St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-11-11


public officers are like this, but there
are enough of them to demoralize the
service; and it speaks well for the
American people that there are not
more. You pray every day, LEAD us
not into temptation" but every day
you permit your public servants to be
tempted in a way from which you pray
to be delivered.
In the departments at Washington
there are hundreds of women, and |
every one of them owes her present
place and prospects of continuance to
the favor of some one man III power.
Now it is not necessary to say what |
the consequences may be, and it is
strong testimony to the nobility and |
virtue of these women that there are
not more scandals at the national cap
ltal. say that every true woman in
America should use her influence to |
have such n system broken up, so that
every woman employed by the gov
eminent could owe her position and
security i'll it to nothing but her own
merit. This is due to the honor of
American womanhOod, and every
American woman should be a civil ser
vice reformer.
Speaking of the way Offices were
sought after, the speaker said at the !
Chicago convention man was asked |
what he was there for. He was IA Mr.. !
Flanagan from Texas, and he got up
and said, 1--WE want the oflices,n and |
that covered the whole point, and was
only eXpOunding the old idea. Look
ut the Congress of the United States.
the greatest body i'll America. You
listen to the discussions, and YOU ask,
How many of the congressman ought
to be there or are competent to repre-
sent their country and constituents ?
Many of them sit there in blank 81
lence, and simply vote. | remember
reading of an amusing incident in a
Washington paper. A certain con
gresham wanted to make a speech in
hurry on finance. He went to a we'll
known bookseller and asked him if he
had John Smith on finance. The book
seller replied that he had not, but had
"Barnum on 'HOw to make Money!
''Well," said the congressman, 81 guess
that will do" and he went to work and
made his finance speech. 1t may be
asked, How did many of them get
there A congressman once said
"When | was first elected | looked
about the Senate in wonder, and said
How did ! ever get here p | had not
been there long before ! asked, How
did they get here 2 "This system is
demOraliZing the country, making men
mere tricksterS, and has driven many
a good man out of office, or obtained
their refusal to enter. The question
you ask is, Is the picture as dark as
have painted itP There are many men
and women who are acting upon a high
sense of public duty, but such people
| succeed only i'll exceptional constitu-
encies. In very many instances the
| spoils system has lowered the stand
ard of American craftsmanship. The
fact that things might be still worse
is no proof that they are not very
bad.
Mr.. Schurz spoke of offices prescrib-
ed by law, like collecting the revenue,
and said: ''ls it anything strange to
think of filling these positions as you do
in your private affairs ?" In the army
and navy the thing is done right, and
men have to go through specified
course of study and examination. Do
you have any fault to find with this
You apply only business tests to men
you send out to die for your country,
and why should you not in the matter
of postmasters, land officers, and in
thousands of other offices The poll
ticians of the old school say, Let the
man who wants office consult his con
gresham. They often know about
these things, but these congressman
have been known to sin against knowl-
edge. In nine cases out of ten, in my
| AN no a.tfi -
of applicants by congressman were not
even mentioned, but the fact held up
that they were useful to the party or
to the congressman. | have come to
the conclusion that congressman are
the most dangerous advisers we advise
with. The duties of clerks in depart
ments were dwelt upon, and the speak
er said that very important questions
came up, like mining titles and land
titles, involving large sums of money,
and many of these clerks have these
things to look up and to submit to
their superior officers. The heads
of departments have no time for the
details. They must rely on the llnowl
edge, skill and judgment of the higher
grade of clerks. If they are not com
petent the head of the department is
likely to go.
The system of competitive examina-
ton has succeeded, and is infinitely
better than the way things are carried
Oh now. | have tried it and proved it.
Now what can be more democratic
than that everybody shall have Il
chance according to merit. There is
not much aristOcracy in this, notwith
standing some persons claim that Il
competitive examination system would
create an aristOcracy i'll Office. ! do
not claim that it would bring about
millennium, but it will give better
public servants, and consequent
greater prosperity to the country. 1t
will relieve women who are at the
mercy of public men, and elevate
mOdesty it will raise the whole char
acter of politics, and show that offices
are places of trust and not rewards for
party service it will lift up Congress !;
it will destroy the political bosses it
will teach young men to study the in
terests of the country from public
standpoint, and be an incentive for
study and improvement and, if it
does these things, it will be a public
blessing. Its principles should
be introduced in the legislatures to
secure Legislative enactments. But, in
order to do this, the congressmen's
consent must be had to such an innO-
walton and such a new order of things
so distasteful to congressman. If you
attempt to reach them through moral
suasiOn, You will not succeed in inhu-
encing them but, if you get together,
and thousands of the constituents of
4 Il