Omaha daily bee., 1885-10-26
PURITY A POLITICAL DELUSION
The Operations of The Civil Service Law a
Commodious Failure.
TEE CASTOR OIL OF POLITICS,
And an Infringement of the Presi-
dents Constitutional Powers
Nebraska RefoI mers and
Postal Crooks.


on the much mOotcd question of civil ser.
vice roform 1t will be understood, Of
course. that they are the views of myself
only and do not represent the BEE on
the views of any other person.
For three or four years or so the
two great parties of the country, repub-
lican and democratic, have stood In the
presence of few sulf-dcclarcd righteous
men who arrogatc to themselves all the
purity and uprighteousness there is In
political life now known by the classic
title of mugwumps, as moral towards.
Both parties utterly dctest civil service
as it is now known and practiced, and
at their conventions they swallow rcso-
utons endorsing IL with wry iaccs and
rebellious Stomnchs, as much so as ii
they were taking doses of ipecac, and
thus u few impracticablCs dictate the
course of the two parties in this respect;
and they, TIL, two parties, offer their en-
dOrscmCnt of tho civil service as Il bride
for mugwump votes. Not since this gov
ernment was organized has there heon
such
A POLITICAL DELUsION
palmed OIL on the people. as what is now
known MS civil service reform. Its advo-
v
blessings it has conferred upon the peo-
pie. Dorman b. Eaton lauds it to the
third heaven, as a master piece of pOlitl-
cal Invention which Will remove all i'm
puritics, all obstacles towards perfection
from our governmental system, and all
lesser mugwumps unite in sounding its
praises, Tins is to be expected, Tor they
naturally want to make II good showing
for their weakly offspring. And yet, If
they are asked to point to one single
aspect of the public service whore an I'M
proycmcnt has been made, and they are
utterly at sea to find it, They will say,
''oh, yes the Improvement has been won
dcrful, " but that is all the answer you
will get from them; rs to evidence of it,
they are dumb. Civil service designs TO
ignore and set aside senators and mem
bcrs in making appointments to office.
Mr.. Cleveland has carried this purpose
into practice in part, and never, since
the first president took Office, have so
many exspententiary convicts and in.
dictcd persons been appointed to federal
offices as have been appointed by the
present president. He has
DUG UP MORE FRAUDS
and has been obliged to recall more unfit
appointments in the last seven months
than were ever known under the four
preceding administrations. The eXpla-
nation of this fact is just this, he has dis.
regarded the advice OF senators, and
members; ho said in his letter to Eaton,
accepting tho latter resignation as chief
of the civil service commission, they
impudently stand between the Offices and
the people hold it to be utterly I'M
possible for the president and heads of
departments to make appointments intel
ligently and understandingiy without
consulting senators and members from
the states and districts in which the ap-
plIcants live. They stand in closer rela-
. tions to and arem directly the repre-
sentativos of the people than any other
persons; and they can be held RESPONSE
Bile, too, while no responsibility attaches
to the private citizen. The pr1Siltnt
does not know or at least is not expected
to know, many pr vate citizens: but he
does know the senator and member and
that the people have sent them there to
represent the people. Who ought to be
better posted as to the litn ,ss an | quail
fications of applicants for Offices than
they, No system is perfect, but every
one has its evils. Members and senators
may recommend bad appointments, us
they sometimes have done, but ! have
yet to learn that IL senator or member has
recommended II convicted felOn for Il
federal position and yet Mr. Cleveland
has been misled so much by depending
on private individuals, that he has in less
than eight months time commissioned
about doXen convicted or indicted ras-
Gals, thus very clearly proving that in
stead of turning the rascals out, he is only
turning the rascals in and turning honest
men out.
am utterly and unchangeably OPP
posed to any policy that tends toward the
establishment OF II life tenure of office.
The whole theory of our system of gov
crnment is opposed to it, and the trainers
of tho government manifested their OPP
position to it by providing
SHORT TERMS OF OFFICE
In all cases except United States Judges
The president holds for four years, and
when he retires his cabinet officers are
expected to retire with him The consti
tuition provides that senators shall hold
for six years and members for two years
only. The terms OF nearly all Offices,
such as United States marShalS. district
attorneys. postmastcrs, land officers,
governors and secretaries OF territories,
are limited TO four years. Every New
England state elects It's governor every
year, New York elects its governor once
in three years, Pennsylvania the Same;
Ohio, once in two years; Indiana and H.
linois once in four years, and, | think.
Missouri also. Nearly all the other
states, once in two years All the state
officers, or nearly so, are changed also,
ut the same time Why these frequent
CllhnHtN III OlllCt, pIONluf lIl every uO-
partment of the general and state gov
= ernments, by the w.sost statesmen of the
4 century which has passed, if the perma'
nent tonure system is the perfect pana-
: cca for all evils in the body politic' One
object WAS, to bring public officers into
close relations with the people, so that il
they prove faithlcss to their trusts, the
people can put better men in their
places 1t was to have public officers
feel and know that their official acts must
> be passed in review by the public Judge
ment at frequent and stated periods.
For n senator or member TO have ary.
thing to do with appointments, it Is
Il A CURSE 10 HIM,
Where ho makes one friend, he leaves
II dozen enemies. But undera truly dom
ocratic. republican system or govern
mcnt, the evil cannot, in my humble
Judgment be avoided.
The present civil service statutes apply
only TO clerkships in the departments at
Washington. and in the various custom
houses and post0iiices throughout the
country, i'he persons in those positions
are filled for life, or good behaviour.
And right here this civil service is fasten.
ing upon the government one OF the
most effective agencies uf corruption-is
fastening upon the government class,
and hedging them in, of persons who
n, al, "A