National Republican., 1883-03-10
The Political &c s,r,ou. Family.

Nbc 'SertOuh tnntty."
Georgana Wilhelmina Curtis is pouting
again, and declares with a toss of her head
that in matters Of civil service reform the
President is no better than he ought to be.
She had Sister Potts to tea on Thursday.
They call themselves the executive committee
of the Civil Service Reform League They
resolved at President Arthur like all pos
sessed, and signed their resolutions George
William Curtis, President and Chairman of
the Executive Committee; William Potts,
Secretary" These resolutions go on to
say that "tho National Civil Service Re-
form League desires to express its high
sense Of the signal ability, fidelity, and sue
cess with which by general consent Silas w.
Burt has discharged the duties of naval Off
Ger of the port of New York" The league
must be a little one, since its executive COM
mittce claims to be able, unprompted, to ex-
perhaps the league as we'll as the committee
The general consent" which is alleged to
have been given to Mr.. Burt to be able, faith.
full, and successful, strikes us favorably and
speaks volumes for the league, the consent
of which we understand to be by
its members deemed equivalent to
general" The duties of the naval
Office being merely nominal, and Curtis and
Potts being probably as innocent of any
knowledge of what they even seem to be as
they are of tho affairs of any other public
Office in the land, their declaration that Mr..
Burt "has brought the office to point of
good order (D and efficiency not surpassed in
any Office of the public service, is as pretty as
anything they could have said. They go on
to aver that Burt "was intent solely upon the
public welfare" by which they would
have il undersood that he was not
gree, intent upon the. salary of $1,000 which
attaches to the fat sinecure, from
which the resolutions instruct us this pet of
the masculine petticoats has been ruthlessly
snatched. And then comes the indictment Of
the President. 1t is solemnly resolved that
Mr.. Burt-this reform rat so ably and worthiy
imbedded in so efficient and well favored n
cheese-might have regarded his removal
therefrom, effected by his nomination to an
other position Ia smaller and an inferior
cheese) "as intended to promote reform had
he been replaced by successor equally inter-
ested and jealous in the reform system" But,
alas and alackaday where could such n
rat be found outside of the league, of
which Curtis and Potts are the burning
and the shining lights. The upshot of the
resolutions is that the successor Of Mr.. Burt
knows nothing at all Of any particular conse-
$1,000 cheese after having become accustomed
to one worth $4,000, and that if he had sub
mitted to the sacrifice it would have demoral-
lied the country for it "would have produced
the false impression that he held his removal
and the appointment in his place Of an oppo-
nent of the new system to be in accordance
with the principles of reform" And so these
impudent, untruthful, and intolerable frauds
and would-be bosses go on to abuse the Presi-
dent as though he had violated duty in not
consulting them and allowing them to die
tate appointments to him. Not only "the
removal of Mr.. Burt" but certain other re-
movals and appointments which they do not
otherwise designate, are made the subjects of
the scolding objurgations of these political
shrews. Then they exhort their sisters gen.
orally to attend to the execution of the new
civil service law, and to demand the repeal of
the act of 1920, limiting the terms of mpor-
tant offices to four years, so that barnaclcs like
Burt can hold for life.
1t is one of tho scandals of tho age that
hollow and insincere pretender like George
William Curtis can posture as a reformer
when it is known that his assembly district
never had chairman so unceasing as was he
in his demands for spoils in tho New York
custom house as rewards for the work Of ma
chine politicians who recognized and obeyed
him as their boss"
If Mr. Burt is such reformer the service
is well rid Of him.