American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1881-07-30
Bogus Ciyil.ScrY;ce Reform.

With the hypocritical cant about
Civil-scrvice Reform no seli-rcSpccting
citizen has particle of-patience. The
phrase has become a by-word. Most of
the men who have palayered-abo bout the
subject and covered it with their sicken-
ing rhetorical drool are deservedly sus-
pected of the worst sort of dema-
goguery, if they are not dcspised.
Grant proscssedl tor be- a Civl-seryce
Reformer; but itsvas onlyto get rid of
personal ANNOYANCE and 7eyade ssthe
courtesy of the Scnatep he noW 50
stoutly contenhssfor. lie merely w;nt-
ed pretext for Ignoring the 'clainisn
ofleading Republicans whom he dis
liked. Ehie he aPPoirrtl7whoever he
pleased to any ofiec tlElt Happened to
be vacant, reganlless Of qualifications
Nor character. Many Of his appoint
ments to, important Offices were not
only disgraceful in themselves, but an
; insult to the country. Hayes made
great pretensions to Civil-service Re-
form, and -tss4f-ti the Federal offices
with scoundrcls who had helped count
him into the Presidency, and political
tramps and nobodies from Ohio, violat-
ing every principle OF sound policy and
ordinary propriety.
Garfield was fully lossomed Civil
service Reformer. He advocated the
subject in speech and press He waxed
eloquent in depicting the evils of the
present system and the beauties of the
one he proposed to put in its place
Three months in the White House, and
be has repudiated by his acts every
principle that he proclaimed, sRens:on
Commissioner Bentley, who 1iad been
years in an office where he had saved
the Nation 81, 3Q0p0o; and prevented
the stealing of as much more, was re-
moved on account of - the pressure" of
the thieves who found him in their way.
General Smith, Collector at Bangor, a
fa1hful and successful officer, was dis
missed in the middle of his term to
recompense Davis for retiring from the
Senatorial contest and insnring the cleo
ton of Hale..s General Merritt. the re-
shccted and admirable Collector at this
port, waSfemoved in, the midst of his
term to reward Robertson. whose course
at Chicago made Garfield nomination
possible. Stanley Matthews, a railway
lawyer, was put On he-Supreme Court
bench, for which he was VIGOROUSLY I'M
fit, to placate interests and please indi-
yiduals.s Wallace r.. Whjte.s notorious
as briber. second 2ithout
the latter's ability, was made District
Attorney in one of the territories. A
scors of other instances can be named
in which not only has every profession
been falsifed. but every sound principle
of executive action has been trampIed
under foot. No swopder that Civil
service Refbrm islooked upon as mere
pretense and suspected as a blind when
it is not loathed. And now Mr.. Gar
field has been shot by man who vas
mad thatshe was not provided for by
the President he had worked to elect in
the iexpectation of an office.
Whatever iHterest the country might
have kaa iM CiviEseryice Reform has
been killed by the hypocritical pre-
lenses and Inscriptions acts of its adj
vocates. Moreover, the people of this
country do not want an ironcluos civil
service system fastened ON the Federal
Government. Everybody knows that
schoolmaster examinations are not tests
of capacity for the public service and
are ridiculous. Why demand that a
Weigher, or Inspector. or tidcwaiter
in the Custom-hoHse shall answer a
schoolmaster's catechism when Senator
Logan murders the Kings English
every time he makes a speech, and one
third of the Senators are incapable of
correcting himp Three-quarters of the
talk about Civil-service Reform is the
veriest trumperY. What is wanted is
to abolish the whole spoils system,
which is debauching the politics of the
country and degrading the General
GOverhn1eptti nto an immense plumber
shop fdr rae .distributionof places to the
favorites of the highest officials. This
system degrades the 100000 Federal
offices into vast corruption fund
with which an Administration pays
the sexpense Of, its election and
promises to pay for its continuance
in power. And to get rid of this sys-
tenn there should be such a tenure Of
office act as shall make it impossible for
even President to remove anybody
save Cabinet Minister during his Off
cial term except fer just cause. All the
subordinate places of the Government
should be ia ken out of politics altogeth-
er. "A mar appointed to an office should
that he can give his whole time and
mind to the public service. 1t is the
Presidents duty to appoint the best
men he can find to offices as they be-
come vacant. There is no system I'M
der Heaven by which a weak or unprin-
cipled President will be compelled to
make good appointments. AS General
Hancock well said, the only way to re-
form the Federal service is to begin at
The top by putting men at the head of
the Government who will make wise
appointments. The Senate was in
tended to be sieve to keep all bad
nominations from taking effect. There
will be no practical difficulty when this
corrupt and ubiquitous spoils system is
destroyed. And if it is not soon abol-
ished it will abolish everything decent
and respectable and worth preserving
in the Republic. y Express.