Institutional racism reforms of the spoils system in place since the 1830s, and abuses of the post-war Grant-Jacksonian era; when Congress authorized the president to appoint a Civil Service Commission and prescribe regulations for admission to public service. A dis-satisfied office-seeker assassinated President Garfield in 1881 and Congress was motivated to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883 which firmly established civil service. During reconstruction, this enabled the federal government to provide jobs for newly freed blacks in the south (primarily the Postal Service) where no other employment opportunities existed for them. Since the inception of the merit system in
Kelat (1881) Kelat (1881) Kelat was an 1894 gross ton iron hulled fully rigged three masted sailing ship built in Stockton-on-Tees, England in 1881. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1941 and sank as a result of damage suffered during the Japanese air raid on Darwin on 19 February 1942. The vessel was built in 1881 by Richardson, Duck and Company at Stockton-on-Tees, England for E. Bates & Sons of Liverpool. She was an iron hulled fully rigged sailing ship consisting of three masts and two decks. She plied the London to Australia cargo route until she was