Moreover, since appointments could be made only “with the advice and consent” of the Senate, senators were besieged by applicants for positions and their friends.  The President, overwhelmed by the multitude of appointments to be made, came to rely almost wholly upon the advice of the senators, and even of members of the House of Representatives, for appointments in their states and districts.  Thus, in effect, appointments were made by members of Congress rather than by the President who was really responsible.  No system could have been devised more wasteful of the time of the executive and legislative branches of the government, or more conducive to inefficiency.

REFORM OF THE CIVIL SERVICE

The spoils system became a great offense to the nation, but it was not until President Garfield was murdered by a disappointed office seeker that Congress, in 1883, passed a law for the reform of the civil service.  Candidates for many positions in the civil service were required to pass an examination designed to prove their fitness for the work to be done, and a civil service commission was created to administer the law and to conduct the examinations, which are held at stated intervals in different parts of the country.  Those appointed under this system cannot be removed except for cause.  Even at the present time, however, only about half of the civil service is subject to this merit system.  From the above description of the work of the several executive departments select topics for special investigation and report; such as: 

The work of United States Consuls.  Coining money; the United States Bureau of Engraving.

The life-saving service of the United States.

The United States Army in war and peace.

The United States Army as an organization to save life, especially in its work of sanitation in territories occupied.

Representatives of the United States Department of Justice in your community, and examples of their work.

Building a battleship.  Training for the navy.

Exploits of the navy in war.  The work of the navy in time of peace.

The work of the patent office; of the bureau of Indian affairs; of the geological survey; of the bureau of mines.

Taking the United States census.

The work of the bureau of fisheries.

Marvels of the bureau of standards.

The immigration bureau.

Work of the children’s bureau.

How an immigrant is naturalized.

The Government Printing Office.

The Congressional Library.

The spoils system in Andrew Jackson’s administration.

How would you go about it to take an examination for the civil service?

Is there any reason why a mail carrier or a clerk in a government office should be a Republican or a Democrat?