New-York tribune., 1876-07-28

The sharp eve of Mr.. Carl SChurz, scanning
the next to impossible event of a Democratic
National Administration, sees more than he
says-"A tremendous, irresistible rush OF
&" oflicc-scekcTs from South ana North to dlvlGe
the booty" Mr.. ochulz weighs his language,
and speaks with philosophical Icticence
which we are inclined to envy him; for il we
mad been writing such IA letter we should ccT-
tainly have resoltcd to pCctcal quotation and
! said something of the ANsyIian coming down
" like a wolf ON the fold" We have earnestly
desired the dccapitation of all dishonest, IL
competent, negligent, caucusiHg oticc-holdtgs,
! but the danger Of Democratic asccndcncy
would be that of the 'guilojine worked by
| team. with all the modern Improvements,
covering the country with headlo>s corpscs,
and filing the nGstls of mankind with tie
smell of blood. We ere not in favor OF whole
sale slaughter, universal massacre, and hip
| and-thigh shifting. We would see few
spared remnants of Executive clcmcncy ;
/ but we are afraid that Democratic
! President would have 10 choice. lie would be
| buttonhoed, interviewed, pcti;ioncd, and Gclc-
gated out Of all possibility of spaIing so mach
/ as lonesome night inspector in some port
where there had not been an entry for 20
! wears. 1t Is not strange that Mr. SchUrZ, who
! is something more than a hand-to-mouth poll
| tician and who is accustomed to lcok little
| into the future, regards with something like
| dismay the extremely remote possibility oi a
| scramble for the spoS which would dcbauch
! the purcst party in the world The country Is
/ not without experience OF such catastrophe.
/ Ii saw the Wing party in 1910 actually para
| lived for a time, not by the death of Gen.
Harrison, which was politically OF 40 impor-
! tance, but by the impos,ibity OF finding
yictua enough for its army of sharp-set re
taincrs. The Dcmocratie party ITSELF after
twelve years Of power, had been III the
same bcggarly predcament. The truth
is. there are not Offices enough in this
slightly governed Republic for all who
vcarn for them. The booty is rich, but the
name of th0 buccaneers is Legioa The man
who under Il Democratic Administration should
talk of civil service reform would he laughed
at as lunatic, if he were attended to at all.
| There would be no time for it there would
be no taste for 1t ; there would be very little
said about il. Can anybody who reads this,
and WHO is old enough TO remember the adj
vent OF new administrations during the past
forty years believe that the Inauguration Of
President Ti.dcn would be marked by the spc-
cial moderation and mOdc.ty Of his sup
porters? Gov. Hayes, in his letter of July $,
has told us what he thinks of making Offices
:" the rewards for party services, and for SER
vices TO party leaders, If elected, he will
have an opportunity Of applying the rule
which he has distinctly cnunciated, and of
making honesty, capacity, and fidelity the
qualifications for Office. Wemay give the Demo
cratic candidate the credit of meaning well, but
before the whirlwind Of bcggay, the best Of
intentions would bc but chat. The sum total
of reform" would he the ejectmcnt of Re
publicans and the installmcnt of Democrats
If the case were reversed, if it were n Demo
cratic Administration which was 10 30
out and a Republican Administration which
was to come in, we should anticipate
nothing better. II is tie general over
turn which ruins, and from which there is
a prospect that upon this occasion We may be
happily delivered No doubt many Democrats,
honest and sensible men, would be disgustcd
by what Mr.. Schurz calls "a substantial con
"tinuance of the present spoils SYSTEM" Gov.
Tilden himself would not probably relish II over
much; but what could he dol In considering
this matter we must take in the whole stua-
ton, tie position of parties, the present state OF
the public service, and its probable state if
there should be a cuibute generate. Gov.
HAYES with wise conservatism not over
common, expresses at least an earnest desire
for Improvement. On the other hand, the