The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-10-03

Mr.. Dorman B. Eaton the Chair
man of the Civil Service Commission
has sent to President Cleveland his
resignation, which has been accept
ed to take effect on November LIST
next, when his successor will be APP
pointed. In the letter accompany
ing his resignation Mr.. Eaton
makes recital of the circumstances
and facts which induced him to ac-
cept the office and hold it as long as
he has and then referring to Cleve-
lands reform policy he says These
considerations constrained me to re-
main in my place until the reform
policy of your administration, so
clearly defined in your declaration,
should be as Enthusiastically develop
ed in your acts as President as it
had been in your acts as Governor
of New York. No candid man can
longer pretend to regard that policy
as indefinite or doubtful. Every
one of the five months of your adj
ministration, during which the
Civil Service act and rules have
been enforced with as much breadth,
firmness and fidelity as under that
of President Arthur, has not only
added new evidence of the utility of
the new system upon which he con-
graduated the country, but has
made more definite the settled pur-
pose of your administration to faith
fully enforce both the law and the
rules in the future. The few chang
es you have made in the rules have
but added to their justice and eff
cheney. So far as | have been able
to learn, there is not a member of
your Cabinet who has not, as the
result of his experience in office, a
higher sense than before of the need
of enforcing that merit system in
the public service which the Civil
Service act and the rules have estab-
lished, and from those at the head of
the many offices in the postal and
public service to which the examina-
lions extend in all parts of the
Union, and whether they are Repub-
licans holding over or new officers
from the other party, there has
come no reason for believing that
the merit system is not welcomed as
a great benefit to the public service,
a great influence for honesty in pol
itics, and a great relief to the heads
of offices.
The President in reply to Mr.:
Eaton's letter makes the following
confession of his faith in Civil Ser
vice reform: l believe in Civil Ser
vice reform and it's application in
the most practicable form attainable,
among other reasons because it opens
the door for the rich and the poor
alike to participation in public
place holding; and hope the time
is at hand when all our people will
see the advantage of reliance for
such an opportunity upon merit and
fitness, instead of dependence upon
the caprice or selfish interest of
those who imprudently stand be-
tween the people and the machinery
of their Government In the one
case reasonable intelligence and
the education which is freely fur
nished or forced upon the youth of
our land are the credentials to office;
the other way is found in favor Sc
cured by a participation in partisan
work, often uniting person moral
~, if not mentally and physically,
for the responsibilities and duties of
public employment. You will agree
with me, l think, that the support
which has been given to the present
administration in it's efforts to pre-
serve and advance this reform by
party restored to power after an ex
clusion for many years from partici-
patton in the places attached to the
public service, confronted with
a new system precluding the re-
distribution of such places in
its interest, called upon to surren-
der advantages which perver-
ted partisanship had taught the
American people belonged to sue
cess and perturbed with the sus-
picion, always raised in such an
emergency, that their rights in the
conduct of this reform had not been
scrupulously regarded-should re-
ceive due acknowledgement and
should confirm our belief that there
is a sentiment among the people
better than a desire to hold office,
and patriotic impulse upon which
may safely rest the integrity of our