The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-12-06
Washington etter.
Regular CORRESPONDENCE.

Regular Correspondence.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 1SS4-Every
body and her husband in Washington real.
lie that a revolution is at hand 1t is il
the heart and in the minds eye. Soon il
will be felt and seen in every avenue AM
channel of official, social and political life
Washington and the country will know
that the election of democratic president
means something.
Until the last week the republican office
holders here hoped even in despair that by
some miracle Cleveland would be counted
out, Now that they realize that the end
has come, some of them are preparing to
march forth on March the fourth.
During me past week there has been an
astounding conversion of Office holders TO
the doctrine of civil service reform, which
they interpret 10 mean that to the victims
belong the spoils. According to their ar.
gument, Mr.. Cleveland is the great apostle
Of this doctrine, and has been elected by
the independent republicans to carry it out
By this Interpretation of civil service re-
form, many of the rascals who LETT their
work during the campaign and stumped
their states for Blaine, or worked for him,
circulating scandslous lies about Cleve.
land, and many more who spent the time
that belonged to the public service in writ
ing mendacious political letters for malig.
nant republican journals, hope to be con.
tinued in office. They are men who have
been appointed by INSCRIPTIONS republican
leaders of the Blaine, Chandler Dorsey
and Dudley type for their efficiency in this
class of work, and to continue them in of.
flee would be negation of November 4th,
and grotesque subversion of the princi-
pies of true civil service reform These
men have stolen their salaries from the
public treasury, because they have given
time and energy not to the public service
of the United States their legitimate EN-
ployer, but to the private service of the re.
publican organization; or, to draw it.iner,
they have been drawing the peoples
money but working for themselves
Stripped of all paraphrase, these men are
thieves-th-i-e.v-e.s To continue to har.
Dor them would be as monstrons as if
Christ had made deacons, elders and vestry-
men of the gamblers and money changers
whom he scourged from the Holy Temple
Some utteranceS of Mr. Clevelandj have
a strange and terrible sound to the clerks in
the government offices here He has said
that clerks should be retained Only during
good behavior, and that his desire was to
manage the affairs of the country on bust
ness-like principles, He believes they
should be retained only for competency
and honesty, like the clerks in private bust.
ness houses, and also that they should work
just as long and faithfully as those clerks
do. To carry out these ideas will produce
a greater revolution in the government of
fees here than the partizans of either party
hope or fear. 1t will result in the whole
sale discharge of ornamental drones and
idle sinecurists, male and female, ,who
come to office at 8 o'clock in the morning
and leave at in the afternoon, but who &C.
tually and truly do not average three hours
of legitimate work per day 1t seems SO
incredible that clerks should be paid at the
rate of from $1,000 to $500 per year for
this playing at work that | am half afraid
the reader will not believe me. But |
speak as an eX-clerk about that which l.
know, and any candid government clerk
here will tell you that | have been more
than careful not to eXagserate.
! The president elect has secured rooms at
Wizards hotel, and will occupy them
about the first of March.
A large number of democratic clubs
have secured rooms at the different hotels
and there is prospect of the largest crowd
that has ever been seen in Washington at
an inaugural ceremony,
It customary for the president elect
and the retiring president, to drive in the
same carriage from the White House via
! Pennsylvania avenue to the capitol, then
to walk arm in arm to the senate chamber,
where in the presence of senators and
representatives, the oath of office is admin.
istered by the Chief Justice of the supreme
court.