The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1872-07-04
THE NECESSITY OF REFORM OF THE
CIVIL SERVICE OF THE UNITED
STATES. ''<


CIVIL SERVICE OF THE UNITED
...'>E'-..> STATES. '>''@ 3 '.
An address Delivered by Hon. Igna-
thus Donnelly before the Minnesota
Editorial Convention, in St. Paul,
June A5, 1s72. ...-z .E 1s
GENThEMEa: You are earnest
men. Instead OF insulting your in-
telligence with compliments and plati.
tudes, 1 shall take advantage of the
hearing with which you have honored
me to say few words touching .
matter of great moment to the welfare
OF our country.
You will, think, all agree with me
that there is something wrong in the
moral condition of our nation. I be-
lleve I do not state the natter too
strongly when say that we have been
for years past slowly but surely drift
ing away from the purity of the early
days Of the republic, into sea of cor
ruption Of which no mau can discern
the further shore. | cannot but think
that We have entered upon an era
which if not arrested will end in chaos
or ultimate absolutism.
All diseases Of the body polite
spring from deep and secret sources;
their growth is gradual and upper
ceived and oftimes as in the human
system, the appearance Of health and
vigor remains until death itself inter.
venes: In the old Roman world absolu.
tism did not proclaim its coming afar
of, with the blare of trumpets its
march was silent and iosidious; So
that it is impossible to point to any one
period and say here the destruction of
Roman liberty began. When the
Stuarts attempted to convert the Eng
lish government into an unlimited mon
archy they moved quietly and slowly
and covered advance with specious
pretences and appeals to precedent
When slavery in our own country
plotted the overthrow OF the republic,
more than thirty years elapsed between
the first conception of the scheme in
the time Of jackson, and its full
fruition in the time Of Lincoln; and
no one believed that the storm was
coming until it had burst upon us in
all its fury.
SO when l say to you to-day, in the
midst of peace and apparent prosperity,
that the walls of our institutions are
being slowly undermined with corrup-
ton and that it is but a question Of
a few years, if no reform is effect ed,
until the whole edifce Of our liberties
shall tumble into the dust, you will
perhaps turn from me as a false proph.
ct whose teachings are alike gloomy
and absurd.
Yet look at the evidences before US,
is it not a fact, generally accepted and
scarcely disputed, that three. .fourths of
the members Of the United State, Sen
ate, the highest and most august 3
semblage in the land, owe their elec-
tion to corrupt use Of their wealth ?
While there are few poor men among
them there are very many million.
aires. Many Of them arc the direct
and recognized representatives Of
wealthy and powerful corporations,
railroad or manufacturing companies :;
others are men who have grown sudden
ly rich by doubtful means, and have
bought seats in that body as they would
buy a iast horse or fine establishment.
Can we not point to men among
them whose names are synonyms Of
corruption over all the lind who
neither by virtue, sagacity, iutolligen ce
nor ability have earned their high
places who have even, in some cases,
been removed from still higher posi-
tions of trust and censured By Con.
gress itself for robbing the govern.
ment and who to- morrow, if divested
Of their wealth, could not be elected
town supervisors in any community in
the land? And yet, sitting 10 the
United States Senate, covered all over
with moral corruption, and employing
arts which in humber men are pun
ished with the penitentiary, they con.
troll the politics of powerful common
wealths and affect tile destinies of man
| kind.
In the lower house wo End those
whose seats have cost 100000 each.
1t has come to be recognized that the
aspirant must spend as much to get
his place az his entire salary will
come to, and consequently, if not a
man Of large fortune be must, if elect
ed, steal or ssarve.
In tho State Legislatures the same
condition of affairs exists. We learn
that last winter in our own legislature
about Sl2, 1000 was spent to carry a
single local measure. I quote the
following fro9 the Duluth Minnesotian
of last spring:
= "The corruption creeping into our State
legislature is becoming perfectly astound-
ing, causing every lover Of our free institu-
ti0ns to tromble Tor the outcome. It is
whispered around in st. Paul that to pass
the Knife Falls boom bill, embracing its
grand steal Of ffty-6ve cents. on every
thousand feet Of lumber in the log, q tax
imposed upon the lumber interests Of the
st. Louis river and its branches, for all
time to come, for the benefit Of landless
outsiders that to pass this bill alone, the
sum Of $l2, ,00c was paid. The State SEN
ate witnessed some very sudden CONVEX
sions in its favor between two days.