The Washington critic., 1886-06-09
MIR sCHURz ON REFORM.

MIR sCHURZ on REFORM.
In his speech in Boston Saturday
evening before the Massachusetts, Re.
form Club, Mr.. Carl Schurz formulated
an Indictment against the Democratic
party, which SO far as the words in
which /, is framed are concerned, is
terrific indeed The burden of the ar.
raigummt is that the Democratic party
--here designated a7 Unsuitable Jllca.
seeler5'-is trying to force the
President away from the path Of dig.
nifty and honor" and in thus imperi-
ously urging tlLe President TO di3honor
his pledges is making an e&hibitiou OF
Itself that is 'repulslyo and positively
disgraooful."
We fear that Mir, Schur2, In his 2.a,
for the Massachusetts AIugwump, is
magnifying a small mole hill into o
prodigious mountain. Mr.. Cleveland
has certainly stood well up to his prom
Uses and has acoedol to the "insa-
table" demands OF the Independents
with a courage that We have some.
times thought exceeded the bounds Of
discretion. But what we fail utterly
to see is the point which Mr.. Schur2
tries TO make, that q Democrat who
wants Office is q "spoisman, while
Mugwump who haukcrs for the same
thing is the type, par ercc!loace, of
Civil Service Reform.
If it is logical that the President In
the distribution of his patronage-call
it by what name you will, "spoils" or
anything else--should 90 outside Of his
party to recognize few men who con.
tributed to his election, why not in.
fnitely more logical that he should
recognize the millions of men, consti-
tuting the great party Of which he was
the standard bearer, who supported
him at the polls in unbroken column
and thus effected q complete change in
the political character of the Admins
tration?
Mr.. Schurz knows very well that
this is a government Of parties and
always will be that the American
people is made up of parties, and that
the party in power, whichever it may
be, is held responsible by the people for
its administration OF affairs, He also
knows very well that true civil service
reform consists solely in fidelity to
trust, honesty in Office and efficiency
in the execution Of the laws. Parti-
sanship can never be eliminated from
politics, and il is not the necessary evil
that the reformeis proclaim IL TO be.
THE SENATE las passed n bill pro
viding for q commission to investigate
the question whether inoculation is
successful in the prevention of yellow
fever. While many special commis-
sions have proved to be of but little
value and.there is consequently some
what of prejudice against the crea-
tion of such bodies, yet it is the duty Of
the Government TO take every step pos
sible to guard our people from the
deadly yellow scourge. There seems
to be good reason to believe that the
danger of the disease can, like that of
smallpox and hydrophobia, be greatly
lessened by the system Of incubation.
In letter recently received by Pres-
dent Holt of the Louisiana State Board
Janeiro, that noted physician says that
in the treatment of yellow fever
patients he has performed over 1000
inoculations with perfect sue
cess, and that immunity was al
most absolute, notwithstanding the
virulence of the epidemic
In addition to this the Doctor says
that more than 5000 persons who were
not inooulated died, while of the 1000
who were inocuated and who iuhab-
tied the same infected localities and
were subjected to the same conditions,
but seven or eight fell victims to the
fever. AS DR.. Freire Is the dlscoverer
Of inooulation for yellow fever, he
would naturally write enthusiastically
of the results Of his work, But the
subject is nevertheless not only worth
looking into, but It would seem to be the
imperative duty of Congress to make
provision for such an investigation.
---- -
THE Philadelphia Record says
"Senator Becz's bill to prevent Sena.
tors from practicing rs railway attor.
neys at the same time they are sitting
as legislators may not become q law
but the people who make Senators and
Representatives can stop making then
out of railroad material" So they
can, TO certain extent, by exercising
proper caution beforehand. There Il
one trouble, however, that Is very hare
to surround. You cannot always tel
how much latent railroad material
man has in him, until after he Il
elected and takes his seat. There are
some very innocent, and, apparently
very straight fellows, whose develop
ment, under the hot-house Of bis
railway corporation, cannot always be
bet on with certainty.
THERE ARE THOSE who say, and M
doubt some who believe, that 1t wa
Mr.. Blaine's Irish American speecl
which killed the Home Rule bill
There is no legislative body in thu
world which takes kindly to instruc
tions or intermeddllng Of any sort from
outside sources-least Of all from preju
diced and not wholly disinterestet
sources. England likes it no more
from the United States In its dealings