Original appointments should be based upon ascertained fitness.

The tenure of office should be stable.

Positions of responsibility should, so far as practicable, be filled by
the promotion of worthy and efficient officers.

The investigation of all complaints and the punishment of all official
misconduct should be prompt and thorough.


The views expressed in the foregoing letter are those which will govern
my administration of the executive office. They are doubtless shared by
all intelligent and patriotic citizens, however divergent in their
opinions as to the best methods of putting them into practical
operation.

For example, the assertion that "original appointments should be based
upon ascertained fitness" is not open to dispute.

But the question how in practice such fitness can be most effectually
ascertained is one which has for years excited interest and discussion.
The measure which, with slight variations in its details, has lately
been urged upon the attention of Congress and the Executive has as
its principal feature the scheme of competitive examination. Save for
certain exceptions, which need not here be specified, this plan would
allow admission to the service only in its lowest grade, and would
accordingly demand that all vacancies in higher positions should be
filled by promotion alone. In these particulars it is in conformity
with the existing civil-service system of Great Britain; and indeed the