The most serious obstacle, however, to an improvement of the civil service, and especially to a reform in the method of appointment and removal, has been found to be the practice, under what is known as the spoils system, by which the appointing power has been so largely encroached upon by members of Congress.  The first step in the reform of the civil service must be a complete divorce between Congress and the Executive in the matter of appointments.  The corrupting doctrine that “to the victors belong the spoils” is inseparable from Congressional patronage as the established rule and practice of parties in power.  It comes to be understood by applicants for office and by the people generally that Representatives and Senators are entitled to disburse the patronage of their respective districts and States.  It is not necessary to recite at length the evils resulting from this invasion of the Executive functions.  The true principles of Government on the subject of appointments to office, as stated in the national conventions of the leading parties of the country, have again and again been approved by the American people, and have not been called in question in any quarter.  These authentic expressions of public opinion upon this all-important subject are the statement of principles that belong to the constitutional structure of the Government.  Under the Constitution the President and heads of Departments are to make nominations for office.  The Senate is to advise and consent to appointments, and the House of Representatives is to accuse and prosecute faithless officers.  The best interest of the public service demands that these distinctions be respected; that Senators and Representatives, who may be judges and accusers, should not dictate appointments to office.  To this end the cooperation of the legislative department of the Government is required alike by the necessities of the case and by public opinion.  Members of Congress will not be relieved from the demands made upon them with reference to appointments to office until by legislative enactment the pernicious practice is condemned and forbidden.

It is therefore recommended that an act be passed defining the relations of members of Congress with respect to appointment to office by the President; and I also recommend that the provisions of section 1767 and of the sections following of the Revised Statutes, comprising the tenure-of-office act of March 2, 1867, be repealed.

Believing that to reform the system and methods of the civil service in our country is one of the highest and most imperative duties of statesmanship, and that it can be permanently done only by the cooperation of the legislative and executive departments of the Government, I again commend the whole subject to your considerate attention.