The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-11-17

AUGUSTA, Me-, November 16.-The
folloSing letter will be published here
tomorrow:
AUGUsrA, ME-, November 16, 1886.
To the Editor of the Kennebec Journal:
l thank you for calling my atten-
ton to a circular issued by the 80
called Independent Committee, dur.
ing the recent canvass in Massachu-
setts, touching my position ON the
question of civil service reform. Alb
sencs from home for several weeks
has prevented my seeing it sooner.
The circular embodies a singular per-
version of what quoted in a speech
on the 10th Of October at Huntingdon,
Pa. How the error Of misrepresents-
ton originated it is not for me to say.
Ny speeches in Pennsylvania were &C.
curately reported for the Philadelphia
Press by skilled stenographers, aud /
personally raw the report in no other
paper. | send you herewith the
speech If DC ober 10Th as it appeared
in the Press, and reepS ctfully ask you
to repuelish it in your columns side
by side with the circular issued by the
Massachusetts, Independent Commit.
tee.
thank you further for submitting
to me q puolic letter of October 26th,
from Mr.. Martin Brimmer, of Boston,
in which l am accused of "repudiat-
ing the reform Of the civil service with
q sneer." Perhaps Mr.. Brimmer in
CONSIDERABLY based bis remarks upon
the circular OF the Independent Corn-
mittee and has thus been led into pub
fishing a statement which does me
great injustice. II my superstition be
correct, Mr.. Brimmer will, as a gentle.
map, withdraw his language. II is
scarcely necessary to cay that / have
never repudiated reform in the civil
service nor absted my interest there
in, nor have ever rega ded The sneer
as forcible mode OF argument. We're
| tempted to resort to it, should di-
rect it not against the reform of the
civil service but against the hypocrisy
of those who wish conditions OF that
service to be enforced against their
political opponents, but not against
their poli ical friends. The point
which / sought to estsb ish in my
epsech at Huntington. was entirely
confused and obscured in the
Independent circlar Ia effect, said
that the Eogish civil service, which
was held up as a model for our gov
eminent by those who left the Repub
lican party two years ago, is now I'M
der investigation and apparent con-
domination by the English themselves;
thai the British Ministry have iusti
tn ed sommission to examine into
the slleg ed bus ness, aud that Mr.. Geo.
w. Smslley, apparent y agreeing hith-
erto with the American admirers of
the English service, now declares the
belief in England to be that the civil
service ia worse in all the Departments
OF the government than it was forty
years ago. Mr.. smaley gives some
what detailed recital of the defects
and abuses alleged to exist in the En-
glish service, defects and aouses which |
were never attributed to our own civil |
service, even by its merciless censor.
My argument implied, and was in
tended to imply, that the Republican
party had been wise in not adopting
the Euglish system with its life tenure |
and its large pension list and all the |
attendant evils, which at last have |
demanded inves ig alton by min.
lsterial commission, nor would jus ice
and fair courtesy have been done to
my speech, even if my remarks on
civil service, torn from their logical
had been correctly quoted
by the Independent Committee Those
were but part of an argu-
ment in which l endeav red to il
lustrate how truly American in it's
best sense were the whole policy and
history of the Republican party, and
now, under tbs lead of the 80 called
Lad pendent, the Democratic party
both in its revenue system and its
,ivi service rules, was to bs con-
ormed to British policies Just at the
very time when the British them
selves are fiadinga fatal weakness in
hes9 policies.
Ia short, though did not cay it in
words, meant to convey my belief
hat the very worst leaders and guides
or continental Republ aIe those
Who persist in seeing the perfection of
human government in an insular
monarchy, whose conditions a,e ia all
aspects radically different from those
4 our own broad land. The Msssa-
husets Independents should learn
hat American inspiration ends where
imitation of E. gland begins. Very
especially, JAMES a. BLAINE.