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prevailed, as in Germany, or in which, as in England, they have long ceased to prevail so as to have entirely disappeared from the habits and even from the memory of the people, pass-examinations may more easily be maintained in practical efficiency, although even there,—as John Stuart Mill forcibly set forth in a well remembered dissertation—even there they were apt to deteriorate. But in a country, in the politics of which the spoils system has long been the rule, is still struggling for existence, and has a majority of active politicians still on its side, and those spoils politicians constantly scheming how to prevent every arrangement that might wrench any office with a salary worth having from their grasp, or how to subvert or circumvent existing barriers in order to get hold of those offices again—in such a country mere pass examinations can answer the purpose only when they are conducted by exceptionally conscientious and competent persons under an administration so indomitably resolved to maintain them in absolute integrity, as to be perfectly proof against all political influence and pressure. An administration fully answering this requirement we have not had yet. It is therefore necessary that in such surroundings the administration should protect itself with as strong a bulwark as possible against the pressure of influence, and the strongest bulwark as yet discovered is the competitive system of examination, open to all, which gives the best man the best chance for appointment without regard to party affiliations. In this respect I can only repeat what I said in my last annual address:
“If our commercial community wants a real reform in the method of appointment to Consular positions, it must insist upon three things: competitive examination for admission to the Consular service; promotion only for merit; and removal only for cause.”
Nor can it be said that competitive examinations are inapplicable to Consular offices, appointments to which are subject to confirmation by the Senate; for it is wholly within the power and discretion of the President to order, for his own guidance, open competitive examinations for the candidates presenting themselves, and then to nominate to the Senate, as his own choice, the man who comes out best. If then the Senators systematically refuse to confirm such nominations in order to save their patronage, they will do so on their own
