Heads of departments and divisions are appointed by the mayor; all other officials are appointed according to the merit system.
He reformed the administration of the state canals, making the Canal Commission non-partisan; he introduced the merit system into many of the subordinate offices of the state; and he vigorously urged the passage of and signed the Ford Franchise Act (1899), taxing corporation franchises.
During his second term Cleveland added 44,004 places in the civil service to the classified list, bringing them within the rules of the merit system.
While he was criticized by the friends of Civil Service Reform for not going far enough during his presidency to protect the encroachments of those who desire to have the offices distributed as political rewards or for partisan ends, such specific acts as his transference to the classified service of all fourth-class postmasters east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio rivers, his insistence upon a thorough investigation of the scandals in the Post Office department, and his order forbidding federal employes to use their offices for political purposes in the campaign of 1908 are typical of his vigorous support of the merit system.
Babcock and urged by President Grant; introduced the merit system in his department, and resigned in October 1870 because of pressure put on him by politicians piqued at his prohibition of campaign levies on his clerks, and because of the interference of Grant in favour of William McGarrahan's attempt by legal proceedings to obtain from Cox a patent to certain California mining lands.
