St. Landry democrat., 1885-04-04
The President And the Office
Holders
N, 0. States.

/ N, o. States.
Tf the Presidents course, in making
appointments, has cast a gloom over
the spirits of Congressional office bro
kers and local political dictatOrs, he has
astonished and pleased the great body
of his party and in fact the people gen.
orally. At one time the slOwness with
which Mr. Cleveland moved in making
changes fired the eager hearts OF the
Republican bosses and their armies of
retainers with the hope and anticipa-
tion that the Republicans had captured
/ the President, and that civil service re-
| form was to be construed as retaining
in their soft places all the political bum
mers, deadbeats, genteel loafers, whip
pers-in, and ~ballot-box suffers with
which the Republican administrations
! have, during the last quarter OF a CEN
tury, stuffed the public offices.
We think that this pleasant delusiOn
of our Republican friends has been al
ready dispelled. Every appointee of
the President has been Democrat of
the most pronounced type, and we ven
ture the prediction that every subse-
quent appointee will be a Democrat of
/ like character. Indeed, it is clearly
evident that this is to be a thoroughly
Democratic Administration, Democratic
from its toe nails to the roots of its
| hair. Ours is a party government and
a President who would attempt to con-
duct it on mixed principles will prove a
dead failure. During the past twenty
five years the Civil Service has been
| debauched and gangreened with cor
ruptiOn, and President elected as a
| Democrat and to effect reforms in the
government, who should construct the
civil service law as an order to retain
| in place the men who represent the de-
bauchery of the preceding period,
would incur the contempt and invite
the ridicule of mankind.
How well the President sees all this,
and bow shadowy were the anticipa-
tions the Republicans INDUCED of a
| longer pull at official pap, are shown in
Mr.. Cleveland's conservative but en-
phatic reply to the South Carolina
Democrat who represented to him the
character of the Federal officials in
his State, urging at the same time that
true civil service reform required their
removal. The President replied to
this gentleman that he was we'll aware
of the gross abuses of which she Justly
complained, and that the proper reme-
dy would be applied in short time.
Every Southern State has suffered IN
this respect just as South Carolina has
suffered, and the President is aware of
it, and he will here and elsewhere reme-
dy the wrong by clearing out the Fed
eral officials, and filling them with
honest Democrats.
But while the Presidents course is
filling the souls of the ofice-holders
with terror, he has not and will not
lrabn hi Ill h. e
Democratic politicians and Congress-
Federal appointments. Members of
Congress haYe not a shadow of right
or authority in this business. It has
always been the custom, born of neces-
sity, for the President to consult the
members of Congress as to local ap-
pOintments; but under Republican
domination this custom, previously
tolerated from necessity, has been car
ried to an extent that has in a meas
ure confognded the executive and legis-
lative departments of the Government.
The Federal Offices have been parcelled
out amongst the Republican members
of Congress, and disposed of for poll
tical services, with as little decency or
propriety as if they were put up at auc-
ton for mOneyed price. Indeed, the
only difference is, that they were sold
for dirty political work and service,
instead of being sold for somewhat
cleaner cash. Thus corruption of the
most virulent type has crept into our
politics and into the civil service, while
the distinction between two depart
ments of the Government SO jealously
made by the trainers of the COnstitu-
ton has been partially destroyed and
the Executive made dependent upon
Congress or Congress upon the Execu-
tive.
Mr.. Cleveland is determined to
change all this, and return to old time
sound Democratic principles. He will,
of course, consult members of Con-
gress as to the fitness of particular in
dividuals in their respective States for
Office, and will, unquestionably be, in
o measure, guided in the appointments
TO minor positions, by their advice.
But it is quite manifest that he is de-
termined to maintain the prerogatives
and absolute independence of the Exc
cutive office, and to make his own ap-
pointments. The present incumbents
may howl with baf1ed rage at Cleve-
lands views of civil service reform,
and politicians and members of Com
gress, who have come to believe that
their chief duty is that of Office brok-
ers, may grin and grit their teeth, but
nOnetheless, Grover Cleveland is Presi-
dent of the United States, and the
President of the United States is
Democrat.