The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-01-19
PRIZE CASES.
XLIId CONGRESS..sECOND SESSION.
SENATE.

OH suDsldlzIng the mail steamship service to
Austria via Honolulu. F-r
Mr. Irumbull from the Judiciary Committee
reported adversely upon memorial from wo-
men, asking to be heard before the Senate in
support of the claims of woman suffrage and
asked to be discharged from the further consid-
eratlon OF the subject stating that the commit
tee Will soon report upon that portion of the
memorial claiming that the amendment to the
CONSERVATION gives women the right to vote b,
A bill defining the construction of the eight
hour law, with special reference to the Spring
field armory and equalizing the pay for labor in
government workshops, was reported from the
Finance Committee.
Mr. Thurman presented the credentials of
Mr.. Sherman.
A bill extending the provisions of the act pro-
vldlng artificial limbs to soldiers to officers
above the rank of captain was reported which
was amended to extend to all men in the army
and navy, and then passed
Mr.. Wilson introduced bill granting two
millions OF public lands for educational pur-
poses in the District of Columbia: also a bill
allowing women to vote and hold office in the
territories.
The amnesty bill came up and Mr. Sumner
said he accepted the amendments offered by Mr.
Frelinghuysen. The bill was then laid aside
F MIR. CARPENTER HOLDS FORTH. =
Mr.. Carpenter called up a resolution declar-
ing the civil service reform scheme unconstitu-
tional and spoke thereon. b.
Mr.. Carpenter deeply regretted the recent
message of the President, announcing that he
had adopted the rules recommended by the civil
service commission. He knew there had been
great clamor lately in support of this scheme
and which made it seem that the people gene
rally@were in favor of it, and he supposed the
President had yielded to this clamor upon the
principle stated in his inaugural address, that
the best way to secure the repeal of an obnox-
lous law was to execute it faithfully The So
Der second thought of the people was ALWAYS
right, but their sudden impulses were always
wrong, and ought to be resisted by the public
servants. He knew it sometimes happened
that before second thought came a faithful
public officer would find his head in basket,
and to public officer a Senator for instance
with ambition for reelection, there was a great
temptation to yield to the pressure of the mo-
ment; but as he was the only Senator who
probably could not be reelected if he wished
there seemed to be a special obligation resting
upon him to act independently on this reform
scheme.
In politics, said Mr.. Carpenter, words are
mere things, and civil service reform is a cum
ming catch word. The conclusion is that who
ever is not in favor of reform must be in favor
OF abuses. But changes are not necessarily re-
form, and there is sure intuition which tie Is
us that in government of such delicate struc-
ture as ours it is better to bear the ills we have
than to fly to others we know not Of
MI Carpenter then discussed at some length
this distribution of powers between the legisia-
tive and executive departments and came to
the conclusion that if the appointing power was
taken away from the President. as it would he
by this reform, his remaining powers would be
no greater than those of a constable in Milwau-
kee. He criticised the civil service rules, and
said they violated the Constitution by taking
away from the President the discretion vested
In nm to select his appointees from the whole
people and set up for public servants the stand
ard education of schools to the exclusion from
office of all who have not enjoyed the benefits
OF liberal education, thus setting up an arts
tocratlc governmental class, composed of the
sons of rich men. Suppose there was a vacan-
cy in the Collectorship of New York, and and
an advertisement for candidates published by
the examining board. Did anybody suppose
that such men as A. I. Stewart or Henry G.
Stebbins or George Opdyke would present them
they not probably be beaten by the candidates
who had just left school? This may be reform.
but it will defeat any political party that adopts
1t, tor 1t viii excite the indignation, contempt
and derlslon OF the people of the country it
may be reform or whatever else its friends NAV
choose to call it, but it certainly is not consti-
tutional or wise mode of appointing the pub
lie officers of the United States. He would ex~
anime the regulations more in detail but for the
fact that he had been informed, unofcially,
that the operation of them was suspended un-
til better ones could be prepared. As to the re-
port of the commission, it was based upon a
vicious leading idea of the permanency Of ten
ure for public servants This idea had been
advocated at the formation of the government
by those who favored strong government, but
it was rejected because it was seen to be anti
Republican. q
Another fallacious idea underlying the report
was that party is the bane of this government
and that to labor for the success of a party
ought to disqualify man for public office. In
all free countries there must be parties. The
great Republican party which has achieved
such wonders in the last ten years found the
public offices filled with its enemies when it
came into power. According to the, civil SER
vice reform doctrine it ought to have left those
officers in possession of the old occupants, but
if it had done so how different would have been
the history of those years
Mr.. Carpenter read an extract from the re-
port of the commission, charging that under
the present system the appointing power is
often subjected to threats and banishments of
personal solicitation. He said it was a base
and malignant libel on the leading members of
the Republican party in Congress. He had
been told by high authority that only two per-
sons had demanded an appointment in terms
that could be called insulting or disrespectful.
That these two were high in the legislative de-
partment OF the government, and that having
had their application refused on account of the
untitness of the candidates in both cases, being
relatives of the applicants were now high
champions of civil service reform. Recurring
to the competitive examination system, he said
he did not to decry learning. He thought that
persons who had not the advantages of educa-
ton in youth were more likely than others to
appreciate its advantages fully and he belonged
to that class. Why, said he, if l Were candi-
the departments and should go before the ex-
amining board of chemical turn of mind,
should certainly be rejected, although write
fair hand and can copy papers with great speed
and accuracy. know no more chemistry than
/ know OF the pearly gates and golden streets
of Heaven, Laughter) and never expect to
know chemistry. l do expect to know more of
the peariy gates and golden streets for 1 under
stand that admittance there does not depend
upon comparative examination In conclusion
he said there was special reason why the
scheme onght not to be adopted at this time
AT the breaking out of the war, patriotic
fathers sent there sons to the army while others
| less patriotic sent theirs to school Now if this
system is adopted, the sons of the first class
who were fighting for the country, while the
others were examining at school or college would
be excluded from public Office, because they did
not know all about the Quotations of tides or
| how near the moon comes to the earth or the
names of the four principal rivers that flow in
| to the Caspian sea- (Laughter)
| Mr.. Trumbull wished to say few words on
| this subject, but not in behalf of the COMPETE
tive examination system, which, the Senator
/ from Wisconsin said had been suspended, and
against which it was therefore remarkable he
| should have directed so much of his speech.
Mr.. Carpenter denied having said the system
| was not to 60 into operation. What he had
said was that the rules regulations were to be
revised so as to carry it into operation more eff
| fetually. In the words of the administration,
he had merely let go to get better hold
| daughter
Mr. Trumbull said-I certainly hope that the
| Civil Service reform is not to be abandoned,
but is to be pursued. But having given the best
attention l could to the Senator's remarks, 1
certainly am in favor of civil service reform.
A reform that shall save this government from
being plundered under system which wastes
one-fourth of the entire revenue of the country
| and it is sad to me to reflect that the Senator
| from Wisconsin now takes a position, not
agaist particular rules, but against the system
| which would correct it-that he stands here in
full face of an official document prepared by
careful and considerate friends of the admins
traton-by its best friends which states thai
one-fourth of your entire revenue more then
$780, 900, zoe is wasted in consequence of the sys-
tenn, the correction of which the Senator from
Wisconsin now opposes.
| HOUSE.
The Speaker owing to the extreme illness OF
one of his children vacated the chair and ap
pointed Mr. Dawes of Massachusetts, Speaker
fos,a