New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-10
! cIrIL SERyICE PROPOSAL.

|
seems to be misnamcd. Forit is Mr. Bradford's
chief proposition that Civil Service Reform
has made no progress The only practical
measure proposed is that known As the Pen
dleton bill, and OF the adoption of the Pendle-
ton bill there is no prospect whatever The
agitation of the reform by the press, the in
cessant exposure of the extent of the abuses,
the stimulation of public feeling, appear to Mr.
| Bradford of very doubtful advantage III the
absence of any definite policy on the part OF the
rcformcrs " If you keep on making frantic APP
"pcals to the public TO do something without
stelling them what they are expected to do.
ayou will encounter an apathy constantly more
| 1" and more difficult to deal with"
In this prediction Mr.. Bradford Is probably
quite right The reformers of late years have
been conspicuous, Jealous and indcfatiSable.
They have produced an extensive literature,
and they have controlled number Of news
papers and ether periodicals Of high character
and extensive circulation. Moreover their
activity has not been without result. n
natural popular reaction against the enOrml-
ties of " bosssm" has been stimulated by the
reform propaganda; and il there had been
leader TO point ont the way we have no doubt
the people would have followed him. But it Is
a remarkable fact that with the public mind
thus ripe for REBEL ion, the machine politicians
have been unusually audaciOus In Congress
suggestions of reform are received with
cynical laugh or bold defiance, or still bOlder
Indifference. The executive power has fallen
into the hands OF q gentleman who has had no
rival in the manipulation of the machine since
the DAYS of Van Buren, and the Kitchen Cabl-
net, and who not only understands all the arts
OF prosGtuting the patronage, but apparently
derives great personal enjoyment from the
exercise of his skill. One must gropc long
among the scandals of party politics to find
parallel for the workings Of the machine THIS
year in New-York and Pennsylvania. The
bosses arc daring, first OF course because they
have so much at stake which can only be saved
by audacity, but also because they are con-
vinced that the opposition has no practical
plan OF action. and no head for business.
Let us see what Mr.. Bradford, who recog-
nizes the cause of the trout bic, has to offer FOR
remedy. lie admits, as all competent OBJ
servers do, that the abuses OF the Civil Service
are intimately connected with the cncroach.
merits of the legislature upon the executive in
the distribution of Federal patronage, and the
CONSEQUENT decline Of responsibility in the
appointing DONti. ht t"i' Nv lipI'''' - w
give members of the Cabinet seats in Congress,
and expose them there to the ordeal Of public
questioning upon the appointments and
movali in their respective departments. This
would give rs something like a responsible
Ministry upon the English pattern and it is
the Only thing" he thinks (which will have
any real and practical effect" Now there are
many things to be said in favor OF admitting
members OF the Cabinet to seats in the Senate
and the House bat it seems To us that the
futility OF docirinaire agitation has never been
better illustrated than by the proposal to
adopt this scheme as a panacea Of Civil Ser
vice Reform. Mr.. Bradford knows little OF
the WAYS of politicians if he imagincs that the
head OF "A Department would have any difficulty
in answering or parryng, Or II necessary defy
ing the questions Of an opponent as to the dis
pensaton of official favOrs, or that abuses
would he more readily exposed by such game
OF attack and defence than they are already
through the press, or that Secretaries would
suddealy become sensitive to exposure, OF that
machine made Congressman would all at once
combine 10 break down machines. But apart
from the unSutabencsS of this plan for the
specific work which Mr.. Bradford assigns to it,
"A moments reflection will show that if it ac-
compShed any thing it must aggravate the
existing disorders. The decline of response
hility is cause of the abuse of patronage
well, then, here Is IL scheme to destroy reSpOn-
sbllity by putting it in commission in law the
power of appointment belongs to the President
in practice Mr.. Bradford would distribute 1t
among the Cabinet officers, and max them an
swerablc to a Congress which did not choose
them aud cannot dismiss them. This would be
clumsy imitation of the board system,
which, as Mr. Bradford Observes has played
such havoc in our municipal affairs, system
which offers every opportunity for corrupt
combinations and sets up every obstacle toward
holding anybody to account for the cOnse-
qucnccs. But let us suppose that Congress
subdues the Secretaries Well, then We have
the usurpation of executive authority by the
legislature compeed,-just what Mr.. Bradford
indicates ~ the handspring of all our woes.
We have power and responsibility separated by
still another step. We have Congressman
Selling full control of the offices In their respcc-
tive districts and bargaining and intriguing
with the Executive. ten times more than they
do now, for the Use of them.
Mr.. Bradford's fancy that his plan would
give us responsible Ministry on the English
! pattern is a curious dcluson. The English
Ministry is responsible to Parliament because it