Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-02-19
EDGERTON TOCLEVELAND
An Object Lesson i'll Civil Ser
 vice Reform.
THE PRESIDENT ARRAIGNED

Judge Edgerton Openly Charges the Presi-
 dent with Violating Civil Service Rules,
 and Argues That Himself Is the Only
 True Exponent of the Science.
 WASHINGTON. Feb. 19-Judge Edgerton, lately removed from the position of civil service commissioner, has addressed an open letter to President Cleveland, in which he critises the president severely for this action, impugns his motives in making the removal, and accuses the president by not removing him before tho election, of playing false with The muSwumps to enable you to win with the Democrats" Judge Eigerton, in opening his letter, says:
 "To the President:
 "l was indebted to you for the only ap- pointive office ever held. You now declare by your acton that you regret the appointment l, with equal right, can say that 1 regret the acceptance. Your regret was never made known to me by you in any word or utter ance or action until now, at the close of your administration, and on the day before my removal. If you had any just, or unjust, cause of complaint against me you had not before that time made it known to me- You
 
 of newspaper or other statements and charges refecting upon me which may have come to your knowledge Ii any oI ,lese were ever made known to you such knowledge was withheld from mo. No iEtinatiOn was ever made to me by you or by any one acting for you that my opinions or actions were not approved by you. 1 certainly could not be expected to make inquiry of you concerning charges, or of your opinions which were never disclosed to me-
 "Of course, if you believed me unfit for the position or. neglectful of duty, you should have removed me long ago, but I presume there were prudential political reasons why you did 't make the removal until after the election. In this regard it would almost seem as II you were willing to play false with the mugwumps 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 Judgment to reform, as reforms are not effected by un just personal denuncia tion. but by reason. The result of the election placed you in dilemma from which few people would have known how to extricate them selves You found a man on your hands whom the mugwumps had declared war upon. 1 as an old enemy to their civil service reform theories, and your plan of becoming their representative in the future would be weak ened or defeated if some assurance of your | fidelity to their cause could not be secured. | Accordingly, it appears that you decided upon the removal of the head of the commis- l sion, and deeming Mir. Thompson a good enough mugwump for them, you, therefore, demanded my resignation that you might ap- l point him, apparently an atonement for | your previous inaction.n |
 MT. Edgerton then calls the presidents at- l tention to the fact that on July B, 1888. he l was good enough civil service commissioner for the president, when he indorsed the fourth | annual report of the commission, and said l ''The path of the civil service reform has not at all times been pleasant or easy The scope and purpose of the reform have been much | misapprehended; and this has not only given rise to strong opposition, but has led to its invocation by its friends to compass objects not in the least related to it." and asks, Did l then hold such a relation to the commission as to be included in your commendation2 or ! did then hold a relation to it which justified my removals If included in the commenda- ton, what has since transpired to justify A removalw
 'Mr. President" he adds, ''with due cour- tesy to the high office you hold, allow me to say that you are very peculiar man, a posi- tive man, positively wrong or positively right.
 
 that element in your character believe led to your defeat"
 Judge Edgerton then observes that the president was credulous enough to believe he was elected president by the mugwumps. l and therefore permitted them to malign his real friends and datter him into a policy which led to defeat, that as result of not permitting his real friends to admonish him with freedom and confidence he suffered for ~< fr-.1 nl-.r T and wretched greatness" he says, has dis covered that there is no true success in life without the power and blessing of friend ship
 Judge Edgerton then asserts that. having sworn to do so, it had been his constant effort to support the civil service law; but he did not swear to support mugwump in- depreciation of it, based on the monstrous assumption that the commission was inde- l pendent of law. Referring to his interview with the president, when the latter requested Judge Edgerton to resign, the ex-civil service commissioner says: "When, on the sth of February, you requested my resignation, you expressly declared that you had no other reason than that it would enable you to nom- mate MT. Thompson for commissioner. who | without my resignation, would have no pros l pect of confirmation by the senate Among the many newspaper charges against me, 1 handed 10 you Inc Cnlcago Tribune of the 14th of December, which stated among other things that for several months you had contemplated my removal. After reading the statement carefully you declared the whole article to be "a lie, assuring me that you had bsen and was still, my friend; and for that reason that it was due to you, as a personal friend, that I should give you my resignation to enable you. if possible, to provide place for Mir. Thomp, son. As already said, may have been wrong in many things, but not in fidelity to the civil service law. This l was sworn to exc cute, and so were you. Was it faithful execution of the law to appoint commis- sioner and then not to ask him to any confer ence or consultation concerning its businessa By whose advice, through whose action, were you led to believe that this was justa You must not, and l presume you do not, claim any immunity from censure, neither can you be indifferent to it, even from members of your own party, to whom your indifference is past understanding; neither must you expect that truth and justice will remain inactive You will be censured and condemned because you put no trust in your party, but believed yourself to be better than your own and preatar thar, al partios vo,, boyo !