San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-11-25
cLEVELAND'S CIVIL SERVICE.

e,
aught, can tell. Human invention has
achieved wonders, and. really. seems to
he without any assignable limits. Prpsi-
dent Cleveland has been m.king desper-
ate effOr TO ride two horses that we're
running in opposite directions -drmOc-
racy and civil service reform. bur il has
ended Just as every man OF Judgment
foresaw IL would end-in his fumbling
of between the two horses. Demo raoy
and civil service reform are not only an
tipOdes, but antHgOnisuc principles.
They car no more harmoniZe than oil
and water can mrngle when poured in ,
The same bottle, One is an acid and Iae
other an alkali, and when pr. cipItAted
into contact the one neutralIZes tre
other. rhe doctrine that, 40 the victOrs
belong the spOils," was OF Democratic
origin; 1t was brOached in 1929
ed and acted on by every
democratic administration from 1929 to
1861. 1t was an Integral part of the
democratic party.
President Cleveland is neXt-dOnr
/ neighbOr 10 mugwump-that is TO say,
he il "neiiher fish, flesh, fowl nor good
/ red herring" consequently he set out to
/ run his administration on sort Of mid
| dle-track between democracy and re-
/ publicansm. But while his attempt in
/ Gated pluck it betrayed an entire lack of
/ discretion. His very cabinet was against
| his new tangled democracy. 1t is as ar
duOus An undertaking to wean the de-
! mOCracy from the lOaves and fishes as 1t
| was to wean the ancient Jews from the
fesh-pOts of Egypt; particularly as the
| democrats had not had access to the
! feeding trough for "a years and were
| ravenously hungry.
The letter OF President Cleveland to
Mr. Benton, of Missouri, followed by his
order reinstating him in Office, was a
| square baCkdown. The Sun and the
World Of New York so regarded it, and
to the same tenor will be the verdict Of
the people.
| In order to obtain pretext for evad-
| ing the civil service reform law, Mr..
| Cleveland, Of his own motion, invented
brand new ground for removal-that
of offensive partizsnship'-an ambigu-
GUS and convenient phraZe-thrown out
| without any eXactness OF definition. 1t
was repetition Of the fable of the wolf
accusing the lamb of muddying the
stream, since the democrats we're to try
the republicans on the charge OF "offen-
siye partnership" and could themselves
procure office only by finding them
| guilty. The offensive partiZan" lode
wa worked with great zeal and indus.
try, and hence republicans were hustled
out of office and hungry democrats ap-
pointed. But the decapitated repubii-
| cans retired with placard, bearing the
inscription. "removed for offensive par
tizanship,'" pinned on their backs. 70
whom was their "partizanship" "offen-
sive?" Why, to the Democrats of
course, as it could not have been often
| sive to members of their own party.
| 1t showed wonderful astuteness on the
| part of Mr.. Cleveland to invent a new
| ground Of removal and to mark and label
1t. offensive craftsmanship" as iG en-
abled him to evade the fundamental
| principle OF civil service reform, even
while he was making IN ostentatious
show Of scrupulous adherence to it from
a conscientious conviction Of its perfect
| Justice.
Having elected republican office
holders and injected democrats into
their place, the fill II over the eyes of
President Cleveland suddenly passes
away-his vision becomes uncloudpd
and penetratIng-and he has no trouble
| in perceiving tina circumstances alter
cases." or in palmer terms. that what
was Offensive partisanship," when done
| by republicans, becomes harmless, when
| 1t is done by democrats.
President Cleveland has knack at
| inveniing new phrases conveniently am
biguOus in their Specification and there
| fore susceptible of a variety of In
| terpretatiOns, but 1t would be
better for his fame, il he would suffer
| this same knack to slide into "innocu-
| Gus desuetude." In his letter to MIR.
| Benton, he issued from his mint-a new
| coin alled"peTnicious activity, which,
| he seems 10 have intended to be explain
atOry of the phraze offensive partizan-
ship"
MIR. Benton lie declared by President
| Cleveland not {, have been guilty of
| "pernicious activity" in making dozen
| stump speeches in one campaign, and
hence, that he did not violate the osten-
tatious order promulgated by him as a
warning to federal officers, not to dab
| BILE in politics. Making stump speeches
in favor Of the democratic party, is
neither offensive partiZansbip" nor
"pernicious activity" consequently,
Mr.. Benton ia re-instated with full
diapason of approval. 1t seems that
NJ. Benton did not neglect his official
duties, and for that reason there was
| not the least bit OF "pernicious activ-
ity" in his turning himself loose as an it.
inerant political missionary. Let us
stick pin here.
A. j. Exams made first.
class district attorney. He was
"honest, faithful and capable"
| came fully up to the Jeffersonian stand
ard as to qualifications; but this well
known fact counted for nothing with
President Cleveland. He was painted as
an defensive partisan" because he had
made an occasional speech in favor OF
Garfield or Blaine, during his incum-
bency Of Office, and he was ousted. Con-
trast. II you please, the partisanship
shown by Judge Evans with that shown
by District Attorney Benton, of Missou-
been grossly inconsistent In his treat.
ment OF the two men. Mr.. Benton de-
clares he did not neglect his official du-
ties to deliver political harangues, and
President Cleveland accepts his explans.
ton, and exculpares him from ''perni-
cious activity" whatever that may
mean. No one ever heard OF Judge
Evans neglecting his official duties to
prance around the country as a political
intinerant preacher. He was always al
his post and prepared for his cases
He brought to the perform
ance Of his duties all his In.
dustry, energy and ability, and
really appeared 70 experience pleasure
in what many others would have looked
upon as irksome drudgery. No man car
be found who will affirm that Judge
Evans ever neglected his official duties
in order that he might deliver political
speeches. Then, according to Presl.
dent Cleveland, he was not guilty Of
"pernicious activity" while in office, and
he had a constitutional and legal right