National Republican., 1886-12-25
AN OLD srArEsMAS,s VIEWS.
What He Thinks Of civil Service He-
form and tho silver and Tariff AgIta-
New York sun.1

lima ge Gen. Thomas j.. Clingman, OF that
state, and few are so well qualified as he is
to express authorItatlvely the opinion OF
the North Carolinlans upon the great ques-
tions Of American politics, silver, so-called
civil service reform, and the tariff. Gen.
Clingman is in this city at present, stopping
at the New York Hotel, where Sun re-
porter found him.
~ am in New York city," said the gem
ersl, in answer to question, ito attend to
certain matters, and In reply TO many ques-
tioDs put to me concerning mineral lands In
North Carolina. How soon that business
will be finished 1 cannot tell"
"General,n asked the reporter, team you
tell the readers Of the Sun something
about the present state OF politics in your
state ~
UI cam" answered the general, promptly.
"There Ia great deal OF discomfort about
the action Of the President, and to a certain
extent Of Congress. The people have been
disappointed In not having certain reforms
which they looked for carried Into practice.
zone thing in which the President seems
10 be positively in earnest is in regard to the
civil service. may say at the outset that
the matter Is so plainly unconstitutional In
some features that am astounded 1t is not
universally denounced by all Intelligent
and honest men. In the first place, by the
sons born in the United States, after they
are 35 years Of age, are eligible TO every
Office from President down. II, however,
President Cleveland or were applicants
for certain clerkships IN the departments,
we should be told we were ineligible, be-
cause we had not undergone civil service
examination. five said we were ready TO
undergo the examination, we should be
told that as we were over 40 years Of age
we could not be permitted to undergo the
examination. In other words, we shhuId
be completely disiranchised by a mere law
Of Congress In direct violation Of the con-
stitution.
"If Thaddeus Stevens and his friends at
the close Of the war had adopted this view,
no amendments TO the constitution, such as
they carried into effect, would have been
necessary, as they might have disfran-
chised all the rebels by the mere act OF
Congress.
"Hgain, by the terms Of the constitution
the President has a right to appoint any
one eligible to Office as q citizen OF the
the United States. The Senate may de-
cline to confirm, but Congress has no right
to deny him the right TO select according to
bis own judgment. The civil service law is
is palpable a violation Of the consultation
as any that could be framed. IL was In fact
the mere trick Of the Republican party to
keep their men in Office In the event that
they should be defeated In the presidential
contest l have always been astonished
that Mr.. Pendleton and other Democrats
were so shallow minded that they did not
see through the trick.
"There are two other questions OF vastly
more Importance than this of the civil SER
vice. On one OF them the President Is pal
pably wrong; as to the other he is feebly
tight. The first relates to the currency.
BY the constitution, gold and silver coin
were made the money OF the United States.
The demonetzation OF silver by the Repub.
llcans in 1873 was probably the most
criminal action ever perDetrated by the
government. 1t was so secretly done that
President Grant signed the bill without
being aware of its character Many
months afterward, in his letter to Coleman,
he said we should soon have abundance OF
silver coin. The great panic OF 1873 fol-
lowed this measure. The partial restora-
tion Of silver has helped the United States
materially. What we need, however, is
that silver should be put on the same foot
ing as gold-in other words, as much silver
should be coined as the country needs,
while silver and gold bullion should be
alike received by the government and
coin certificates Issued thereon, recelv-
able by the government for all dues
to It. II we had eight hundred or thou.
sand millions Of such coin certificates, the
national banks could easily supply such
We should then have broad aud solid coin
basis, which would render 1t almost impos-
sible that any serious money panic could
occur. 1t is amusing to see the shallowness
of the objections made to silver by Wall
a.. street organs. They say the people don't
want TO handle silver. l believe men han
die 1000 times more pieces OF silver than
OF gold. While silver is needed for pocket
change, nobody desires to have any gold.
The objection, therefore, 10 the coinage OF
gold is stronger than to that OF silver. In
fact, men prefer to handle silver certificates
rather than gold coin.
"Let me illustrate: No man cares to carry
his trunk with him into railway passenger
car. He is content TO let his trunk remain
among the baggage, whence, provided he
has q check, he can get II back whenever
he needs 1t. In like manner men carry GER
tiileates, knowing they can get coin when
ever they want II.
"Another foolish argument OF the gold
organs is that, II you pay man In silver,
you cheat him out Of part Of his earnings,
because silver is worth less now than gold;
but II you pay him In greenbacks or bank
notes, as the material with which he is paid
is intrinslcally worthless, you cheat him
out Of the whole dollar. 1t Is not necessary
for me to say that throughout the United
States silver and greenbacks are worth as
much to the man receiving them as gold.
In speaking Of Wan street l wish 1t under
stood that l refer merely to the specu-
lators who operate there, and not to the
honest business people OF the country,
who desire O stable currency and steady
prosperity. The buzzard would no doubt
Be glad TO see the epizootlc again ravage
smong horses, and the cholera dend among
hogs that they may have carcasses to prey
on. In like manner the Wall street buzz
yards would like to see depressons and
paDics in order that they might In time of
pressure buy property at low rates, and
then, after they had provided an expansion,
unload so as to make large profits. While
i am not an enemy to national blnks,
should not like TO see them have power to
govern the country. II we had broad
coin basis, represented by certificates, 1t
would be difficult for them to make great
fluctuations In the currency 30 as to dc
range the business OF the country.
"The last question would refer to is
the tariff and internal revenue taxes. 1t is
a surprise TO me to see the mistake made
generally in reference to this subject.
People say that high tariff taxes put too
much money into the treasury and lead to
extravagant expenditure. This is undoubt-
edly mischief, but much greater one is
the taking of more money from the people
than they should be compelled TO pay
II may fairly be said that Tor, every dollar
that goes into the treasury the people lose
three or four in tariff taxes laid on the
necessares Of life. Some Of the duties
amount to 100 per cent, and prohibit all
imports OF necessaries taxed. When, there
fore, man pays twice the value of an
article In the foreign markets, he often
does not help the government at all, but
merely helps the wealthy monopolist and
manufacturing bosses. II the tariff taxes
were reduced the people would pay less
and the government receive more, because
many Of the articles would be imported.
A better tariff than any we ore likely to
have would be to allow each man to i'm
port what he pleased and TO pay the
government in proportion 70 Its value.