Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-12-07


able to be in his seat in the Fiftieth Con-
gress, and yet has just been reelected to
the Fifty-irst.
THE HUNGRY REPUBLICANS
MUST MOI EXPECrA CLEAN
SWEEP.
There seems to be sort of magic which
environs office holding, that makes it
very attractive to the American people.
Men who never held, nor ever wished for,
an official position in their lives, are as
anxious to know about the prospective
changes of an incoming administration as
it they were personally interested. To graf
Ify that general curiosity we copy below
an article from the indianapolis Journal.
Gen. Hatrison's organ; it is an editorial by
Mr.. Elijah Halford, his Private Secretary.
What it says raay oe regarded as f1icial
and the tenor of it, in palmer English tha,s
the cautious Private Secretary uses, seam
to be an suranc- o our Republican
friends that the future President knows
just how hungry they are, aud appreciates
their appetite, and that if they will Only
keep cool and not tear the dinner table to
pieces, they will all, in good time, have
what is on it. The article is headed
"Civil Service Reform and Clean Sweep
and editor Halford says:
sit was the doctrine and practice of to the
victors belong the spoils,' which created ne
cessity for civil service reform. The move
ment did not come any toe soon. And, if
held to its original purpose, it cannot be too
earnestly prosecuted for the welfare of the
country. The fact that it has been made
more Or less odious by hypocritical profess
sions and Pecksnifian pretenses is not the
fault of the movement itself. The movement
is essentially right. Civil-service reform in
its true sense, that is, in the sense introduce
ing an element of stability into the civil-ser-
vice and conducting it on a basis of merit and
efficiency rather than of mere political spoils
-civil-service reform in this sense has come
to stay, and will move forward rather than
backward.
''The Republican clean-sweepers should not
be unreasonable in their demands on the next
mistake four years ago, and Republicans
should profit by their example. The more
unreasonable the demands and expectations in
this regard the greater the liability to disap-
po1ntment and of its proving source of party
weakness. Those who make it forget that the
Republican party is fully committed by its
| platform pledges TO civil-service reform, and
that Gen. Harrison has declared himself in
full sympathy with it. They forget that the
clean sweeping business was one of the main
counts in the indictment against the Demo-
cratic party, and the CT ns9quent dem 'raliza
ton of the bic service one of the princij al
causes Of its defeat. If there is any honesty
in politics, the Republican party is pledged
to use discrimination in removals from Office
as well as in appointments thereto, and to use
both primarily for the public welfare rather
than for supposed party advantages. Above
all, our friends the clean-sweepers forget that
| Gen Harrison will be surrounded by some
restrictions in the matter of removals and ap-
p, pointments which he cannot disregard. The
| Civl-Service law must be obeyed. 1t has not
| been altogether ignored even by the present
| Administration, and it would be scandalous
| for a Republican Administration not to give
! it still fairer construction"
After remarklDg on what offices are and
what are not included under the Civil
Service law, the writer concludes:
'-From what has been said il is evident
there are many things to be taken into account
in connection with the demand of the clean
| sweepers, and if they have the welfare of the
| party at heart they will recognize the necessa-
| ry Limitation of the situation. One thing they
| can rest assured of, the President-elect is as
old and earnest Republican as any of them
and can be depended on to do the very best
thing for the party as well as for the country"