The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-07-20
HOW far the spoils svsten j. resnonsibl

How far the spoils system Is responsible
for Guiteau's crime is perhaps difficult t
say, but that it is responsible and that to
great degree no one will deny. His act wa
not that of party, it was the act of al
Individual; it was not prompted by other
but by his own evil passions. 1t was en-
gendered by the disappointment, which /
conceited and weak fool always feels at
failure to accomplish his desires or to re
ceive the acknowledgement which hi
thought his deeds had warranted It wa!
the natural outcome of the feeling, which
the spo'ls system has established, that
whatever political work man does he
should receive for It commensurate re
ward 1t was the result of politics as q
profession, of the bread and butter policy
The shot from Guiteau's pistol rang in
the air in the words of the old English
highwayman:-.tst stand and deliver, an
office or your life"
George william Curtis, being asked,
TO what do you attribute the attempt on
the Presidents Efe?" replied: lit grows
out of party spirit inaamed to white heat.
1t is not the work of any particular faction
but it is the spirit of faction which really
loaded the pistol that was fired at the Pre-
sident. That spirit is promoted by moth
ing so much as by what is called the spoil
system, Everybody who takes part in
canvass feels that he is entitled to an office
aud that conviction will easily upset light
headed and unprincipled men," and there
is little doubt that Curtis is right
The spoils system is the curse of Amer
lean politics, it is the rock on which has
been stranded our national honesty, it is
disgrace to our government, standing re-
proach which every foreigner feels
justified at hurting at us.
And yet we sit calmly by, passive end
unobjecting, doing nothing to remedy 1t
nothing to overthrow it.
Greed of Office has become substitute
for patriotism, and our best people see and
acknowledge the fact; yet while the RENE
dy is in their hands, they are unwilling to
apply it, says the Rev. A. A. Miner, and
James Freeman Clarke asserts;
offices are for the nation, and not for
the party. The nation is best served by
the best man The spoils system pays no
regard to fitness while civil service has fit
ness only in view"
The entire sentiment of press and people
is that the spoils system is responsible for
Guiteau's crime, as says the Philadelphia
1elegraph:
ITO put plain fact in plain language,
the assassination of Mr.. Garfield is just as
basing machine politics that the nation has
suffered from ever since the war closed as
is any one of the occurrences which have
alternately amused and Disguised the good
citizens of the nation between the time the
Senate met in extra session and the time
one of the seekers after vindication at AL
bany decided that he did not want any vim
dieation9
So states the Boston Herald when it
makes the point:
The shooting of president is the last
fruit of the .spoils' system. When the
office-seeker gets to that
point that he is ready to murder the Presi
lent who fails to satisfy his demands it is
high time that we should adopt new sys
tenn of selecting government servants.
When even demented person, or an I'M
visionary, like Charles Guiteau,
ooks upon an appointment to office as q
personal affair between him and the Presi-
lent, it is evident that there is somethingl
wrong in the system"
1t was high time to change all this before
its effect eliminated, but now that its full
esult is seen, some people who were
houghtless before may become thinkers.
That the attempt of President Garfields
ife may awaken a strong feeling against
the spoils' and determined resistance to
t, is the hope of many earnest patriots. If
should do, that the long suffering of
'eople's president, the physical and mental
gony of loving wife, the fear and anxi-
ty of a devoted family, the care and So
Icitude of an anxious and horror struck
eople win not have been in vain. And
That seemed at first only a cruel and ma
gnant act may resolve itself into resist
nee to the cause of that cruelty and ma
gnity that will forever stamp it out of ex
stence.