The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-03-08

the fact Is clear that In the progress Of
events tho time has come when such
government Is in imperative necessity
required by all the varied interests,
public and private, of those states.
But it must not be forgotten that only
local government, which regards
and maintains the rights of all Is
true self-goverpment with respect to
the two distinct races, whose peculiar
relations to each other have brought
upon us the deplorable complications
and perplexities which exist in all
those states. 1t must be government
which guards the interests of both
races carefully and equally; 1t must be
a government which submits loyalty
and heartily to the constitution and
the laws, the laws of the nation and
the laws of the states themselves, ac-
cepting and obeying faithfully the
whole constitution as 1t is. Resting
upon this sure and substantial founda-
ton, the superstructure of beneficent
local governments can be built up, and
not otherwise. In furheraDce of such
obedience to the letter and the spirit of
the constitution, and in behalf of all
that its attainmeDts implies, all So
called party interests lose their appar-
ent importance and party lines may
well be permitted to fade into insignifi-
cance. The question we have to con-
slider for the immediate welfare of these
states of the Union is the question of
government or no government, of social
order and all the peaceful industries
and the happiness that belong to il, or a
return to barbarism. 1t Is a question
in which every citizen of the nation is
deeply interested, and with respect to
which we ought not he in u partisan
sense either republicaen or democrats,
but fellow citizens and fellow men, to
whom the interests OF common
country and common humanity are
dear. The sweeping revolution of the
entire labor system of large portion
of our country, and the advance offour
millions people, from condition of
servitude to that of citizenship, upon
an equal footing with their former
masters, could not occur without pre-
senting problems of the gravest
moment, to be dealt with by the
emancipated race, by their former
masters and by the general govern
ment, the author of the act of elnan-
cipation. That it was wise, just and
providential act fraught with good for
all concerned is now generally con-
ceded throughout the country. That
a moral obligation rests upon the ma
tional government to employ its con.
stitutiOnal power and influence to es-
tablish the rights of the people it has
emancipa ed, and protect them in the
enjoyment of those rights when they
are infringcd or assailed, is also gencr.
ally admitted. The evils which affect
the southern states can only be re-
moved or remedied by the united and
harmonious efforts of both races,
actuated by motives of mutual sym
pathy and regard. And while in duty
bound and fully determined to protect
the rights of all by every constitu-
tional means at the disposal of my ad-
ministration, | am sincerely anxious
to use every legitimate influence in
favor of honest and efficient local self
gOvement as the true resource of those
states for the cOntcntment and prosper
ity of their citizens. In The effort |
shall make to accomplish this purpose
| ask the cordial cooperation ofall VINO
cherish an interest in the welfare ofth
country, trusting that party ties
and the prejudice of race will be
freely surrendered in behalf of the
great purpose TO be accomplished.
In the important work of restorin e
the south it is not the political siua-
ton alone that merits attention. The
material development of that section of
the country has been arrested by the
social and political revolution through
which it has passed, and now needs
and deserves the considerate care of
the national government within the
just limits prescribed by the cons'itu-
ion and wise polite economy. But as
the basis of all prosperity for that as
well as for every other part of the
country, lies in the Improvement Of
the Intellectual and moral condition of
The people, universal suffrage should
rest upon universal education. To
this end liberal and permanent provis-
ion should be made for the support of
free schools by the state governments,
and, if need be, supplemented by
legitimate aid from national authority.
Let me assure my countrymen of the
southern states that it Ii my earnest
desire to regard and promote their
truest interests, the interests of the white
ana of the colored people, both and equally.
and to put forth my best efforts in behalf of
civil policy, which will forever wipe out
in our political affairs the color line and
the distinction between the north and south,
to the end that we may have not merely
united north or a united south, but united
country.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
ask the attention of the Public TO the
paramount necessity of reform in our civil
service reform not merely as to certain
abuses and practices of so-called official
patronage, which have come to have
the sanction Of usage in the general depart
ments OF our COVER Inment, but change in
thes stem Of appointment iselfs--a reform
that shall be thorough, radical and COM
plete, return TO the principles and
practices of the founders of the government
They neither expected nor desired from
public officers any partisan services, they
meant that public Offices should owe their
whole service to the government and to the
people they meant that the officer should
be secure in his tenure as long as his per-
sonal character remained untarnished and
the performance Of his duties satisfactory
they held that appointments to office were
not to be made or expected merely as re-
wards for partisan service, nor merely On
the nomination Of members of congress as
being entitled in any respect to the cOatrol
of those appointments, The fact that both
the great parties Of the county IN declaring
their principles prior to the election gave
prominent place to the subject of reform in
our CIVIL service, recognizing ind strongly
urging its necessity in terms almost identi-
fed in their specific import with what l
have here employed. must be accepted asa
conclusive argument in behalf of these
measures. Itmust be regar led as the ex
preston of the united voice i'd will of the
whole country upon this sub! ect, aud both
political parties are virtually pledged to