President Hayes Favors Civil Service Reform
I
ask the attention of the public to the paramount necessity of reform in our
civil service -a reform not merely as to certain abuses and practices of
so-called official patronage which have come to have the sanction of usage in
the several Departments of our Government, but a change in the system of
appointment itself; a reform that shall be thorough, radical, and complete; a
return to the principles and practices of the founders of the Government. They
neither expected nor desired from public officers any partisan service. They
meant that public officers should owe their whole service to the Government and
to the people. They meant that the officer should be secure in his tenure as
long as his personal character remained untarnished and the performance of his
duties satisfactory. They held that appointments to office were not to be made
nor expected merely as rewards for partisan services. . . .
The
President of the United States of necessity owes his election to office to the
suffrage and zealous labors of a political party, the members of which cherish
with ardor and regard as of essential importance the principles of their party
organization; but he should strive to be always mindful of the fact that he
serves his party best who serves the country best.