The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-02-10
AuAdfal
SHALL THE DOWNWARD TIDE BE
TURNED?

Inseparably connected with all discus.
sions of the question Of fit candidates fOr
the next Presidency, is the question Of
the methods of administering the Gov
ernment, and reformation in the public
service. Under the present Administra-
ton there has been a steady expansion
both of offices and of expenditure. The
promises of civil service reform, so Wig
orously made in theory, have not one of
them been kept in practice. At the very
moment that President Grant recon-
mended to Congress a system of civil ser
vice rules which would give subordinate
Offices to the most competent, he was
himself overriding the rules and appoint
ing to higher offices from mere political
and personal reasons.
It is an undeniabe fact that the whole
force and influence of the present Ad-
ministration have been on the side Of
the expansion theory Of Government, as
against the principle of confning the
functions of Congress and the Executive
within a safe practice sphere. Uuder the
influence of the Administration the back
salary grab of 1873 was passed, which
added fifty per cent to the pay of mem
bers of Congress, and hundred per cent
to the salary ofthe President. The former
disgraceful grab was swiftly repealed,
under the irresistible pressure of the pub
lie opinion of the country; but the latter
being restrained by constitutional amend
ment, necessarily remains unrepealed
until the expiration of the present tenure
of Office of the President.
We have seen the tendency towards
expending the functions and the expense
of the government manifested in numer-
GUS directions. New bureaus have been
created which have no proper relation to
the powers Of Congress, as clearly defined
in the Constitution. Instead Of cutting
down the Offices and enforcing economy
in all directions with the natural de-
crease of the enormously extended busi-
ness Of the departments and bureaus
which grew immedi tely out of the war,
we have seen the whole Republican
forces in and out Of Congress combined
in the successful effort to hold on to
every avenue that led to political patron
age, and every channel that communica-
ted with the public crib. The expenses
Of the Cover Lment, which it was prom
jsed in the last Presidential campaign of
1872 should be largely reduced, have in
stead been steadily and largely increased
with the single exception, perhaps, of
the last fiscal year. For the fiscal year
of 1872 they were $153, 100000, exclusive
ofthe interest of the public de t; for the
year 1873 they were $180,000,00O; for the
year 1874 they rose to S194000,0O0. and
f)r the year 1875 the amount, is placed at
$l72,OOO,0OO. This, too, at a time when
universal economy and curtailment have
been the order Of the day in all private
business and public corporations.
That the whole weight of President
Grants personal influence is in favor of
the expansion Of expenditure and the
consequent burdenso of taxation is eyinced
in the following facts He has directly
recommended in his message and pressed
personally upon the attention of Con-
gress all those enormous internal i'm
provement enterprises which, if carried
into effect, would add hundreds of mil
lions to the national debt, and seriously
embarrass the public credit. He lis in |
favor of the James River and Kanawha |
Canal job, the great jetty system of Cap
tain Eads, and that comprehensive plan |