The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-12-29

only the day before yesterday tnat We ntAru
low, but unpleasant voice, piping the tune OF
civil service reform. It was the voice of the
Delnocrscy; t was singing it's campaign War;
cry. 1t said as plaii. as preaching:
nov, Sc up, WI lin Riley.
AMI al ng Nth we
A re or ~ the civil SCI vice
You're goin f TO see
Aud William r Icy aforesaid, being R1-
publican at the tune and suikiug along the
wayside because he didn't like his leaders,
rose up and followed Cleveland and Waller,
nd great company of other men going tow
ards Washington, clad in togG prete1ta and
singing the new song TO William Riley And
when they arrived at their journeys end,
William Riley WIS thanked for his services
and told that he might go home. for the re-
form mentioned in the song was the discard
ing of W illiam Riley and ali his friends.
Mo-, We think very we'll of human nature
when it is ! OF under TOO great pressure, and we
have 10 doubt thai the Democrats we're per-
fectly sincere last fall; they were sincere in
their desire t. get into Office, aud In their i'll
tentiop to reform the civil service. But we
misunderstood their method of reform. Ii APP
pears now that Gov. Cleveland's is to turn out
all the Repu ican officers of the State of New
York and put in their places Democrats. 9TH
or Democratic governors will no doubt follow
suit; it is their nature to. And it must b.
owned that they have good Republican prece-
dents for their actiol. For 1t has become
pretty nearly the settled rule in American poll
ticssthat those who bake the cake shall eat it :.
But there is another reason why thu new gov
eminent should pursue this course; it is, +, r
an example, il is to give the waiting thousands
an earnest and foretaste of the abundant
good things to come after the next presidential
election It is vel known that the hope of
rev ard to thousand is more potent in politics
than aciual reward to a hundred, and hehc,
|. Senators Brown and Voorhees, boldly announce
the Democratic programme, which is to keep
away change in the method of the civil service
until all the Offices are filed with Democrats.
And the reason for this is not concealed; il is
because Democrats will not work for Demo-
cratic victory in 1884 unless there are spoils to
be obtained.
Now, notwithstanding all the Democratic
declarations of a desire Tor reform, We cannon
express a surprise at this course which we do
not feel. 1t is perfectly natural that che Dem
ocrats should wish to use the expectation OF
plumber as help in the next election. When
they avow this their real motive we have q
certain respect for them. But when they put
their present Ops Sition to the establishment
OF permanent and consistent civil service OIL
the ground that the offices are filled with Re-
pubicaDs and it 10 necessary to restore the bal
ance OF distribution to parties before reform
ing abuses, We question both their good juds-
ment aud their Intention to favor any reform
at all.
There are two things to be considered. Que
is that all the offices are not by any means
filed BY Republicans now. The departments
at Washington have Democratic clerks wha
bave been undsturbed for years; the New
York post Office where politics is not the test oi
appointments, has many Democrats; the SAL Z
is true of many other post offices and other fed
era offices throughout the country. The 9th.
er thing is and nothing is more sure tnan this,
that if the civil service were fixed with the
present occupants, it would not be ten years
before the civil service would be pretty nearly
equally divided between the two great poliii.
Cal parties Without being obliged TO profess
attachment to this or that party in order TO gel
or to keep Office, men would speedily divide III
political sentiment according to inclination.
They would arrange themselves for free trade
or for tariff, for or against federal Internai
improvements and provisions for education,
f or against reduction of taxation, speedy
payment of the debt, cancelliDg of the out
standing Greenbacks, and on hundred ques-
tions which will make up our national politics
when politics ceases to be mere scamble for
place and plumber. And we should have a
much more manly and sef-respecting set oil
civil servants If they were free to form and
act on their political opinions, aud did not
need any resort to the debasemept of political
intrigue.
If, however, the Democrats in Congress de.
sire TO make this political issue, we shall &C.
cept it with pleasure, namely: the issue that Il
is necessary to the success Of the party in 1884
that they should have The inducement of fed
ersl offices and plumber 10 offer to their voters
and that for this reason they oppose the present
effort for reform. Some of their friends, like
the New York World, are sagacious enough &c
see how disastrous this will be to the party and
how i'll it can afford TO go back on its recent
pretensons. They see already the result of q
national fight in which one party goes into the
field with the banner of "plunder' and the
other with the banner of reform