The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1885-06-03
Mr.. Villas CIRCULAR.
A Document Advising tho Turning OF tn
Crank of the Smut-Machine.


The "confidential" circular Of Post
master-General Villas is one Of the most
extraordinary documents that ever
emanated from a Cabinet officer.
Whether we consider its substance, its
form, its sincerity or its discretion it is
astonishing in every aspect In the
first place, it is remarkable that a Cab
met Minister should send out letter OF
instructions as to the method of secur-
ing appointments and mark it "conf-
Dental" If it was legitimate and
proper, it should have been open and
unreserved. If it was not legitimate, it
should not have been sent out in a
"contdentiar' or any other way. 1t is
utterly repugnant to all sense of right
and propriety that one Of the chiefs OF
the Administration should undertake in
clandestne manner to organize raid
on the public service.
But bad rs is the manner of the letter,
it is no worse than its matter What is
it but a plain invitation to jealous and
hungry partisans to rake and scrape all
the charges they can find or fabricate
against the incumbents OF public ofiicesp
What Is it but an undisguised procla-
nation that the Administration encour-
ages clamorous place-seekers in.spread-
ing drag-net of scandal, in turning
the crank of smut-machine and in
organizing mill of slanderp The Post
master-General ''coniidentially" tells
the Democratic members of Congress
that he wants them to hunt up charges,
that almost anything in the way of ac-
cusation will do, that he will not
pigeon-hole their representations. but
that he will proceed at once to make re-.
movals il they will only give him the
pretext He makes bid for proposals,
and offers the easiest possible terms.
As it Is not supposed that any valid
charges can be found against any con-
siderable number Of officers, the Post
master-General seizes upon the pretense
Of offensive partisanship" and gives it
the broadest conceivable scope and in
depreciation. The officer may not have
used his Office or its appliances for po-
litical purposes-no matter. He may
not himself have participated in any un-
worthy or unbecoming partisan or fac
tional work-no matter. II he has pub
licly expressed his own individual opin-
ions, or il he has had the audacity TO
address his fellow-citizens in public
meeting. it Is enough-of with his
head. Under the Postmaster-GeneraPs
free construction it Is not necessary that
the officer should have prostituted his
place TO political ends; 1t is sufficient
that he should have ventured himself to
exercise the common rights OF citizen
ship. II he has not entirely sunk his
own individuality, the charge of "offen-
siye partisanship' can be preferred, and
the warrant OF execution will be issued.
Now, we believe that the public serv-
ice, with the liberation of both parties,
has been too much employed in poll
tics, and we sympathize with any hon.
est effort to divorce it from political
activity. We hold that public Office is
a public trust, and should not be made
a partisan reward, and that the civil
service should not be suffered to remain
a part of the political enginery of our
partisan and factional contests. But
we are not prepared to say that the
man who enters the public employment
thereby puts himself out OF the pale of
citizenship with its inherent privileges
or that the lawyer who consents to be-
come District-Attorney thereby abjures
the right to address his fellow-citizens
on public questions. And we denounce
the false pretenses which would remove
a Republican on the ground Of "offen-
sive partisanship" and appoint Demo
crat to do precisely the same things.
The frank and direct declaration that
the Democratic Administration wants
the offices for Democrats could at least
be respected; but the hollow sham
which processes faithful devotion to
civil-service reform and then repudiates
its cardinal principles upon shallow
pretexts will be condemned by all hon
est men. Philadelphia Press.