National Republican., 1885-05-16

charged primarily with public RESPONSE
bility for tho faithful discharge Of the
trusts which they delegate TO agents.
And this responsibility assumes added
gravity from tho fact that tho Deu'o-
cratic party is on trial, and that by a
Jury which, in tho main, is uncharitablo
If not prciudiccd. Hence 1t seems tho
most natural thing in the world that
circumspoction and caution, from which
delay Is, of course, inscparable, should bo
the order of the day. The real wonder
is that tho administration should have
made as rapid progress as 1t has done;
dealing as IL must deal with unfamiliar
affairs and treading on what, TO tho Dem =
ocratic party of our day, is new and un-
surveyed ground.
Behind all this, cutting no observable
figure to the outside world, but seriously
annoying and sometimes embarrassing
the heads of departments, are q set of con
sidcrations which appeal directly to the
manhood of tho men who have to make
removals, These considerations grow out
Of the bad grace with which many
of tho Republican oiliceholders accept
the fortunes of political war. Pathetic
appeals for n little moro time" another
month";" hcartrending tales of poverty
Allu NlHLfthN lllul Is W lOllON llb
tiou of salary account, and all that sort OF
thing are among the incidents that
make the lot of Democratic Cabinet
officer unhappy.
One of these gentlemen, who sometimes
does me tho honor to unburden upon my
sympathies his personal woes, said the
other evening, "B--, the thing that
strikes me most forcibly in these changes
is the fact that, with all its arrogance and
bluster in its day of power, the Republic
can party nc bottom has little or none Of
the quality that lighting men call game
am appealed to, im plored, and beseeched
by some Of these people to save thcm-at
least for little while longer. The Re-
publican party rs whole is not dying
game. / am sorry to SEQ such q spirit,
or such lack of spirit. There is some
thing heroic in facing misfortune grimly.
But these people are not doing that.
Many Of thom whine in q way that Is not
creditable to our national type Of man
hood
The numerous instances OF this sort,
and the natural disinciuation of big.
hearted, generous men like Cleveland
and most of his Cabinet to inAict distress
upon their fellow.men, form no small
factor of embarrassment and ann oyance,
rs any Onb VII lhlTlN lciLus WIN
any of them can easily ascertain.
Thus far | have considered the situa-
tion only with respect TO offices involv-
ing more or less responsibility. II we 70
to the next scale below and take up the
strictly clerical force of the government
another set of conditions present them
selves. "Civil service reform" is an un-
meaning phrase, mainly clap-trap. "Re!
form of tho civil service Is q phrase that
carries both meaning and logic. That is
what the country needs. But it is not to
be accomplished by the pedagoguery of
Dorman b. Eaton on the one hand nor by
an avalanche Of oifice-seekers on the
other. And it is difficult to decide which is
the more contemptible-au alleged system
of examination" based upOn the absurd
theory that sChool-boy readiness in the
con Intentional lore of standard elementary
text books is evidence of fitness for posi-
tions requiring simple business aptitude,
or the doctrine that any man can keepa set
of government books who knows enough to
vote the Democratic ticket. These are
the extremes. DOrman B. Eaton and his
System" represent the one and the aver
age rOugh and ready applicant" the
other. ono is n fraud and the other a
nuisance. Government clerks properly
considered are part Of the machine. They
ought TO be held quito as non-political AS
the desks at which they work or the pens
thoy work with. Any administration
that succeeds in teaching the government
clerk to mind his business and let states
manship alone will have sufficiently re.
formed the civil service. suppose from
all can learn that that is Mr.. Cloveland's
idea. But it is perhaps bigger task than
he imagiues. There are great many
statesmen now occupying government
clerkships. Some of them may be capable
of reformation. But most of thom are in.
corrigible. Every incorrigible statesman
occupying government clerkship ought
to go. A. @. Is.