New-York tribune., 1881-12-16
CJVTL SERTICE REFORM.

70 regulate and improve the Civil service mas
been favorably received by the press ana
seems to meet with commendatcn In all quar-
ters. Not that all OF his premises are adnltteu'
or his conclusions accepted, but that he seems
disposcd to discuss the subject with harness
and to have sincere desire to improve Ile
nublic service 1t is the spirit IN whlch nc
treats the matter that is so cordially approVed'
Resisting the prevailing tendency and the temp
fatiop which as party leader he must have 1elt'
NE has not dealt in partisan arguments or at
temnted to make party capital ont OF the discus
sion. In this respect his speech has the advan-
ta0e of having Senator Ben HilFs coarse ana
violent diatribe as "A foil. Very likely partisan
considerations do enter largely into Mr. Pendle
tons action and inspire his uttcrnces, but III
the speech referred to he had the art-rather
courteous than deccptve-to conceal them. NO
matter what ultcrior partisan ad, antage he may
have i'm vicw-aud we say frankly that we DO
not believe it possible for a man in Senator
pcpdlcton's position, with his antcccdents and
marty relations to consider "a question of this
sort without some regard to its bearings upon
the future Of his party andFhimself-he de
serves credit for treating the subject IN a dlS-
nifed and statcsmanlke manner and from the
service. Doubtless in the last analy sis OF his
motives we should find some such consideration
as that advanced by one Democratic newspaper
in the remark that the introduction OF the OH Us
Democratic measure puts the party on recoid
~ in favor Of Civil Service Reform whlIe its
defeat, for which the Republicans VIII be re-
sponsiblc, will put the latter on record rs OPP
posed to Reform.
II NAV as wen be admitted first rs last that
this is a question which from It's very nature, rs
well ~ from the great public interest IN H.
cannot Ice rgislatcd upon OF discussed Tree from
partisan Influences. The simple Tact that -
party out of power wants To fix the methods
of appointment and tenure of office OF party
m power settles that The object aimed at by
the pcLdlcton bill is the destruction OF the
| .poils system by which Is meant the an
sorptjon OF all the Federal offices by the party
in power, under the rule that to the Nl'torS
belong the spoils," and the Use OF the oihceS 10y
the party to pcrpctuatc itself IN power. / Ais Is
the great evil complained ot. w hear no ar
r.gumcut Of the public service on the ground
of The uufaiufulncss or unf,Acss OF the present
iurumbcuts; no intimatiDn that the different de-
partments are not as ably honestly and eih-
| cicntly manned rs they could be under any sys-
| tenn The -spoils system and particularly
that feature of It which permits Government
officials 10 contribute either labor or money to
bc retention in power of the parry to which they
ovc tLcir plarp,. is a-rai,ucd. Wen, how shall
! We be rid Of the spous -ystcm} With the Offices
! all well manned now, shall We turn out hall the
| incumbcuts % nut members ol the opposition III
! their places That would be establishing the
principle permanently that the "ihceo are
! - spoiIs,' but that instead of being monopo!Hcd
| Inv the yictorS they must be divided between the
p,rtics. How far would that take us on the
| road to the ideal service in which no consdcra-
tions Of party but only OF fitness shall cntcr'
! Then as 10 the activity of olice-holdcrs IN
! elections. which is 80 much complained oi' ana
which i, really capable of working mischief
under certain conditions. What i, it that in
duccs tGi- activity Why, precisely the same
| tbin., that induces the activity OF their oppo-
ncnts. If there is any difference 1t Is ouly IN
this, that the oaicc-hollcr wants to keep in and
the Office seeker wants to get in. Human
nature enters pretty largely into human con-
duct and human affairs. IL is human nature in
the man whose means OF subsistence are en-
dauccrcd to do what he can to retain them, and
~ 4 rule he will not quietly submit to have his
hands tied while the free use of all weapons IS
p,rmittcd those who would supplant him. To
forbid the olicc-holdcr from contributing to the
success of the party that keeps bin III place,
while holding out the office ~ an nducement
for a score of asprant, to work for ana con
! tribute to the opposition. would be tho mean
ness of disarming IN opponent before attacking
hIm. Il would be not only mean buu cowardly.
The only fair and decent way to put a stop to
| tbc contributions OF Othcc-holdcrs tOr political
nurnoses and make an end of their political
activity is to take away the induccmcnt re-
move the danger to which the accession of the
oupo,ition party exposes them And this aS
! TuE Tribune has repeatedly taken pains to
point out rests entirely with the Democrats,
the party out of power So long rs half million
Democrats more or less are left to believe that
the success of their party will give them offices,
so long they will contribute literally and work
untriugly to that end and so long hundred
thousand Republican Oiicc-holdcrs will take
the same means Of self f.dcicngc. So much of
reform is within easy reach OF cur Democratic
friends, and it rests with chem TO devise means
! by which they can give the assurance thai their
success woi Id not mean Il clearing out OF all
the Offices and division Of the "spoils among
themselves.
We do not fully agree with Mr. Pchdlcton
when he says. We must supplnnt this system
"-wc must chase it out with hue and cry"
The " hue and cry method does not commend
itself to our judgment The solution Of the
question seems to us rather 10 call for very
careful and wise deliberltiOn and the fullest
discussion Bat we do most cordially agree
with him in his desire to replace the present
with " better system founded on the idea that
spnblic Offices arc public trusts to be admins
tered solely for the public good; that the
Gttcst men shall administer them until still
| 4. A. ,,,d haitian mon shall hn fnuu1 that