Proclamation 3216—Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Civil Service Act

Whereas the Federal civil-service system was established by the Civil Service Act of January 16, 1883, and will be seventy-five years old on January 16, 1958; and

Whereas the enactment of that act and the establishment thereunder of a merit system of employment within the Federal Government have given impetus to the establishment of similar systems at State, county, and municipal levels of government; and

Whereas a strong civil service, based on the merit principle, is now recognized as an essential factor in stable, responsible government in the United States, as well as in many other countries; and

Whereas the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Civil Service Act is an appropriate time to salute the Civil Service of the United States and to increase public knowledge and understanding of its importance in our system of self-government;

Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of the United States to participate in the observance of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Civil Service Act on January 16, 1958, and throughout the ensuing year.

I also call upon the heads of Federal departments and agencies, governors, mayors, and other public officials, as well as leaders of industry and labor and members of all public-spirited groups, to study our Federal, State, and local civil-service systems, with a view to their continuous improvement in every way possible, and to arrange appropriate ceremonies in honor of the public service of our able and devoted civil servants throughout the country.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this thirteenth day of January in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-second.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

By the President:

JOHN FOSTER DULLES,

Secretary of State