19. Lincoln and the Admission of Nevada

One of the methods by which the President influences the course of legislation in Congress is well illustrated by the following incident of Lincoln's administration.

SOURCE-Charles A. Dana, Recollections of the Civil War (New York, 1902), 174-177. (Used by permission of D. Appleton and Company.)

Lincoln was a supreme politician. He understood politics because he understood human nature. I had an illustration of this in the spring of 1864. The administration had decided that the Constitution of the United States should be amended so that slavery should be prohibited. This was not only a change in our national policy, it was also a most important military measure. It was intended not merely as a means of abolishing slavery forever, but as a means of affecting the judgment and the feelings and the anticipations of those in rebellion. It was believed that such an amendment to the Constitution would be equivalent to new armies in the field, that it would be worth at least a million men, that it would be an intellectual army that would tend to paralyze the enemy and break the continuity of his ideas.

In order thus to amend the Constitution, it was necessary first to have the proposed amendment approved by three-fourths of the States. When that question came to be considered, the issue was seen to be so close that one State more was necessary. The State of Nevada was organized and admitted into the Union to answer that purpose. I have sometimes heard people complain of Nevada as superfluous and petty, not big enough to be a State; but when I hear that complaint, I always hear Abraham Lincoln saying, "It is easier to admit Nevada than to raise another million of soldiers.''

In March, 1864, the question of allowing Nevada to form a State government finally came up in the House of Representatives. There was strong opposition to it. For a long time beforehand the question had been canvassed anxiously. At last, late one afternoon, the President came into my office, in the third story of the War Department. He used to come there sometimes rather than send for me, because he was fond of walking and liked to get away from the crowds in the White House. He came in and shut the door.

"Dana," he said, "I am very anxious about this vote. It has got to be taken next week. The time is very short. It is going to be a great deal closer than I wish it was."

"There are plenty of Democrats who will vote for it," I replied. "There is James E. English, of Connecticut; I think he is sure, isn't he?"

"Oh, yes; he is sure on the merits of the question.

"Then," said I, "there's 'Sunset' Cox, of Ohio. How is he?" "He is sure and fearless. But there are some others that I am not clear about. There are three that you can deal with better than anybody else, perhaps, as you know them all. I wish you would send for them."

He told me who they were; it isn't necessary to repeat the names here. One man was from New Jersey and two from New York.

"What will they be likely to want?" I asked.

"I don't know," said the President; "I don't know. It makes no difference, though, what they want. Here is the alternative: that we carry this vote, or be compelled to raise another million, and I don't know how many more men, and fight no one knows how long. It is a question of three votes or new armies.'

"Well, sir," said I, "what shall I say to these gentlemen?" "I don't know," said he; "but whatever promise you make to them I will perform."

I sent for the men and saw them one by one. I found that they were afraid of their party. They said that some fellows in the party would be down on them. Two of them wanted internal revenue collector's appointments. "You shall have it," I said. Another one wanted a very important appointment about the custom house of New York. I knew the man well whom he wanted to have appointed. He was a Republican, though the congressman was a Democrat. I had served with him in the Republican county committee of New York. The office was worth perhaps twenty thousand dollars a year. When the congressman stated the case, I asked him, "Do you want that?"

"Yes," said he.

"Well," I answered, "you shall have it."

"I understand, of course," said he, "that you are not saying this on your own authority?"

"Oh, no," said I; "I am saying it on the authority of the President."

Well, these men voted that Nevada be allowed to form a State government, and thus they helped secure the vote which was required. The next October the President signed the proclamation admitting the State. In the February following Nevada was one of the States which ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, by which slavery was abolished by constitutional prohibition in all of the United States. I have always felt that this little piece of side politics was one of the most judicious, humane, and wise uses of executive authority that I have ever assisted in or witnessed.

20. Extension of the Merit System

The Civil Service Act of 18831 placed only a small proportion of the employees of the federal government under the merit system. Since that time the number has been gradually increased from about 14,000 to more than 400,000 in 1924. Many of these extensions have been made by acts of Congress, but in a considerable number of cases they have been effected by the President alone through his ordinance power. This is usually done by issuing an executive order amending the Civil Service Rules to include the class of employees which it is desired to bring under them. Thus since June 30, 1902, the rural free delivery carriers have been included within the classified service as the result of an amendment to the rules (given below) ordered by President Roosevelt, November 27, 1901. The amendment affected the positions of about 8,800 employees.

SOURCE-Nineteenth Report of the Civil Service Commission (Washington, 1902), 79-80.

Section 4 of Rule III was amended by striking out all of the first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

The post-office service shall include all officers and employees in free-delivery post-offices and in the rural free-delivery service, except persons employed merely as laborers or workmen and persons whose appointments are subject to confirmation by the Senate: Provided, That until regulations for appointments of carriers in 122 U. S. Stat. at Large, 403.

the rural free-delivery service shall become operative said carriers shall not be treated as classified hereunder: And provided further, That transfers shall not be made from the position of carrier in the rural free-delivery service to any other position in the classified service.

The sentence stricken out by this amendment reads as follows: The post-office service shall include the officers and employees in any free-delivery post-office who have been, or may hereafter be, classified under the civil-service act.

21.

A United States Civil Service Examination

Each type of position in the federal classified service requires a different kind of examination, but the following synopsis of the Railway Postal Clerk Examination indicates something of the form and character of many of these tests. Typical examinations for most of the classified positions may be secured by writing the Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C.

SOURCE-Leaflet furnished by the Civil Service Commission.

UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION
RAILWAY POSTAL CLERK

May 3, 1924

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Mail tests. These tests are intended to show the competitor's ability to do certain kinds of work required of railway postal clerks, but it is not necessary in answering them for a competitor to have had any previous experience in the Postal Service.

Exercise 1.-Suppose you were sorting outgoing mail. Each square below represents a mail sack for the mail going to the cities named in the square. After each city in the list below the squares write the number of the sack carrying mail to that city. In the sample list, "1" is written after "Seattle" because letters for Seattle should be dropped in sack numbered 1. "3" is written after "Chicago" because letters for Chicago should be dropped in the sack numbered 3. "2" should be written in the blank after

"St. Paul" because letters for St. Paul should be dropped in the sack numbered 2. Fill in the blanks after the other cities.

Exercise 2.-During June, July, and August of 1924, post offices will be maintained at the following places, and mail for each place should be put in sacks numbered as follows:

Six minutes will be allowed for memorizing the names of the cities with their corresponding numbers. On the following page directions similar to the following will be given:

"Beginning September 1, 1924, the post office at Wooster will be discontinued and all mail addressed to Wooster should be sent to Athens until further notice.'

Without referring to the page giving the list of cities and their numbers, write the number of the mail sack in which you would place mail addressed to the following towns on the date named. (The sample is numbered correctly.) "6" is written after "Wooster" because the post office at Wooster was discontinued on September 1, and all mail for Wooster was to be sent to Athens marked “No. 6.” Fill in the blanks for the other cities.