New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-02-05

incumbcnts of official station, to say that
there is n general craze for reform; but we
nav say reyerently and without exaggeratlon
that enthusiasm on this subject has quite risen
to passion For months the public eye
has been delighted with professions OF
persons with brooms, and squlrt-guns. and
mops, and scrubbing- brushes. and speaking
trumpets, and dslnfectants, and innumerable
weapons of controversy, marching up ana
down the land looking for something
to reform and howl about, and dlsin-
feet and purify There was never time
when people out of Office were so eager to
reform people in Office, and to purify official
life by a general purgation. Indeed,
the passion for reform has been car
lied TO such an extent. and the de-
mand for something to be reformed be-
como so urgent, that some good, honest
people have begun TO feel like the sailor who
happened into church when the minister
preaching on the separation of the sheep from
the goats, inquired three times, with solemn
pauses, Who will be the goats y The sailor
getting inpatient, rose up and said, IN be
- one OF 'em rather than have the play stopped"
! We do not know that the Commissioner Of
! Agriculture has been moved by similar feel
! ing to rise ND IN response to the clamor for
reform and say, "Rathcr than have the play
"stop, I'll reform the Department of Agrl-
" culture but we do say that the sudden
ness of his proclamation has affected
the public v'ry much IA the sailors
unexpected response did the congregation
and preacher IT is as If, to MaSda-
! len society hunting vainly through "a virtuous
village for some abandoned woman to reform,
there should come suddenly the primmcst
and most angular Old maid III the ncighbOr-
hood with expressions Of pcnitcnce and
desire to lead different life. In
the midst of the great Reform move
ment and while the Democratic party, standing
up to its knees in its own filth, Is looking with
/ telescopes for something 10 reform and rnrify,
General lie Due has ast0nishcd everybody
by Offering to reform the Agricultural
Department. Even as another states
man, not far from Creamery Park,
sad on one occasion: The people are
looking for Reform, and believe they have
d" found it here ~ so LIE Duc, hlnging open the
Agricultural Department, says his DEM
ocratc Congress is looking for something
." to reform. 1t will find it here 1t
]
long time. Profoundly impressed with
the logic OF Democratic statesmen, that every
thing is going to the bad, and the country
will perish shortly If something Is not dis
covered that needs reforming, he has lam
awake nights and bcthought himself chat haply
his might be the fault "Sccd>,' he has medlta-
ted, "havc gone from this department into the
hands of members of Congress, and very
likely been diverted from the use for winch
they were designed to the base purposes OF
political bargaining and trade. Who knows
"to what corrupt ends and what pemclouS
d" uses the fragrant onion and the loWly
"bect, the tca-plant and the sorghum
land the cabbage may have been d.
"verted by the ntrigucrs and dcmagogueS to
whom they have been intrlStcd for dSscmlna-
| tiOn7 Instead of harvcSts of golden grain and
"crop, Of early Spring vegetables, it is not i'm
probabc that the returns from the labOrs of this
| " deDartmcnt have been in the shape OF purchased
"votes and stuffed ballOt-bOxcs." IL was doubt
less such a train of thought that led him to
the conclusion which he so abruptly announced
the other day, to trust Congressman no longer,
but distribute all the seeds hereafter himself
And this is well. 1t speaks highly for the
his determination to keep the graft and seed
department Of the Government free from
the ENHANCEMENT of politics and the
corruption of official life. And what Is
perhaps of more Importance. it furnishes
the Democratic party an excuse-thc only
one so far fOund-for their vehement de-
mands for reform. There was danger that
they might reach an adjournment without
having found anything that really needed re-
forming, and that it would be SAID of them after
all their fishing that they had t0ied all night
and taken nothing. General lie Due has saved
them that. They can now adjourn with the
satisfaction of knowing that there Was one
abuse which needed reforming. and that
the Agricultural Department, having had
its conscience awakened by Democratic
nreaching, will hereafter distribute its seeds
directly to the agricuturists, instead of per-
hitting Congressman to divert them to their
own use, or swap them for votes.
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THE CHANCES or THE PL1GUE.