The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-07-21

and necessarily enlarged the civil service, !
until now it includes vast body of officers. |
Ruies.and methods of appointment which |
prevailed when the number was smaller have |
been found insufficient and impracticable, |
and earnest efforts have been made TO sepa-
rate the great mass of ministerial officers |
from partisan influence and personal control |
Impartiality in the mode OF appointment TO
be based on qualification, and security of ten
ure to be basel on faithful discharge OF duty
are the two ends To be accomplished. The
public business viii be aided by separating
tie legislatva branch of the gov
eminent from all control of
appointments and the executive department
will he relived by subjecting appointments to
fixed rules and thus removing them from the
caprice Of favorltiim. But there should be
rigid observance of the law which gives i'll
all cases of equal competency the preference
to the soldiers who risked their hives in de-
Tense OF the Union.
| enteret congress in 1863, and in a some
what prolonged service | never found it ex-
pedient TO request 81 recommend the removal
OF civil officer except III four instances, and
then for ron-poiltiritl PERSONS which were
Instantly conclusive mith the appointing
power The officers in the district, APP
pointed by Mr.. Lincoln i'll 1861 upon the
recommendation OF my predecessor, served,
adopted at the beginning of my service the
test of competitive examination for appoint
ments to Wet FONT ami maintained it 50
| long as had the right by law to nominate
| a cadet la the case of many officers | found
| that the present law which arbitrarily limits
| the term of the commission offered a CON
slant temptation to changes for meie politi-
| cal reasons. | have publicly expressed the
| belief that the essential modification of that
| law would lie IN many respects advantage
| Gus.
| My observation in the department of state
| confirmed the conclusions of my legislative
| experience, and impressed me with the con
| viction that the rule OF impartial appoint
ment might with advantage be carried be
yond any existing provision of the civil
| service law 1t should be applied to appoint
| ments in the consular service Consuls
| should be commercial Notwithstanding
| the globe with watchfulnesS for their coun
| try's interests Their intelligence and com
| potency become, therefore, matters of great
| public concern No man should be appointed
to an American consulate, who is not well
instructed in the history and resources of his
own country, and in the requirements and
| language OF commerce in the country to
| which he is sent The same rule should be
| applied even more rigidly to secretaries of
! legation i'll our diplomatic service The PEG
pie have the right to the most efficient agents
|
| appointing power should regard this as the
| prior and Interior considerat'"H.
| THE MORMON QUi I'm.
| Religious liberty is the ril al If every citi-
zen of the republic. COnalrHil is forbidden by
| the constitution to make amy law respecting
| the establishment of religion, or prohibiting
| the free exercise thereof For a century,
| under this guarantee, Protestant and Cathu-
| lie Jew and Gentle, have worShiped God ac-
| cording to the dictates Of conscience. But
religious liberty must not be perverted to the
| justification of offenseS against the law. a
| religious sect, strongly intrenched in one of
| the territories of the Union, and spreading
rapidly into four other territories, claims the
| right to destroy the great safeguard and
| imminent of social order and to practice as
| a religious privilege that which is a crime
punished with severe penalty in every state
of the Union The sacredneSs and unity of
| the family must be preserved as the f0unda-
ten Of all civil government as the source of
orderly administration, as the surest guaran-
antee of moral purity
| The claim of the Mormons that they are
divinely authorized to practice poIygamy
should no more be admitted than the claim of
certain heathern tribes, if they should come
| among us, to continue the rite of human saCri-
flee The law does not interfere with what
man believes; it takes cognizance only of what
he does, As citizens, the Mormons are on
ulLitu tflS civil rs OInein ana
hese they must be confined Polygamy can
never receive national sanction or liberation
by admitting the community that upholds it
as a state in the Union. Like Others the
Mormons must learn that the liberty of the
individual ceases where the rights of society
begin.
OUR CURRENCY.
The people of the United States, though
often urged and tempted, have never seri-
ously contemplated the recognition of any
other money than gold and silver-and cur
rency directly convertible into them. They
have not done so, they will not do So, under
any necessity less pressing than that Of des-
perate war. The only special requisite for
the completion of our monetary system is the
fixing of the relative values of silver and
gold. The large use of silver as the money
of account among Asiatic nations, taken in
connection with the increasing commerce of
the world, gives the wuightieSt reasons for an
international agreement in the premises. Our
| government should not cease to urge this
| measure until a common standard of value
| shall be reached and eStahlished-a standard
| that shall enable the United States TO use the
silver from It's mines as an auxiliary to gold
| i'll settling the balances of commercial eX-
change,
THE PUBLIC LANDS.
The strength of the republic is increased by
| Tie OF ltliit holders Oni laws
| should look 10 the judicions encouragement
Of actual settlers on the public domain, which
| should Lenceforth lie held rs a sacred trust
| tor the benefit OF those seeking homes. The
tendency to consolidate large tracts of land
in the ownership Of individuals OF corpora
lions should with proper regard to vested
| rights I've discouraged One hundred thou
sand acres of land in the hands of one man is
far less profitable to the nation in every way
than when It's ownership is divided among
| 1000 men. The evil OF permitting large
tracts of the national domain 10 be consoli-
dated aud controlled by the few against the
many is enhanced when the persons con
trolling it are aliens. Ii is but fair that the
public land should be disposed of only tC
actual settlers AMI Ia those who are citizens
of the republic, OF willing TO become so.
OUR SHIPPING INTERES rs.
Among our national interests one Ian
guishes-the foreign carrying trade. 1t was
) very seriously crippled i'll our civil war, and
another blow was given TO it in the genera
substitution Of steam for sail in ocean traffic
With Il frontage on the two great oceans
| with a freightage larger than that of any
other nation, We have every inducement Il
( | restore our navigation. Yet the government
: has hitherto refused its help A small share
: of the encouragement given by the govern
ment to railways and to manufactures, and Q
small share Of the capital and the zeal giveI
l | by our citizens to those enterprises would
r have carried our ships 80 every sea and Il
every port, A law just enacted removes
| some of the burdens uT,on our ma yiCation anC
inspires hope that this great interest may a
last receive its due share Of attention. AL
, | efforts i'll this direction should receive encour
! | agement.
a | SACREDNESS OF THE BALLOT
, This survey of our condition as a natiol
reminds us that material prosperity is but