Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 2.djvu/178

158 a partisan engine. The mode of appointment and the tenure which it is to have will give it a certain independence of party government. It is to be renewed one-third by every successive Administration, and will soon have a mixed political character, as one Administration succeeds upon another, probably under the auspices of different parties. The members of the board shall not be removed except for cause, according to the provisions of the tenure of office act before it was amended by this Congress at its first session. But they may be removed for cause deemed sufficient by the Senate. The salary of the commissioners is to be ample enough to command a respectable degree of ability and acquirements, and the value of the salary as enhanced by a long tenure. I will add that the number of commissioners composing the board, as the bill fixes it, is not essential. It ought not to be too small at first, for there will be a great pressure of work. It might be reduced afterward, when the machinery is in successful operation. I ask the Secretary now to read the fifteenth section of the substitute, to show in which way it is designed to secure to the board a mixed political character.

The Chief Clerk read as follows:

15. And be it further enacted, That the several members of the civil service board first appointed in pursuance of this act shall by lot be divided into three classes of three persons each, the first class to be appointed for the term of four years, the second class to be appointed for the term of eight years, and the third class to be appointed for the term of twelve years, unless sooner removed in accordance with the provisions of this act; and that after the expiration of their respective terms their successors shall be appointed for the term of twelve years each: Provided, however, That whenever, by reason of the death or resignation or removal of any member, any vacancy occurs in the civil service board before the expiration of the term for which the member so vacating his office was