, and the
first weeks of every new term were given over to distributing the jobs,
ordinary business having to wait. President Polk, who removed the usual
quota, is complimented by Webster for making "rather good selections
from his own friends." The practice, now firmly established, was
continued by Taylor, Pierce, and Buchanan.

Lincoln found himself surrounded by circumstances that made caution
necessary in every appointment. His party was new and composed of many
diverse elements. He had to transform their jealousies into enthusiasm,
for the approach of civil war demanded supreme loyalty and unity of
action. To this greater cause of saving the Union he bent every effort
and used every instrumentality at his command. No one before him had
made so complete a change in the official personnel of the capital as
the change which he was constrained to make. No one before him or since
used the appointing power with such consummate skill or displayed such
rare tact and knowledge of human nature in seeking the advice of those
who deemed their advice valuable. The war greatly increased the number
of appointments, and it also imposed obligations that made merit
sometimes a secondary consideration. With the statesman's vision,
Lincoln recognized both the use and the abuse of the patronage system.
He declined to gratify the office-seekers who thronged the capital at
the beginning of his second term; and they returned home disappointed.
The twenty years following the Civil War were years of agitation
for reform. People were at last recognizing the folly of using the
multiplying public offices for party spoils. The quarrel between
Congress and President Johnson over removals, and the Tenure of Office
Act, focused popular attention on the constitutional question of
appointment and removal, and the recklessness of the political manager
during Grant's two terms disgusted the thoughtful citizen.

The first attempts to apply efficiency to the civil service had been
made when pass examinations were used for sifting candidates for
clerkships in the Treasury Department in 1853, when such tests were
prescribed by law for the lowest grade of clerkships. The head of the
department was given complete control over the examinations, and they
were not exacting. In 1864 Senator Sumner introduced a bill "to provide
for the greater efficiency of the civil service." It was considered
chimerical and dropped.

Meanwhile, a steadfast and able champion