The Portland daily press., 1877-08-29

Inomas or Sheridan or perbaps as McPberson.
0ue aseory VIII faithfully record that it fell to
ort;caI .Sn ~. 70 night and to win the most
crlllcaI, tne most fateful the most memorable
battle OF the war; that he fought il when the
spirit of rebellion was at its height whan Taa's
army. proud in its prestige and az.
fogane IN ITS power had dared to invade the
Tree North; fought it when to lose would have
been TO see Independence Hall under a Rebel
flag in thirty-six hours, Baltimore in bloody
revolt, and the Capitol at Washington opened
10 the session of Confederate Congress fought
it!when United States vessel lay at anchor in
Tue T0tomac to receive President Lincoln and
MS cabinet in case the legons of Lee should
overcome the soldiers of the Union, Then and
tnere, my countrymen, on the wofuI field Of
Gettysourg, on those three historic days, the
american Union was saved and constitutional
liberty preserved iby the generalship of Meade
and the lon-hearted bravery of those who fouoht
under him. And when / recall the sole6n
and speechless joy of MeAde's great victory.
and when remember how history might have
rolled back and the destiny of continents and
races changed by his faltering; whom think of
that modest hero, gentle as q woman in his
manners tender as child in his feeiings-I
cannot believe 1t Is the will of the American
people that while the grass has hardly vet rim.
ened and withered on his glave, his sister. de-
pendent,for her bread upon her labor, should be
turned out OF her humble place 10 the Interior
department in the name of Civil Service Re.
form.
count as the small dust of the balance al!
reports In any reform paper, or from any
source whatever, of all unfitness whatever. /
questlon their truth. and if true, they should
not bei pleaded. European methods of Civil
service are held up to our emulation, and Eng
"a aanu ana tne German Empire are pointed out
as models OF administration for us. L do not for
moment concede that they are better than
ours; but does Secretary Schurz think that the
government Of England woaid under any pre-
t text Whatever deprive sister of the Duke Of
W6illnOfOn af ,Laszk
that Minister of the German Empire would
care 10 dlsplace the sister of Won Moltke from
the comfort in which any other Minister had
placed her? Yet Waterloo held not for England
nor sedan for Prussia, so grave a moment as
Gettysburg for the United States, where three
days long nations fate hung darkening in the
smoke of battle.
think that Gen. Jackson, head and front of
the vicious spoils system though he were nm
derstood iar better the nature of our people of
whose will he had been made the executive;
and that Mr.. Schurz himself, all armored In
unselfsb patriotism and high sense of duty,
might hnd his account in studying the charac-
terlstlc anecdote of him so often related by our
old s.4ir Salem neighbor, COL Miller, the gallant
II IL try, sir of the war of 1872 1t was he
that first ad7ised Gen. Jackson that George
Croghan, the splendid hero of the fort Stephen
son fight in 1913, who, with handful of men.
maintained against thousond British and In
dians position that involved all the communi-
cations and defences of the North-west-that
George Croghan, with this gallant record was
to be court-martialed on charge of "Intemper.
perance in alcoholic drinks" When the arbi-
trary, illogical, anti-reform old General heard
this. he laid down his pipe, rose from his chair.
smote the table with his clenched fist, and with
MS proverblal energy declared: Those pro-
ceedlngs OF the court-martial shall be stopped,
SIT! George Croghan shall get drunk every day
OF MS lie, II ne wants to, and, by the Eternal
the United States shall pay for the whiskeyP'
AS member OF cold water temple, Gen.
Jackson's speech cannot be applauded. Nor
does ne make much better show as Civil
Service Reformer, but / think he came much
nearer the American heart. 1 think he repre-
sented much more accurately the real wishes of
the American people, and think Also that IL
MISS Meade were far less able to work than the
helormers represent her, the people would
still forgive Mr.. Schurz more freely for break
ing his rules, and retaining her at their expense
than for casting her adrift in the interests of
rigid and economical integrity.
have heard that Miss Meade, having been
dismissed, was afterwards returned to her post
BY the Presidents owp intervention. / trust
This is true. am sure that no one act of his
whole Reform would be more creditabe to his
head or would be more recommend him to the
sympathy of the PEOPLE
Another point for Reform TO asnnua Ia
that the American people are men and not
children; that they have common sense aud
common honesty; that the American citizen.
even though he be party leader, is not neces-
.
even be depended upon to have some sense Of
proprIety 1t is simply impossible that a party
snenld make hobby of sustaining the national
cIsdlt II It's leaders are the ignorant and vulgar
Villains which the Reform organs make out the
Republican party leaders to be; and it is sim
ply impossible that its hobby should be ridden
SO we'll II the Federal Office holders to whom it
is practically intrusted are the dolts and rascas
that they are described. There is not cohesive
attraction enough in vice to keen such iniouitv
organized. The country, the Goyernment
would nave gone to pieces long ago. If Presi-
dents and authorities generally were not on the
whole inclined to appoint, and Congressman to
recommend % pretty good men, there would not
De any Clvll Service to reform. "Experience,"
says Prof. Fiske, "has shown, with sad certain
ty, that the President cannot; depend upon his
friends or his advisers, or the party leaders. or
Congressmen. Whose experience? The good
standing OF our country in the home and for
eign market shows that he can. For integrity
and intelligence our country stands well abreast
OF any nation in the world; aud never was her
credit better than under the party leaders whom
tisanship is not dishonesty No great national
cause can be conducted without party and no
party can be successfully carried on without
machinery The outcry against the political
macnine Is Just as intelligent as the insurrec-
ton of the English laborers against cotton ma
chlnery. 1t is perfectly intelligent for the Dem
0cratS TO applaud the President for sdisestab-
fishing the machine" because it all plays into
their hands and gives them an advantage Of
which they would otherwise fail President
Hayes is making and can make no law by
which all parties must be bound, He ia simplv
makngirules by which the party which elected
him Is weakened, and the party which opposed
him not affected except to be indirectly
strengthened.
The common sense of nation should not be
led captive by a phrase. To transact business
on business principles means the principles Of
your own business and not of somebody else's;
otherwise, it Is nonsense: To say that govern
ment shall or can be carried on just as an ordi-
nary dry-goods firm is carried on ia sheercst
nonsense. A. I. Stewart created the firm of
which he was the head. The firm of which r.
B. Hayes is head created him. The d.y-goods
firm is absolute monarch, and what it does is
nobody's business but its own The govern
ment Is but an agent OF the people, and what
it does is everybody's business. Intelligence
and integrity are equally indispensable to both,
but political skill and political service, moi
political trickery, should have as much con-
slderatlon in the government firm as tasting
teas and sampling sugars-not sanding sugar
and aduIterating tea-has with the wholesale
grocer 1t is not everything but it is one thing
The business OF the government is politics.
Over that bridge, with what creaking of timber
the echoing heavens know, went Mr. HAYES
into the Presidential chair, and it is unnatural,
not to say suicidal. work, to hew and hack
away now at the joists and eirders whose
stanchness never knew sterner strain.
To denounce and "smash the machine" be-
cause it isisometimes dishonest and despotic is
as sensible as was the short cut to temperance
discovered by woman in a religious newspa-
per the other day, to have Congress pass a law
forbidding the manufacture of all intoxicating
drinks in the country.
Another point which it would be wise for Re-
formers to remember is that the cant of Re-
form is just as loathesome to every healthy
mind as the cant of religion. We are perfectly
willing to discuss tenure of office, or modes OF
appointment, .or excellence of laws, but we
look with contempt on the men who claim
higher standard of morality because they ad-
yocate one mode rather than another The
best soldiers are not the imen who talk most of
courage. The best Christians are not those who
talk most about Christ. The most temperate
men are not those who make political capital
of diseased brain. The true Reformers are
not those who stand on the housetops to "ex.
pose'' their country's infrmites. The true
Reformers are those who, instead of hallooinp
INCREASINGLY for reform, and for rules, and for a
general upheaval of all things, 90 to work
quietly on things as they are, enforce the
tests that already exist strengthen the things
which remain that are sready to die. We NAV
not have attained ultimate excellence in our
methods. but neither are we SO utterly weak
and inefficient that the Reformers must tram