Mr. Gorman On Civil Service

The appropriation tor the Civil Service Commission was cut out of the appropriation bill iu the house of representatives, on Wednesday. During the debate Congressman Gorman said: "Mr. Chairman, the civil service law. if strictly and impartially executed, might perhaps opérate very injuriously to either party; but the trouble that we meet with is. the fact that human beings are executing the law and they yield to their own feelings when they come to distribute the offices. If as my distinguished friend from Massachusetts, Mr. Everett, has said, this system bas csme to stay. I wish to say that t must become more popular and more just and equitable in its execution than it is today. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hopkins) has made the most stringent criticism against the civil service commission that has been made by any man on this floor, speaking for or against it. He made the statement that the civil service commissioners went to President Harrison and asked him to delay the application of that law to the railway mail service. VVhy? Because they could not classify the men in that service. Now I wish to say to my friend that if 'classifying the service' means to dismiss the democrats, he has accused the civil service commission of such political influence as no man has yet dared to charge them with. I can refer the gentleman from Illinois myself to men who were dismissed the service whose standing was nigh to ioo. I knowamanwho was dismissed on the i8th of May, his dismissal being dated the 29th of April, and his standing was 97.8. I wonder if it was necessary to 'classify the service' by dismissingclerks who had that standing.. Now as for the operation of the law so far as political opinions are concerned, I wish to cali the attention of the committee to its operation in the ninth división of the railway mail service, with headquarters at Cleveland. There are in that división 660 employés; 534 are republicans, 126 democrats, making a percentage of 76.4 republicans and 23.6 democrats. On the New York and Chicago route, which is the main route of the división, there are 419 postal clerks, of whom 326 are republicans and 93 democrats. Of these 93 - and I want to cali the attention of the committee to this matter that the gentleman may see what impartiality is exercised - of those 93 clerks, 63 are night men. There are 36 clerks in charge, of whom 26 are republicans and 10 democrats. Of these 10 running on those trains every one is a night man. It is curious, my friends, that the republicans have always the greater percentage as well as the preference in respect to service."