The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-09-14

cry department OF the Servlcei III IL pro
ven in investigations, in reports, in dis
missals, in inlpeachments, in indictments
verdicts aud Judgments. MuoJ this great
host of officials hUuOme atandlng army
fastened permanently upon the indus
lrles OF tie people? Aud shall TIE ma
tOnal expenses increase, as IN Tie Pasl
largely to exceed the necessities OF an
efficient public servicep
Upon which side do you stand2 Are
you for reform, or, with others, do you
denounce relormers2 Ifyour judgment
does condemn the present management
and does demand purer, better and
cheaper service, how will you, as respOn'
sibe citizens, give that Judgment express
sion? Your ballots will be The record Of
your judgment and purpose Are you
content that they shall repeat the past
and endorse the present as well enoughi
| now assume that, intelligentIy and
earnestly, you favor reform, that you sin
cerely desire an improvement in the
public service, so that it shall become
purer, more efficient and less expensive
The practical question Of these times Is
how can these results be attained? and
how can each man contribute to then
attainment? Experience has taught us
there is but one remedy, and that is, d
change of Administration. You may
hold mass meetings and conventions
and declare your wishes in resolutions
but your complaints will 60 to tue winds
unless you give them force by the ballot
changing men and politics. What other
reliance have you2 Is it in the Charac-
ter and promises of the candidate for
President? -Four years ago last April
General Grant approved system Of reg
ulations for civil service reform. He
gave assurance, the most solemn posi-
ble, that political assessments had been
forbidden within the various depart
ments, and that efficiency, honesty, not
political activity, would determine the
tenure Of office" That approval and as
surance are found in an Executive Or
der" Many of you expressed your con-
fdence by voting for Grants reelection,
You thought that with the aid of a
Board of Officers he could and would
remedy the growing evils. You trusted
him because you admired him is great
and successful soldier. And you relied
upon his personal integrity and his iron
will. Have you been disappointed Po-
litcal assessments, the most perniCiOus
influence, have been and are enforced
with relentless exaCtion. Collected as a
tax, and expended as a bribe, manhood,
honor and public virtue are all assailed.
And has that other assurance been kept
to the hope? Have honesty and eff
cheney, and not political activity" not
determined the tenure of office? Again
the answer is found in investigations re-
ports, indictments, verdiCts and judg-
ments. Whose fault is it that there has
been no reform, but on the contrary that
the public service has been drifting from
bad to worse? 1t is not fair to charge it
altogether upon Gen, Grant. That charge
springs from an unworthy motive on the
part of class Of Republicans who seek
Hayes's election upon the ground that he
can accomplish reforms which Gen. Grant
could not or would not bring about. Upon
this subject Morton expressed the follow
ing opinion in his late speech:
The Administrator Of any President
will be in the main what the party that
elected him makes it. If he breaks
away from his party, the chances are
that he will be broken down. In gov
ernment of parties like ours the Presi-
dent must have his choice of otfiCers-
The men to whom he owes his election,
who have defended him from assaults, to
whom he must look for support in the
future, will ordinarily control his action,
and he willdo nothing offensive to them"
In large degree that expresses the
truth in respect to Grants Administra-
ton. 1t is what his party has made it.
And his party is what the leaders have
made it. -Four years ago, in my opening
address as candidate for Governor, |
expressed my personal respect for Gen.
Grant in the opinion that the people had
less cause to apprehend an evil policy
from him than from the malign and pow
erful influences with which he would be
You all know that the re-
suits have more than realized my predic-
tions. Civil service is now sneered at,
and has ceased even to be pretense.-
Wasteful expenditures continue, and of
fetal misconduct has become widespread
and alarming. Surely the President can
not be relieved of responsibility for so
shameful a condition of public affairs,
yet the Administration is in the main
what the party managers have made it.
Will it be otherwise if that party elects
the successor? Do you find the ground
of such hope and expectation in the
candidate himself? Do you claim that
he is person of higher personal integri-
ty than Gen. Grant? And that he will
more certainly keep his pledges to the
people? Or do you think he is man
of stronger will to stand by his Conyic-
tions and his pledges? The failures have
been 80 disastrous as to cause leading
paper to exClaim:
"The Republican party has reached
the decisive crisis in its history. Within
a short time it will either shake itself
clear of the rascalites which have dis
gracsed it, or.go down to dishonor and de:
feat"
In every State there are thousands of vo-
ters whose minds are this day made up
beyond the possibility of change, to re-
deem the honor of the American Repub-
lie by such votes hereafter that neither
Grant nor any of his favorites, nor any
man who has impudently called our civil
service "the best the world ever saw"
nor any defender and apologist for this
most scandalous Administration, shall
again claim that he has the American
people behind him.
Is the party, with the machinery in
the hands of the well known managers
and leaders, better than Gen. Grant,
Does it show a disposition or ability for
reform? A Democratic House of Repre-.
has lifted the covering, and
the country is astounded and shocked at
he spectacle. You may Judge of the
of the party by the manner in
which it receives the investigations, ex.
oosures and proposed reforms. When
you see the newspapers and leaders con-
yulsed with rage because crime is expo
3ed and criminals are brought to punish
nent, you know full we'll that party
lnder such control can not restore public
virtue. Again, you seek retrenchment
IN public expenses, Can you reasonably
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