Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-02-08
FUatchman s. journal.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY s, 1871
TEHvs-s2 90 per year, strictly 10 advance $3.50
ifnot paid within three months
Civil Service Bill.


There is little hope that Congress will d
anything practically useful in respect to tn
Reform Of the civil service. The hostiit.
Of the Senators is very pronounced aud can
not be misunderstood. They show a yer!
commondablo zeal for reform in general and
scornful dislike Of every particular measure
to secure il. They talk like angels and yot
like the evil one When they discuss Mr.
Trumbuls hill or the various amendments o
it, the spectator would think he was IN an as
sombly of enthusiastic political reiormer
and virtuous statesmen, animated with SUI
preme passion to secure the utmost purity o
the civil service. They discuss with wei
fcigncd Indignation the evils Of the present
system. They tell the country how full the
revenue service Of the country is with incapa.
bic dcmagogucs and rascally political hacks,
how the treasury is deirauded by dishonest Of.
6ccrs and the civil service Of the government
is administered By men whose only quail.
fcation is their party services and whose
only ambition is to make the office sub
serve their selfish aggrandizement They
speak particularly Of the dangerous reac.
tive influence on Congress itself when its
members have the disposal Of the civil Offices
of the government; how the time Of Senator'S
and Representatives is absorbed by hungry
applicants for official positions to reward po.
litica services how they become they prey Of
the cormorants who elected them, and their
virtue and purity are always in danger from
the noisy and clamorous petitioners for execu-
tive favor and official patronage. And when
they come to provide measures for the relief
Of the country, for the publication Of the
civil service, for the proper appointment Of
officers, their sagaciiy is at fault and their
wisdom utterly fails They stand face to
face with acknowledged evils which they con-
less themselves unable to remedy. No bill
is radical enough or practical enough to get
more than score of votes The wisdom Of
the Senate can devise nothing equal to the
demands Of its outspoken virtue And so
the country must 60 on, still longer suffering
under the potent evils Of incapable and dis.
honest officials, who hold the cler,ships and
rcmuneratve offices Of the government as the
reward of partisanship, often Of the lowest
and most tricky sort, because the states
manship aud practical sngacity Of the Con
gress are unable to rectify the difficulties
which are so shocking to its moral sense.
1t is pity that the Senate, as in its dis
cussion of the bill Of Mr.. Trumbull, feels
obliged to condemn irregularities and disor-
ders in the civil service which it persistcnily
votes not to correct; that its standards OF
morality and orderly government are so high
as to produce despair Of their practical reali-
zaton We shall have to send men to Con
gress hereafter whose ideas of poit cal reform
are not so lofty, or whose practical sagacity
does not run so far behind their theories of
virtue. The American people are a long.
suffering people, but we imagine the time is
coming when the demand for the reform Of
the civil service will be made in terms that
will be needed
But the prospect is not very aattcring nov
for the adoption Of any new measure looking
to this end To cleanse this Augean Stab
Of national politics is so great a labor that til
country naturally approaches it reluctantly
the present system seems to be the best 70
getting votes, and combining them so as
secure elections. The politicians look at it q
the very sceptre of their sovereignty. S
d they will go on protesting against it, maxim
= soul-stirring orations in favor of reformin,
firing the heart of the country by the expo
sure Of its evils, and voting for it every tim,
The President will recommend civil servic
G reform, the heads Of the departments wi
0 endorse it, Senators and Representatives wi
/, make most moving speeches for it, and moth
! ihb WI W NohN " ilN AhN NouhAl1 VI VI
disgrace Of system that considers all its o
4 fees as the SpoiiS of victorious party. Bu
/, the popular feeling is growing stronger again
it, the public intelligence is getting more an
more light on its eorruptions and the tim
I We trust, is not far off when the business a
$ fairs of the government will be managed by
? set of men who will not be exposed to Il
contingency of party conflict, and who wi
= hold Office during good behaviour and con
c potency to discharge its duties honoraby an
a successfully Whenever offices become Il
e prizes of integrity aud capacity our pul
= lie officers will not vie with each in giviu
"a welcome to the exiled conyicts of Englar
d for the sake of their political influence, al
e our nation will not be obliged to tax its,
Il so heavily to save its dishonest agents fro
y the natural reward of their own iniquit
when they bleed the treasury with their defa
lie cations And better than all, the practic
l. craftsmanship Of Congress will more near
% accord with its lofty theories of political Vi
y tue.