Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-20
HOUSE.


The civil reform DILL came up.
Mr.. Bingham expressed his Begret that
the bill had been reported and was being
pressed on the consideration of the House.
He declared that such bill was forbidden
by the genius of our institutions and by the
express letter of the Constitution. 1t was
direct interference with the guaranteed
privileges of every citizen of the United
States. 1t was miserable spectacle. He
appealed to his Republican friends to re-
member that they were the advance guard
in that great struggle which
had resulted substantially and was
to result fully and completely and forever
more, in restoring to the people their long
lost liberty and their equal rights. Let them
not inaugurate the business Of government
backwards on their own record and Of at
tempting to forge fetters on the minds and
consciences of freemen. Let the civil SER
vice be reformed. But let it be reformed in
the only way possible under the Constitu-
ton, that is by the integrity to duty and
honor of executive officers, of members of
Congress and of the people themselves.
Mr.. Garfield made the closing speech in
favor of the bill. He reviewed the three
chief objections urged against it: That it
was unconstitutional; that the civil service
was pure and needed no reform; and that
the interests of the party required the
maintenance of the present system. On
the first point he referred to the Golden
Rule of government, that the three great
departments, legislative, executive and ju-
dietary be separate and Independent ofeach
other, and that neither should encroach on
the other. The spirit and letter of that
rule had been violated again and again
in the mode by which the civil service was
administered. 1t could not be said with
even a shadow of truth that the head of the
Executive department did now exercise his
high functions of nomination ever, without
a constant
Terrible Pressure
of the whole body of the Legislative de-
partment; and for many years the Presi
| dents of the United States had been cryins
| out in their agony to be relieved from thai
unconstitutional, crushing, irresistible pres
sure. The present custom was an apOstatt
| from the Government in its original purity
| an apostate of the most alarming character
! So careful had Washington been that ever
the Executive departments should not in
fuence each other, that he had scattered
the public buildings in the Capital all owe
| the city.
Mr.. Butler, of Massachusetts: Wher
will find that?
Mr.. Garfield: You will find it in thu
Globe tomorrow. [Laughterl.
As to the other objection to the bill tha
the civil service was pure and needed no re
form, Mr.. Garfield referred to the first mes
sage of the President calling attention Il
the need of reform. The House had beel
told Yesterday by Butler that the paymas
ters of the department had done well dur
ing the war. But why? Because that wa
a magnificent department of the servic
where every man was held to accountable
ity, where an officer was not removed ever,
time that politician wanted to get anothe
in his place, where the law of promotion
prevailed. The army and navy belonge,
| to a class of service separated from the
Miserable Civil Service,
of which he was speaking. There was no
a really high and noble service connectet
with the government that had not beel
more or less separated from the evils il
Question. He instanced the coast surve.
as a service in which the system of promo
ton by merit prevailed, and asked VIII
would dare to turn that service into tn
hands of politicians. 1t was so with tn
lighthouse board, and with all parts of th
pnblic service that were an honor and glOr
To the country. The house had been treat
ed during the debate to class OF insinua
fiops which he could not pass over i
silence. They had been told i'll very plai
Ianguage that this whole civil service bus
ness was a trick on the part of some pee
nlp who did not like the President and VIII
wanted to get up the Cincinnati ConVeI
tion.and that the President had been
Caught in q Trap.
spread for him by Congress at the instigi
tion of his enemies. Behold how plai
tale shall put that down. 1t was in th
Presidents message of the 9th of Dec, 1871
that these words were used: 81 call th
! attention of Congress to an abuse of Ion
: standing which l desire to have reformed
| refer to the civil service of the country.
That first utterance had been made foJ
: months before the provision had been pr
4 in the appropriation bill to which Butte
} had referred as the origin of the mOvemen
/ but that provision did not compel, bl
: merely authorized the President to devi:
some means of bettering the public servic
| len DlOuLAlS dlOOA " al 10 bAlC I6bIuCub Id
f forwarded to Congress the repo
r of the civil service. commission
and said: 81 ask for all the strength tn
q Congress can give to enable me to carry o.
the reform of the civil service recommend
a by the commission to take effect on Il
Ist of JANUARY, 1873" And now on Il
18th of April, 1872, the President had Sc
: an Executive order with the body of t
q amended rules, and called on Congress
n support him in carrying those rules in
: effect. The gentleman from Massachuse
had taken on himself yesterday to rept