St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-03-20
The OLD STORY.
SpoOner and Salisbury on Presiden-
tinI PFerOGatives.


WASHINGTON, March 19.-In the senate
highway along the east line of the state of
Colorado was passed. All the private PEN
sion bills on the calendar were passed. Mr..
Logan's bill to increase the efficiency of the
army was made unfinished business for the
morning hour of Monday next. Mr.. Blair
called up his bill for the relief of hOnorably
discharged soldiers, but o'clock arrived
before it could be considered. a buzz of
suppressed excitement was caused by the
clerk starting to read communication
from the secretary of the treasury, which
he, after utterIng a few words, decided not
proper TO come before the senate in open
session. The communication was not
marked executive. but the chair decided it
to be executive business.
MIR. SPooNER
then took the floor on the Edmunds resolu-
tions. He maintained the constitutionality
OF the tenure-Of-oftice law, and then went
on to discuss the civil service question.
Upon this point he said:
Had il not cen for President Cleveland's
civil service declarations and his expression
of purpose not to remove men who were
faithful to their public trusts, thousands of
oficeholders would have resigned. Honest
partisanship was honest citizenship. Under
IN q president lQea ''OuenSiVe partlSan-
ship" the new Democratic ofiiceholders could
be embalme1 and laid away and their wives
allowed TO perform the duties of the Office in
order that there might be no suggestion that
the ofiiceholder could by any possibility be
offensive partisans." Laughter. Every
man suspended has right to know why he
was suspenCel. l hold in my hand letter
from suspended official, a man who had
/ entered our Mexican army as drummer and
threw away his drum on the battlefield and
entered the
THICK OF THE FIGHT
with musket in his hand. That man had in
our late war risen 10 the grade of major gen.
eral. Suspended by President Cleveland,
/ that gallant man and faithful soldier and cit
/ izen could not ascertain nor could Mr..
| SpoOner ascertain for him whether charges
/ filed against him TO which he had been sus-
pended involved his personal honor or not.
/ Mr.. Spooner did not suppose the president
| meant to submit his fellow citizens To serious
| injustice, but the system he had adopted in
| the matter OF suspensions inevitably tended
TO cast a shadow on the honor of honest men.
| Papers that were held as secret to-day might
| become public when the person affected by
| them was in his grave, but there was no
/ power in his wife or chill lren to disprove the
| false allegations. Mr.. SpOoner did not de-
| sire to see the administration embarrassed.
The man who wished tc see the I'D niniStra-
| tion fail was too mean to be taken in account,
hut some method must be pursued TO protect
! honest men from the unjust imputaton under
| which they are compelled TO rest by the
method adopted by the administration.
! MIR. SALISBURY SAID:
When the president was elected It was the
object and intention OF the people that he
adjust the offices, at least more evenly be-
tween the political parties than they had
been. The president and his administration
had proceeded with a caution and foresight
unparalleled in the history of our govern
ment. When congress met only 6i3 suspen-
slons had been made out of some 900 Offices
subject 10 the direction of the president.
This was a small percentage. Such magma
nimity to political opponents had never
been exercised for the last fifty years. Yet
President Cleveland's nominations had been
allowed to slumber for three months without
action. Why? Because the Republican side
of the chamber had set to work deliberately,
premeditated. he would say, with malice
aforethought. to devise some scheme 70 fore
stall the president, 10 prevent the removal of
their partisan friends from office. The Re
publican senators had said that they had nc
desire TO protect Republican officials. II that
we're true, strange that the presidents nOmi-
nations had been so long unacted on. Wa:
it not strange that the Republican senator:
were now making claims for class of pa
pers
NEVER CLAIMED DEFoRE?
Was it not strange that they were claiming
a right to supervise the removals OF the pres
ident, and that they were claiming 10 be en-
titled TO see even private papers in the pur
suit of their object? Mr. salisbury charac
terized the report of the majority OF the ju
dietary committee as the most disingenuous
unfair and unjust presentation of the con
troversy that had ever emanated from com
mittee of a deliberative body. The real con
troversy was that the president could no
! permit private papers TO be sent TO th'
senate. The Republicans had converte'
themselves into an Obstructive party 10 hin
der the due exercise OF executive power