The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-05-15
Review of the Week.

cneap mateflals-
PIETRo.
Review of the week.
/ believe it is generally conceded
that we have q Democratic House,
and that this Democratic House has
a Democratic Committee on that
same old Civil-Service Reform. There
are something like a hundred and
forty or ffty positions of various de-
e of emolument and Responsible
w. which constitute the civil service
Of the House of Representatives
When these places came to be dis
tributed the painful truth flashed
upon the country that the greater por-
tion Of the Democratic party was out
Of a job and would like a situation
The advent Of the Forty-fourth Con.
gress In Washington was signalized
by The irrupLion Of a horde OF place
hunters, ranging in the social scale
all the way from genteel idiots VINO
bad relatives 10 Congress, down 10
the squarejawed shoulder hitter from
New York, Philadelphia or Balti-
more, whose relatives were presuma-
bly, in the penitentiary.
Ii is necessary to remark that no
thing like this had ever been seen IN
der Republican rule. When the Re
publicans had the House they robbed
the country, it is true, but they did
not make the patronage Of that end
of the Capitol an asylum or a house
of refuge. | once mentioned this fact
to a Democratic member, remsrking
by the way, that the %indecency Of the
scramble for the few places in the
gift OF the House was SO infinitely
more disreputable, ~disgraceful and
disgusting than anything that had
ever been seer under the Radical re
CINE, that the best argument 10 The
Democratic repertoire was forever
epjoined ard estopped. The reply
was, Lob, yes but by ana by, when
we get the whole Government into
our bands, we can unload this pres.
sure on the Departments J"
There was wisdom for you Civil
service Reform with something more
than q vengeance! Here was q
pressure" the proper place to 'un
load" nine-tentEs of which would
have been at the doorstep. of the
alms-houses or the calaboose, and yet
here was a statesman deliberately
biding his time until the Democratic
party should get control Of the whole
Government, 10 order 10 unload the
tltb-cart Of the organization into the
Departments!
am told by my Democratic friend;
in Congress that this sort of criticism
should be left to the Radical press
and that Democratic writers should
defend the practices of the party Oh
extenuate the situation as best they
can. That advice amounts to this
that it suggests to me and to all 9th
er Democratic writers the propriety
of hiiching themselves on TO the filth
cart to help pull it out of the mud.
am not 10 that business. | can max,
a Grst-class living without even bear
ing in mind the fact that there il
such a thing as a Democratic party
in existence, and could manage Il
provide myself with the ~necessarie'
of life if the Democratic party should
suddenly happen to sink under tbs
accumulated burden of its hummer
ism, right square, plump into hell
So could The Capitol. God help thu
man CT the newspaper who coult
not; for that condition in life is wba
constitutes the bummerism now un
der consideration.
The Democratic party in th,
House must do something to sbat'
the nuisance of the prevailing gutter
scramble after its patronage, or ther'
is danger that the people will abat'
the nuisance, Democratic House ant
all. The average citizen does no
closely discriminate between small
nuisances and great wrongs In max
ing up his mind to be disguised. Th,
consequence is that the revelation
Of indecent greed which have COM
out in the recent investigation by th,
Committee on Civil-seryice Reforl
have excited about as much con
tempt for Democratic pretensions a
the failures of Hayes, SchurZ & Co.
have aroused in the other direction
As a finale to this farce it is nov
currently rumored that the door
keeper is to be sacrificed, partly as
scapegoat to cover up the indeeen
exposure of the Importantly of mem
bers of Congress, ard partly to Civ
ten or twelve candidates for the plac
opportunity for another scramble.
1t is even reported that the chair
man of the committee has a caudi
dete Of his own, In the person of a
individual from Chicago by tie nam
Of Goodell, and hat this fact wi
have its bearing upon the report G
the committee. This last report seem
perfectly incredible to me bu. per
sons who pretend to be friends az,
admirers of Mr.. Harrison assert il
and | am informed that MIR. Goodel
is making a canvass on that basis.
This may or may not be true, bu
whether it is or not doesn't alter th
main import of the situation.
There r no personal questions o
interests involved, that can compar
in Importance with the interests @
the party at large. And the inter
ests of the party are not comparabl
in Importance with those Of the put
lie service or with the repute Of tb
House of Representatives as an inst
tuition. Ii will be very unfortunat
if Messrs. Harrison, Morgan and th
other gentlemen on the committee al
tempt to make a scapegost, or t
wreak the personal spites of member
who have not succeeded in pensioninI
their bummers properly and ge
caught at it.
Undoubtedly it would be an cas-,
sort of surgery TO dismiss the presen
doorkeeper and proceed to elect an