By laws enacted in 1853 and 1855, and now in substance incorporated
in the Revised Statutes, the practice of arbitrary appointments to the
several subordinate grades in the great Departments was condemned, and
examinations as to capacity, to be conducted by departmental boards of
examiners, were provided for and made conditions of admission to
the public service. These statutes are a decision by Congress that
examinations of some sort as to attainments and capacity are essential
to the well-being of the public service. The important questions since
the enactment of these laws have been as to the character of these
examinations, and whether official favor and partisan influence or
common right and merit were to control the access to the examinations.
In practice these examinations have not always been open to worthy
persons generally who might wish to be examined. Official favoritism
and partisan influence, as a rule, appear to have designated those
who alone were permitted to go before the examining boards, subjecting
even the examiners to a pressure from the friends of the candidates
very difficult to resist. As a consequence the standard of admission
fell below that which the public interest demanded. It was also almost
inevitable that a system which provided for various separate boards of
examiners, with no common supervision or uniform method of procedure,
should result in confusion, inconsistency, and inadequate tests of
capacity, highly detrimental to the public interest.
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