St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-19
GETS BACKAT GROVER
Ex-Civil Service Commits
sioner Edgerton Diagnoses
the Presidents Case.
He Says MIR. Cleveland Is
an Unsafe Man to
Trust.
Pigheadedness and Catering
to Mugwumps Led to His
Defeat.
An Open Letter That Can in
No Way Be Miscon-
Strued.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1S.--Judge a. L.
Edgerton, who was recently removed
from the office of civil service commits
sioner, has written an open letter to the
president. He says, among other
things:
81 vas indebted to you for the only
appointive Office ever held. You now
declare by your action that you regret
the appointment. l, with equal right,
can say that l regret the acceptance.
Your regret was never made known to
me by you in any word or utterance or
action until now at the close of your ad-
ministration, and on the day before my
removal. OF course, if you believed me
unfit for the position or neglectful of
duty, you should have removed me long
ago, but presume there were pruden-
tial political reasons why you did not
make the removal until after the cleo
ton. In this regard it would almost
seem as if you were willing to play
false with the Mugwnmps to enable
you to win with the Democrats. And
here permit me to define the term
'mugwump' as referring to a class of
political reformerS who have the spirit
of reformation without the common
sense and good judgement to reform, as
Aforms are not ERECTED by unjust per-
sOnal denunciatiOn. but by reason.
The resultO the election placed you in
dilemma from which few people
would have known how to eXtricate
themselves. You found man on your
hands whom the Mugwump had de-
clared war upon. an enemy to their
civil service reform theories, and your
plan of becoming their Representatives
i'm the future would be weakened or de-
feated if some assurance of your fideli-
tv to their cause could not be secured.
Accordingly it appears that you decided
upon the removal of the head OF the
commission; and, deeming Mir. Thomp-
son
A GOOD ENOUGH sfUGwUMP
for them, you, therefore. demanded my
resignation that you might appoint him.
apparently as an atonement for your
due courtesy to the high Office you hold,
allow me to say that you are a very pc
culiar man. a positive positively
wrong or positively right and there
fore, an unsafe man to trust; and that
element in your character, believe,
led to your defeat. Pope says: 'The
most positive men are the most credu-
lons. since they most believe them.
selves, and advise most with their fell
low flatterers and worst enemies" Be
ing one of that kind OF positive men
yourself, you have kept some men OF
like character around you who are posi-
tive only in their malice and cOnceit.
They fiatter you, and have the cOnceit
that would magnify themselves and the
malignity that would detract from
4 hnr ic No trcr
a man will not believein his own favor"
You were credulous enough to believe
that you were elected president by the
mugWumps, and, therefore, you per-
mltted them TO malign your real friends
and to f1atter you into policy which led
to your defeat. You are a man who
would not permit your real friends to
admonish you with freedom and conf
dence. and as result you have suffered
for the want of friends. and your
wrecked and wretched greatness has
discovered that there is no true success
in life without the power and blessing
of friendship. You believed that your
will and power to enforce it was above
all powers, but the will of the people
expressed in a constitutional way has
taught you that there was wiser and
better way than that chosen by you.
vice law. it has been my constant effort
to do so; but never did swear to support
a mugwump Interpretation OF it based
on a monStrOus assumption that the
commission was independent OF law.
How many poor unfortunates have been
denied the advantages and benefits OF
the law by questions never contemplated
by it, and how many expenses have
been incurred through unnecessary and
devious requirements and practices it is
not my purpose at this time to state.
You will be censured and condemned
because you put no trust in your own
party. but believed yourself to be better
than your own and greater than all par
ties. You have aScertained that the
many were not made for the one. Ii
you can find as many reasons for re-
moving me as the Democratic party,
through an Indifference which was SIM
ply reta!iatory, had for removing you, l
Shall be quite willing to remain with
you in
THE GLOOM OF DEFEAT.
The Judge proceeds to give his IN
derstanding of the civil service law, and
continues: ''You cause to be placed
upon the Congressional Record this an
nOuncement of a nomination by you to
be confirmed by the United States SEN
ate: Hugh S. Thompson. OF South Car
Olina, to be United States civil service
commissioner in the place of Alfred p.
Edgerton, removed l do not ask you
to give any reason for this act. Iknow,
and so do you, that the only one you
could give would be that it was your
will, for if you attempted to give any
other your own previous words would
prove it to be untrue. In my inter
view with Won before the removal YOU
expressly disclaimed having any reason
for it, except by refusal to resign to en-
able you to make MIR. ThOmpson's nOm-
inatiOn. Removed is word of far
reaching potency, especially when a
| am conscious of this, and
deeply panied by the consciousness.
The people have the right to know the
truth in all matters of this kind, and for
this reason only do l address you. l
cannot, like you, make prayer for re-
lief to the public, such as the article
seemed to be in the Baltimore Sun of
he 14th inst. This is the first time in
the history of the government that an
outgoing president has found it neces-
sary to advertise through the newspa-
pers his particular work during his
term of office and his claims upon his
party and the country for approval.
Between the lines can be read the spe
cial plea for reelection. L can point to
another removal than mine, beyond
parallel, to go down through history
when shall be forgotten. Before L do
so, let me refer to a specimen OF your
IGNORANCE OF PUBLIC OPINION,
and not OF your indifference TO Ito
what you say in the Sun article OF Mr..