Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-01-05
rTpy NOTWITHSTANDING

Gems rather cary ~ i ~" Saxt
Me-leaded spaSds over 'ne H'
S-.[at ,,sny OF our exchanges, how
,sri make this daily pastime and are
srvine, TO induce their readers TO believe
that the work ofgetting the presidential
candidates on the track for 1854 Is the |
chief buSinessof the country just now.
Not a great while ago il was deemed |
sufficiently early for the parties to hunt
out and discuss their candidates in the
forepart of the year during which the
nominating conventions are held anu
the election akesplace. 49,.
Now, however, four years OF politlcai
manipulatiOns and trading Is regarded
as necessary to groom candidate; ana
thetrade for the merit presidency Is even
Thought to be made in the convention
which dominates candidate Tor pehu-
ing campaign. ~
we now have not less than half
dozen prominent men before the eoun-
try who are understood to be posing Tor
the Presidency and whose claims anu
qualifications are being discussed with
all the eaSernesS and earnestness COM
mon 10 a campaign speech. No proml-
! nent man dare announce his position
| uuon public question, or write pubic
/ letter without putting himself IN the
| pOsition of being criticised as formulate
| inc his platform for the Presidency.
MIR. TIIpEN'S very sensible letter to the
managers of the Atlanta Exposition mas
been accepted rs formal aT0wal OF hls
physical and mental fitness for another
campaign and the assurance 10 the couil-
try that he possesses all his Faculties Ill
fine state of preservation
Senator PESDLEToN'S opening NoIcy
in the civil service fusilade mas oeeh
generally and generously accepted as u
formal proclamation OF his candluilcS ;
but whether that be an underlying mo
tive or not, it is certain that ne mas
struck note that finds a responsive
echo from the people OF the country
and in the attempt to rescnI whleh the
from the putretae1iia%tt;s. ,SHt nave steep
last iort4Sa fi than as politician.
eH6wever early it may be to discuss
4 men who shall lead, il is not amiss to
| Keep before the minds Ofthe people for
| the next three years the important prin-
| clpleS and measures of reform which
should control not only the selection of
candidates but the formation of the plat
forms upon which that campaign shall
be fought.
And We Opine that the party which
J presents to the country the most FEAST
BILE, genuine and honest manifesto for
\ the vitality necessary reforms in the
| civil service, will win with the people
and elect its President.
y leading Southern journal, the At
! lantG Constitution, said the other day.
that Just rs long rs the Republicans ~
fuse TO reform the civil service in tse
South, just that long will the SOuVre-
main sOlidly Democratic" Theirs
world of meaning i'm this seatence,
whether read by a Republican, Or Dem
ocrat. 1t is a point that the Republi-
can and Democrat alike can put ms
finger on with the asSupSnce that he
has prObed to the bottom act, the living
issue, in the next Presidential cam
paign.
Viewed from a Tdrely party stand
point the issue VII be found not less
potent than any other question of our
politics. '.Do You think" Senator PEN
DLEToN was 9sked,the other day, "that
the adoption of your civil service reform
bill will be for the interest of the Demo-
cratic pasIy?r To which he replied:
"As paftiSan Democrat am strongly
in favor of reform. | believe it will aid
Us greatly in getting into power. Pa
tronage robbed us of the Presidency in
1876 and in 1850. Without patronage
on the part OF the Republicans, who be-
lieve that they could have carried In i
diaaain 1850 or yirginia hast fall9l If
this bill should pass IL would paralyze
Ne efforts Of hTp " drain thnsa,,d Dr.
This, of itself, in an election as close as
that of 1876 or that of 1850, would decide
the contest in our favor. The office
holders are an active, compact, discip-
lined body of men, paid by the year, al
lowed long vacations, furnished with
cheap transportion (even where rail
road fares are not paid by the govern
mentl, commanded to go hither and
yOn, and compelled to be active on pain
of dismissal. What an immense force
to bring against a party out of power,
whose cohesion is the base of its prin-
ciDlpSnr