The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-04-15
\ NANCEISMS.
.uS OF PIREST RAY SERENE
,'RoN SENATOR VANCE'S SPEECH.
t.tr,cf. from Senator Nance's Speech
~ civil service RcfOrm-->Ome of His
original Sayings.

,..,rst senator Vance, who always speaks
-~Hzy and forcibly, was specially apt
and -ome Of his expressions are 50 good
ffart they deserve to be preserved Il, mo
ucs in scrap books The CHRONICLE
doesn't agree with the Senator on the civil
service question, but we none the lra, en-
.8. his bright. original and witty savings.
Neither would We allow such disagree
fIcut 10 cause us to keep from our readers
these gems which relieve the argument
aud make the speech bright, sparkling and
Interesting. But for the quotations.:
Speaking of the vast influence Of parties
u promoting the prosperity of the United
States Senator Vance said.
Though here, as in England, we have our
mock philosophers, our sentimental WO-
men, and our efemlnate men who con
-tantly preach against the dangers of party
-pirit very often when preparing to sell
themselves out to the opposite side-yet
men Of noble minds know that the much
lauded checks and balances Of the Consti-
tuition itself are not now and never have
been half 50 efficient for the preservation
Of rights and for the restraint of corrup-
tion as the fierce and waiting hostility Of
wei-orgunized opposition to the party in
power
In my honest opinion no more unmis-
taxable sign Of the decay of public virtue
iu politics has been furnished by American
history than the rise, if indeed it can be
said 10 have arisen, of that maudlin politi-
ca sentiment which we recognize, for want
Of better, under the name of ''Mugwump-
ism. a kind of Sckiy, sentimental, Sun
day->ehool, ''Goody Two o-shoes party
which appears desirous of ruling the world
not as God has made it, but as they would
have it. Under the fair guise Of liberty,
moderation, and public integrity, its ten
dcncy, if not its purpose, IS to destroy the
manhood, the outspoken courage of bluff
Anglo Saxon craftsmanship and seeks to
substitute therefor a hybrid system of
Pecksnitfian snivel, which is to be in our
politics what cant is to true religion, what
Pharisaiam is to the divine virtue of hu-
mIlity, and which will ultimately prove,
like all other hybrids, simply an unhappy
mixture Of the more ignoble qualities of
each parent.
No instances in history so captivate the
mind OF every reader as those which eX
emplify this spirit of fair play and gener
osity. There is nothing in the romances
Of Richard or Saladn, there is nothing in
the charge of the SIX hundred ''intO jaws
Of death and hell which more thrills the
soul Of the student than that story which
is told of the battle of Fontenoy, where,
when the lines of battle We're formed in
close 9lnSuOl range, tIic EuSIlSH OluCcIS
came to the front and invited the French
10 fire first; to which the French officers
replied. after they had stepped forward,
removed their hats, and bowed profoundly,
Not 50, messieurs the gentlemen of the
French Guard never give but receive the
tirst fire And they did receive it, 1t
was but yesterday that the heart Of every
generous man in America was warmed by
the simple story of how x-Unon soldiers
Ny.,II bod 1ali,, tod r 1ny1s
paid to them by grateful Government for
fighting to preserve the Union to the sup
port of some poor, disabled Confederate
soldiers who had fought against the Union.
No hanClsomer tribute has been paid to
these elevated principles of human nature
which are generated by honorable strife
than was uttered by an eloquent Republi-
can Senator lately in this Chamber Mr.
SpoonerI when eulogizing our dead Vice
President as an honorable, magnanimOus,
and unfinching party man.
What del 1ition and limitation of hu
man rights that is, dependent as they are
made to be by the civil service law upon
the accidents of personal appearance of
candidates, of an unpleasing speech on the
part of one, or upon the state of the com
missioner's liver, or, perhaps, his personal
prejudice, bad nights rest, failure of
his morning bitters, or it may his appetite
for dinner. Is not this the very essence
j Of absurdity and Of despotisml
Why it the civil service law omitted to
enact the whole civil service of the coun-
try into national Sunday-school- grand
consolidated American EbeneZer - with
these commissioners as teachers and eX-
hOrterS, subject to the visitation of Mug
wump presbyters, is something that the
truly good and pious political saints must
n ever regret.
There are indeed among US very many
strong, influential men who heartily de-
test the excitementS and the turmoil OF
freedom by which they are brought into
contact with their legal, but not their so
ciaI, equals they fancy. Once IN office
they prefer to stay there without the
trouble and disturbance of reelection.
1t is naturally and seiiishly so in all ranks
and classes. The national tanks want the
privilege of supplying the currency, and
DO not want to be disturbed by any legls
lation except such as they apply for. The
manufacturers, entrenched behn0 prOtec-
tive duties against the competition OF all
i the world deplore any ''tinkering with the
IL tariff > With the wall of the martyr, who
Il first feels the fire, the railroad mOnOpolsts
III pray to be protected against Legislative
mobs and to be permitted to enjoy what
81 ever they may get III peace. The bond
holders too join in the plantive song OF
protest with all the privileged classes OF
81 society. And so soon as a clerk finds him
81 self ensconced in a snug position he also
raises the same tune, which IS indeed 8
common meter and prays to be delivered
Il from the dangers of a change in admins
II tration They ali fear the restless lnsls
tence and persistence of that terrible moi
called the people; that fierce democrac.
who, III season and out Of season, Will de
mand that control over their rulers which
tAey know to be indispensable to the pre-
seryaton OF their rights. But fear not
3 ye Of little faith; no amount Of laws to re
Ill strain their power no amount of argumen
81 70 show them their incapacity for self gov
erument will ever induce them to rela-
their hold upon the throttle of the engine
As | have expressed my disapprobatlol
of the tenure-of- office-laW and all partlZal
attempts to infringe the rights of the EX
ecutiye and thwart the will of the people
So 10 | condemn the civil service law a
the meanest and most insdious of them all
Instead of that high discretion witt
@ which the Constitution invests him th