Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-10-20

HuTI any circumstances L should
be deeply Impressed with such Il
mark OF confidence and regard of Il
body of representative Democrats,
sIcl a Zee II, Y assembled in convt IL
ton at Vancouver; but appreciate
the honor all tue more highly be-
cause the nomination came to me.
not only unsCuIht, but against my
expressed wishes. If / were now
to consult my personal feelings, in
terSts OF convenience, ! should GER
taInlv decline the nomination. In
he early DAYS OF The Republic, it was IL
maxim IN Politics that no man should
seek or decline an office. | lave
hitherto generally regulated ny con-
duct i'll politics upon the principle
OF this maxim; and [ think j. my
duty to observe it III this instance.
If 1t be true, as our Republican,
friends delight to tell us, that our
party is i'll II hopless minority, then
! should feel bound by double
duty to stand a. the candidate of the
patty. Fnst, | would owe it as Il
duty to The Territory to aid in keep
ing up the party organization, as IA
wholesome and necessary check upon
the party IN power; and secondly,
| would owe 1t as 81 duty to the party
that has honored me, to uphold and
cont4ni for it even in the presence of
inevitable defeat. 1t would be base
III the extreme to desert friend, or
party, in the hour of trial or mlsfor-
tune. Nominees are not wont in our
day to decline nominations rendered
by party as able to elect as to nom
mate. But if party organizations
have any higher aims than merely
to sklrmlsh and scramble for offices,
to scheme and struggle for place,
men should be as ready to uphold
them III the minority as in the ma
Jority. Indeed as a general thing,
men who stand by party having no
substantial favors to bestow, do so
from principle; while there is always
a large number to be found in the
ranks of the party in power who
fight for it and shout for it, not so
much for the good that is In it as
tor the good they can get out of it.
There never has been time in the
history of our Territory when the
public interests SO imperatively re-
qulred, as they do now, an able, en-.
liehtened and powerful opposition
to check the growing and dangerous
tendency of the party in power to-
wards" bossism" and machine meth
DDS with all their attendant politi-
cal abuse. Party managers seem to
have caught the Infection that is
now, in the States. degrading the
public service, debauching the pub.
lie morals, and scandalizing the ma
ton. If we would keep the politics
of the Territory free from the de-
moralizing presence of the " boss"
and the machine" We must en-
deavor to obtain something like an
equal division of polite. Il power, and
thus keep the patty that happens to
be dominant for the moment con-
stantl y on its good behavior
The great question in politics to-
day is the reform of the Civil Ser
vice, and. that question concerns us
here rs deeply as it does the peo-
pie OF any other part of the country.
The cry comes TO ne from three great
States of tho Union that the nomi-
nations of the candidates of tho Ra.
publican party i'll each of those
States was produced by fraud and
the corruption of patronage. The
voice of tue people is stihled, their
wishes disregarded and their abest
and most upright leaders thrust
aside by an INSCRIPTIONS cabal who
have gained control of the party
machine.
An eminent Republican has recent
ly thus characterized the condition
of affairs in New York and Penn.
sylvania:
"The events in both States show
that no graver political peril now
confronts the country than the COM
plete subjugation of the Republican
party by INSCRIPTIONS cabals, which
bride with public employment, and
pay their way by iilching from the
public treasuary. This is an evil
which would end in violence unless
conclusively rebuked by the people
at the polls" And this rebuke will
be administered 10y the defeat and
overthrow of the cabals and the !
success of the Democratic party;
and if the Democratic party fails to |
catch the inspiration of the hour, to |
become thoroughly imoued with the
Importance of this great question of
civil service reform, it will, in its |
turn be hurled from power, rs in
such case it would richly deserve to
be. But the Democrats are in full
sympathy with the spirit of this
great movement. A great Democrat
ic Senator and leader, Senator Pen
dleton, of Ohio, has already brought !
forward q measure of the first i'm
portance in securing o reform of the /
civil service, and under his able and |
enlightned advocacy the measure
will doubtless be adopted. !
This, then, is no time for the /
Democratic party of Washington
Territory to abandon the field. Let
the party organization be maintained. |
Let the party everywhere through
out the Territory take a firm and !
pronounced stand against q" bossism"
and machine methods in politics; =,
against political cliques and cabals,
and the result will be that our Terri |
tory will be saved from the political
decentralization that seems to have |
overtaken so many of the States.
The Democratic party will thus have
something to contend for OF infinite.
ly more Importance than this or that
Office.