been rapidly developed since the war. This awakening of interest is half the victory. For, when once the good-natured American mind sees a political evil, its correction has already begun.

President Garfield was no more afraid of the word “reformer” than the word “patriot”. He knew the word reform actually goes with the truest patriotism. Trusting his countrymen, he foresaw their approval and support of a strong reform of abuses.

President Garfield was a strong man; and a strong man uses a party, and is not used by it. Americans love vigor and courage. That is the sole secret of Andrew Jackson’s popularity.

Joseph R. Hawley (R) Connecticut, Speech to Congress on Civil Service Reform, 1882 (modified/link to original)

Hawley served as a Major General in the Union Army during the Civil War (biography)

The doctrine that "to the victors belong the spoils" has become the rule of the country. The evils of the existing system can’t be denied by any man, even those against the Pendleton Bill for civil-service reform. They are obvious to members of Congress. They are obvious in the suffering and humiliation of the employees. We have no right to treat our friends and fellow-citizens this way.

We know that they do not depend upon their character and their abilities to keep their jobs. They are constantly coming to members of Congress and applying to influential friends everywhere to strengthen what they call their "influence". Whenever a new politician comes in, they hurry to strengthen their position; not by doing their job well, but by getting the recommendations of political friends.

The man who is less efficient than his fellow workers, knowing he has less ability than others, is the man with the largest pile of papers in support of his position. It becomes difficult to remove him. If we appointed people for their character and how well they could do their jobs, we could hire fewer people, and they would do the work just as well.

Our present system is wasteful and extravagant.

Senator George Hoar (R)Massachusetts, Speech to Congress on S. 133, 1882 (modified/link to original) (Hoar's biography)

The evil I have seen most frequently as a politician has been the cruel, hasty, unjust, sudden removal of men or women in office to make way for some person who has been pressed on the attention of the Department from elsewhere.

Even under the administration of President Hayes, without the President’s knowledge, there were abuses in removals of old, faithful, and meritorious public servants. If an owner of a manufacturing establishment or a manager of a railroad company would do this same thing, he would have to hide his head from the criticism and anger of his neighbors.

I hold it among the chief merits of this bill that it avoids creating any constitutional difficulties by not infringing upon the authority of an elected official it still removes the civil service from politics. It cures this other evil of unjust and improper removals.

Henry L. Nelson, Some Truths About the Civil Service, The Atlantic, 1883 (modified/link to original)

The evil in Washington can be cured by competitive examination.

Most appointments are made to the first-class or lowest clerkships. Members of Congress thrust the followers who they feel obligated to give a job to into these jobs. They may have the intellectual ability to do the work of their positions, but they do not deserve promotion. This is the first sore spot in our civil service.

Many politicians say the competitive examination tests lacks the power to discover the “business talents” of applicants for clerkships. The idea that business talents are needed is very amusing to those who are familiar with government clerks… They are the bookkeepers and copyists of the world. Very few deal directly with the public and need “business talents”.

This talk about business qualification of first-class clerks is simply one of the refuges of a weak cause. Almost the first thing a politician does, when a project for ending the spoils system is presented to him, is to look about for an argument against it. He clings to the argument because he has determined never to give in. This talk about business talents is one of those arguments.

The civil service should be managed in the interest of the government, and not in the interest of a political machine.

Senator Warner Miller (R)New York, Speech to Congress on S.133, 1882 (modified/link to original) Miller's bio

One of the main arguments against this reform is that it is not founded upon business principles. I know the business methods of this country. This bill will put the civil service of this country on the best business principles it has ever been.

It may be true that our large businesses do not make their employees take competitive examinations for admission; but a majority of the clerks in those businesses started as errand boys and while working their way up they were educated in the profession. In the manufacturing industries managers submit their applicants to some examination. If their duties are mechanical they ask them where they learned their trade, "what are their credentials and recommendations." This is all that is necessary. If the man’s work is satisfactory he will keep his job.

Who ever heard of a business man employing a laborer or a clerk because some political friend recommended him as a good Republican or a good Democrat? He wants to know what the man knows about the business.

This thing is not done in business life anywhere. A man holds his position because he is fit to hold it. This is the way great business interests are managed in this country. The bill proposes to do precisely the same thing with the civil service of this Government. If the people of this country see fit to turn over the control of the Government from one party to another, they don’t expect the Post-Offices to be thrown into confusion and disturbed by a change of all the men.

Senator Warner Miller (R)New York, Speech to Congress on S.133, 1882 (modified/link to original) Miller's bio

By this measure we propose to make it possible for the son of the poorest man in America to present himself here in the capital of the nation or elsewhere and be examined for a civil office. He will not need any local influence, political or otherwise. He will simply have to come here with a good character, intelligence and ability, and then his chances will be equal to those of the rich or more favored.

This bill will open the doors to the members of all political parties. If the bill go into operation one generation will not have passed before the minor civil offices of the Government will be filled by members from all parties, from persons holding all shades of political opinion. Then when we come up to a Presidential election, instead of this army of office-holders being used to secure the election of the party in power, it will be divided against itself.

The system as it operates now is that all this vast army of office-holders who are removed at every won by the opposing party.

We have it now; and as I said a moment ago many Democratic Senators on this floor have used that as one of the strongest arguments against the Republican party, and charged that it was unjustly and unfairly using the civil offices of this Government to keep itself in power.

Joseph Keppler, A Model office-seeker--"I am a lawyer, a theologian and a politician!"--Charles J. Guiteau / WAT, Puck 1881 (details)

Guiteau was the man who assassinated President Garfield

Thomas Nast, No Surrender, Harper’s Weekly, 1872 (details)

U. S. G. "I am Determined to enforce those regulations."

J.A. Wales, This is not the New York Stock Exchange, it is the patronage exchange, called U.S. Senate, Puck 1881 (summary)

Senators holding papers "patronage," "sold out," and "New York quotations," with T.C. Platt handcuffed to man on left, who is handing "orders of the boss" to Chester Arthur.

In 1881 the cartoonist Joseph Keppler drew a cartoon titled "A presidential conjuror" in Puck magazine.

(Summary) President Chester A. Arthur is a magician pulling cards out of a hat and tossing them into the audience; the cards are labeled with different patronage positions.

Caption: Caption: What Mr. Arthur must be to satisfy all the politicians

Thomas Nast, Our Stumbling Block, Harper's Weekly, 1881

A female figure carries items labelled 'Business,' 'Work-shop,' 'Cotton,' 'Capital,' and 'Resumption,' walking through a doorway labeled 'Prosperity,' while a man with a hat labeled "Politics" and a shirt labelled "Spoils" lays down in front of her.

Joseph Keppler, Uncle Sam's neglected farm, Puck, 1882 (details)

Explanation of "Uncle Sam's Neglected Farm: Puck's "Independent Party" figure, holding a hoe labeled "Civil Service Reform" and talking to Uncle Sam who is sitting on a fence. Two figures argue on the right. One is labeled, "Democrat, Bourbonism, Secession Record, [and] Stupidity." The other is labeled, "Republican, Monopoly, Pension Swindle, River & Harbor Steal, Credit Mobilier, [and] Bossism." At their feet are farm tools and jugs labeled, "Corruption Bourbonism" and "Spoils Switchel." In the background are farm outbuildings labeled "Navy Dept., Post, Interior, [and] Indian." Caption: New and Independent Party: "Look here, Uncle Sam, isn't it about time you got rid of those two quarrelsome fellows, and gave the job to ME?

The "Boy of the period" stirring up the animals Currier & Ives., 1869

Financier Jay Gould, trying to take over the gold market, (the bulls and bears in a cage.) President Ulysses S. Grant is running from the treasury with a bag of 5 million dollars from the U.S. Treasury to try to stop the scam and restore order details

*** This cartoon is referencing Black Friday or the Gold Panic In 1869, Wall Street investors Jim Fisk and Jay Gould tried to buy a large amount of gold to cause the price of gold to increase to corner the nation’s gold market. They enlisted the help of Grant’s brother-in-law, who had pledged to prevent the president from acting to ruin the scheme. When the scheme was discovered the Gold Market crashed. The involvement of Grant’s brother in law, his secretary of the Treasury, and his personal connections to Fisk and Gould hurt his reputation

Crédit Mobilier scandal cartoons

News broke that members of Congress had been involved in rail industry corruption. The Union Pacific Railroad company had been hired to build part of the transcontinental railway. Instead of hiring outside contractors to complete the construction, however, Union Pacific vice president Thomas Durant and Union Pacific’s other largest stockholders organized their own construction company—Crédit Mobilier—and awarded the UP building contract to themselves. Durant and other Crédit Mobilier executives reaped major profits for themselves from the construction, which was financed largely by government subsidies, overcharging for the cost of construction and nearly bankrupting Union Pacific. Durant also distributed Crédit Mobilier stock to several members of Congress who had been influential in railroad legislation. Union Pacific came to be worth almost nothing, and while Durant and other major UP stockholders had made themselves rich, many others were left with worthless securities. After Durant’s scheme came to light, eleven members of Congress were accused of accepting shares of Crédit Mobilier's stock and contributing to the corruption of the rail industry. ~ source: Gilder Lehrman

Thomas Nast, "Every Public Question With An Eye Only To The Public Good", Harper’s Weekly, 1873 (details)

"Well, the wickedness of all of it is, not that these men were bribed or corruptly influenced, but that they betrayed the trust of the people, deceived their constituents, and by their evasions and falsehoods confessed the transaction to be disgraceful."--New York Tribune, February 19, 1873.

Justice (to the Saints of the Press). "Let him that has not betrayed the trust of the People, and is without sin, cast the first stone."

Joseph Keppler, Uncle Sam directs U.S. Senators implicated in the Crédit Mobilier of America scandal to commit Hari-Kari, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1873

*Explanation of Joseph Keppler’s “Uncle Sam directs U.S. Senators implicated in the Crédit Mobilier of America scandal to commit Hari-Kari.”

Grant’s V.P. Schuyler Colfax, was linked to the Credit Mobilier. Mobilier was a fake construction company. The company was owned by the directors of Union Pacific Using government money paid to the railroad, the Union Pacific directors awarded expensive jobs to Credit Mobilier, of which they were also the directors. They charged too much for jobs and kept the profit. They charged 72 million and spent 35, profiting 19 million. They bribed Congressmen to keep it undercover and to keep supporting railroad spending

Thomas Nast's cartoons about "Boss Tweed" and New York City's Tammany Hall

In the late 1860s, William M. Tweed was the political boss of New York City. His headquarters, located on East 14th Street, was known as Tammany Hall. He wore a diamond, orchestrated elections, controlled the city's mayor, and rewarded political supporters. His primary source of funds came from the bribes and kickbacks that he demanded in exchange for city contracts. - source: Digital History

Thomas Nast, What Are You Laughing At? To The Victor Belong the Spoils., Harper's Weekly, November 1871

In 1871, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew "The City Treasury" in the magazine Harper's Weekly.

Thomas Nast, "Who Stole the People's Money?--Do Tell 'Twas Him.” . N. Y. Times, August 1871 (explanation)

Thomas Nast, "As long as I count the Votes, what are you going to do about it? Say?", Harper’s Weekly, October 7, 1871.

Bernhard Gillam, The true meaning of Republican harmony, Puck, 1883 (details)

Section #2 guiding question: Why do some people not think the Government needs Civil Service Reform?

In 1905, George Washington Plunkitt, in a book titled "Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft", wrote...

Source: (modified/link to original) Plunkitt was a New York Politician he gained power through NYC’s Tammany Hall

I got rich by honest graft. I didn't steal a dollar from the city. When a reform politician comes in they can’t find the fraud they talked about. All they can show is Tammany looked after their friends, within the law, and gave them opportunities to make honest graft. That's won’t hurt Tammany with the people.

Every good man looks after his friends. If I have a good thing to hand out in private life, I give it to a friend. Why shouldn't I do the same in public life?

Another kind of honest graft. Tammany has raised many salaries. There was an awful howl by the reformers, but Tammany gains ten votes for everyone it lost by salary raising? The Wall Street banker thinks it shameful to raise a department clerk's salary from $1500 to $1800 a year, but every man who draws a salary says: "That's all right. I wish it was me." And he feels very much like voting for Tammany.

Tammany was beat in 1901 because the people were tricked into believing it used dishonest graft. But there is a difference between dishonest and honest graft, but they saw that some Tammany men grew rich, and supposed they had been robbing the city treasury or blackmailing, or working with gamblers and criminals.

As a matter of policy, why would Tammany go into dirty business, when so much honest graft is lying around? I don't own a dishonest dollar. If my worst enemy was given the job of writin' my epitaph when I die, he couldn't do more than write:” George W. Plunkitt. He Seen His Opportunities, and He Took 'Em."

Debate between Senator James Beck (D) Kentucky (bio), and Senator George Hoar (R)Massachusetts (bio) on the Civil Service Bill, 1882 (modified/link to original)

Mr. BECK. If a man from New Jersey has distinguished himself as able in managing life-boats, and has saved the lives of many people, why does he have to take a test to show how much he knows from a common-school education? He may have all the qualities necessary for promotion because of this service, but because he has not been able to go to school is dismissed and some timid man who is a real good scholar, but who can’t save a wreck gets the job because he did better on the test?

Mr. HOAR. This is where the Senator makes his mistake. The answer to the Senator's question is that the test in this bill does not apply to offices which can be held by people who can’t read or write, or persons of the Life-Saving Service. It only applies to clerking jobs in custom-houses, post-offices and Departments.

Mr. BECK. I happen to know a man who was a lieutenant, a commissioned officer in the Army, and served gallantly through the war. After the war Congress passed a law requiring a certain amount of education for even non-commissioned officers.

This man could not compete; he lost his rank, and he now is stuck doing very common labor in the city of Washington as a private in the Army. I do not feel like degrading men who have done valuable service, because of their misfortune to not have been able to finish school.

I do not believe the school-master test is the test to fix civil-service problems.

In 1882, the Democrat Senator from Georgia Joseph Brown, in a speech to Congress on S.133, said...

(modified/link to original) Brown's Bio

Part 1

This bill is a cheat and a mockery.

For fear there might come a day when a Democratic Executive would lead the Government this bill will only impact people applying to the lowest offices.

There is a very large number of employés now in high positions, who are not fit for those places, morally, intellectually, or in any other way; but this bill will not impact them.

If a lower clerkships is vacant, then the doors are thrown wide open and every American citizen may come up and compete for it. It will not do this for higher offices, for they are worried too many Democrats might get in.

You Democrats can come compete for the lowest clerkships; but if a vacancy occurs above that, then only the Republican employees and officers already in office can apply for the advancement or promotion. That is the civil-service reform that this bill gives to the country; that is the share that the Democratic party gets in it.

Part 2

Our theory is that men are to be promoted on account of merit and qualifications. It may not always be carried out — of course it can not always be — but that is the nature of the system and that is the general practice. This is compatible with that system to leave the changes in the government offices up to changes in parties and to the merits of the competitors who compete for the prizes.

In all the departments, legislative and executive, qualification is supposed to be looked to. Why should we establish a system of lifetime tenure for the very large class of people? I say it is not compatible, with our very form of Government. It is one step in the direction of the establishment of an aristocracy in this country, the establishment of another privileged class.

It builds up a powerful class supported out of the Treasury of the United States, out of the taxes of the people, and places in their hands the power, if they choose to exercise it — and there is a great deal of human nature in man, so that they probably would exercise it — the power to do much to control the future rulers and destinies of this Government.

John R. McPherson (D)New Jersey, Speech to Congress on S.133, 1882 (modified/link to original) McPherson's biography

We have proposed a reform in the civil service. What kind of a reform?

I have no objection to any reasonable way of determining the fitness of applicants, but I do submit this: Doesn’t the President of the United States have all the powers to determine for himself the qualifications of the individual he names for an appointment? Why create a law asking the President to abdicate the powers placed in his hands through the election?

I believe in party government; I believe in holding political parties responsible for the management of the Government when given to them.

I do not say this because I wish to delay or prevent any reasonable reform; but I say this because in some ways this bill is very objectionable — not objectionable because it will keep Democrats out of office and Republicans in.

I am ready at all times to vote for any proper reform in government. I believe parties today control too much power.

But I can not consent by any vote of mine that a legislative commission shall be appointed, without any responsibility to the people of the country or any other power, and give them all the authority necessary to determine what shall be done in respect to certain offices in this Government.

William Bourke Cockran (D)New York, Speech to Congress on Civil Service Reform, (modified/link to original) Cockran's biography

Why do I oppose the civil-service law? I oppose it because it will give the children of the rich an advantage over the children of the poor when they compete with each other for an opportunity to enter the public service. Who can afford the best training before taking the educational test the civil-service law will create?

This is undemocratic and inconsistent with our form of government. I believe in the exact political equality of all citizens at all times.

Whenever a man is brought in contact with the Government he should stand perfectly equal with all his fellow-citizens. If in a competition for public office you give one man any advantage over his competitors, you disturb the quality of all, and you hurt our institutions.

You can not establish any one special test or merit in men, whether it be of learning, of beauty, or wealth, or of race without impairing the fundamental equality of all. A test in the selection of public offices may lead to civil-servants who are morally and physically superior to any we have ever known, but the government would no longer be democratic.

in 1877, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew a cartoon titled "In Memoriam, Our Civil Service as it Was", in the magazine Harper's Weekly

(summary) A statue of Andrew Jackson riding on a large pig, on a pedestal with quote: "To the victors belong the spoils."

What were the results of the debate over S.133?

S. 133 was passed the United States Senate on December 27, 1882 (the vote was 39–5). The bill then passed the House of Representatives on January 4, 1883 (the vote was 155–46). Then the bill was signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on January 16, 1883. It became known both as the "Civil Service Act", and as the "Pendleton Act" because it was introduced by Senator George Pendleton. The law led to the creation of the Civil Service Commission. When the Act was first created it applied to around 10% of Federal jobs. However, within a few decades it applied to all Federal jobs. The Civil Service would not undergo any major changes until the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which was created in response to the Watergate scandal.

Today, if you want to work a government job, many of those jobs require you to take a "Civil Service Exam" to prove you are qualified for the job.