consideration that the party to which we belong is for the time in
power.

My predecessor, on the 4th day of January, 1889, by an Executive order
to take effect March 15, brought the Railway Mail Service under the
operation of the civil-service law.[7] Provision was made that the order
should take effect sooner in any State where an eligible list was sooner
obtained. On the 11th day of March Mr. Lyman, then the only member of
the Commission, reported to me in writing that it would not be possible
to have the list of eligibles ready before May 1, and requested that the
taking effect of the order be postponed until that time, which was
done,[8] subject to the same provision contained in the original order
as to States in which an eligible list was sooner obtained.

As a result of the revision of the rules, of the new classification, and
of the inclusion of the Railway Mail Service, the work of the Commission
has been greatly increased, and the present clerical force is found to
be inadequate. I recommend that the additional clerks asked by the
Commission be appropriated for.

The duty of appointment is devolved by the Constitution or by the law,
and the appointing officers are properly held to a high responsibility
in its exercise. The growth of the country and the consequent increase
of the civil list have magnified this function of the Executive
disproportionally. It can not be denied, however, that the labor
connected with this necessary work is increased, often to the point of
actual distress, by the sudden and excessive demands that are made upon
an incoming Administration for removals and appointments. But, on the
other hand, it is not true that incumbency is a conclusive argument for
continuance in office. Impartiality, moderation, fidelity to public