The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-04-22
Notes and Comments.

Mr.. GLADSTONE planted a tree at
Haddon in 1857, which is large and
hourishing to-day, next in line with
two trees which were planted by the
queen and prince cOnsort in 1857.
SECRETARY ENDICoTT has notified
the clerks of his department that they
must pay their bills or ego" This is
in the line of reform. The public SER
vice should not be made refuge for
cheats"
ANOTHER illustration of what the
bad sanitary condition of house will
entail was afforded in Milford, Mass,
within a week or two, where four chill
dren died from diphtheria, while the
life of the fifth and last child was saved
by being removed to another tenement.
The sanitary arrangements of the chill
dren's home were afterward found to
be bad in the extreme.
NEW YORK TRIBUNE: "There has
been apparent, in some parts of the
Country du lctSI, d uiopoollloH W ICly
more upon other agencies than upon
the earnest presentation of political
truths. Here and there some republic
can leaders have had more confidence
in management, more faith in tenn
porary tricks and devices, than in the
power of ideas with the millions of
voters A defeat has come to remind
us all that party has no business to
exist unless on the whole it embodies
and expresses the convictions of the
people upon vital questions of public
policy"
GENERAL BASIL DUKE, who was the
real leader in John Morgan's confed-
crate command, speaking of General
Grant, says: " Grant was a great COM
mander, and the only one that was ever
able to cope with General Lee. He
was a man of unquestioned courage
and tenacty No other general in the
federal army could have done with
General Lee what Grant did at Rich
side of General Lee, in either army,
and his GOODNESS, courage and skillful-
ness enabled him to meet every move
made by Lee. hardly think, though,
that he possessed the strategy that Gen
eral Lee did; still he was able to see
through every movement made by Lee,
and he knew how to meet it. Grant,
of course, had great army at his COM
mand. Still, had he not known how to
handle it, it would have been of no
more service to him than a small one.
! always admired Grant, and / think
the majority of the confederates did,
CHRISTIAN UNION: "The test case
in this city has been decided by the re-
appointment of Mr.. Pearson as post
master. 1t was strongly opposed by
partisan democrats, who feared it would
be erected into precedent for the re-
appointment of all capable and efficient
postmasters, irrespective of politics;
and is damned with faint praise by par
tisan republicans, who hoped that Mr..
Pearson would be replaced by a demo-
crat, as that would furnish a good point
of attack upon the administration.
If, however, any civil service reformer
imagnes that the millennium has come,
and hereafter no administrative officer
will be turned out of office for politi-
cal cause, and no one appointed except
for efficiency, proved or expected, he
does not know American politics or
human nature. Mr.. Cleveland is fight
ING a hard battle with abuses long in
trenched in public service, with di-
vided party at his back, the support
being mostly half-hearted, and the OPP
position being bitterly hostile to reform.
The republicans are divided between
patriotic desire to see him succeed and
a partisan desire to see him fail, which
puts the party organs in a very perplexed
and somewhat amusing position"
BUFFALO EMPRESS blaine repub-
lican: "' He will give very good adj
ministration to the country, but very
bad one for the party If Mr.. Phelps
said this, warm friend of Mr. Blaine's
that he undoubtedly is, he gave an
opinion which vindicates the judgment
of those republicans who voted for Mr..
Cleveland They voted, or at least
professed to think that they were vot-
ing, for good administration for the
country, regardless of its effect on any
party, believing that the country is
more to be considered than party.
Politicians of all schools may as well
learn, first as last, that the people who
create and overthrow administrations
have pronounced its doom upon the
spoils system, and that any party that
ignores it, and attempts to build its
fortunes on the old system, will GER
tainly and mserably fail. The party
managers are dissatisfied, and they have
right to be-. Who cares about salts
flying the managers >? If the people
are satisfied with the presidents adj
herence to his pledges, and his crime
consists in giving a good administra-
ton to the country he can afford to
abide the criticism of politicians of
o,,arxr oobnol and ,,ortx,