The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1889-10-12
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ly fitted by character, ability and
experience, who have absolutely and
confessedly disregarded politics in
their devotion to official duty and
the public service, all these facts.
and such as these, answer the ques-
ton, how has the executive action
conformed TO the party promise and
the Presidents pledge?
There are two signal illustrations
of the manneri in which those pledges
have been kept. The fundamental
principle Of reform or of reasonable
conduct of the public service requires
the retention and re appointment Of
public officers in important places
who are especially fitted for their
trusts by personal character, proved
ability, by long service ard greatcx-
pcriencc; who are in no sense active
politicians, and who are exclusively
and most efficiently devoted to their
official duties. When the admins
tration came into power upon plat
form of reform, it found two such
officers in the city OF New York, the
Postmaster and the Naval Officer.
Both of them had what is almost
impossible under n spells system,
pride and enthusiasm in the public
service. in which both of them were
Knights without reproach The nd
ministration could have given no
such practical proof Gifts regard for
| r.. az az ~, s.Ilian
One of them, the postmaster, was
summarily dismissed at the cxpira-
tion of his term, nor can any reason
connected with the public interest be
assigned as the cause Of the dismis-
sal. The other, the naval officer,
wac displaced before the end of his
term without u word. or sign, or q
reason alleged The ablest and most
serviceable of experienced public
officers are dismissed like messenger
boys. There is no other civilized
government which pursues in its
public service course which the
President has truly described as bru-
tai, and which he has chosen 10 pur-
sue.
VIOLATED EVERY PROMISE
There is no prctensc that the pub
lie interest, or the principles of re
form. or the professions Of the party,
or the pledges of the President. re
CURED their dismissal The Presi.
dent, speaking for the party, had
made the four pledges which | have
mentioned, and every one Of them
was violated by these dismissals. II
is not pretended that there was any
reason for the executive action cx-
cept the desire to reward party ser
vice which whether sound reason
or not, the President had publicly
disclaimed, as proper motive for
appointment or cause for removal.
The dismissal in the case of the Ma.
val officer vas lelaye only until the
factions of the party, which had pro-
claimed that the public service
should not be made party plumber,
could agree upon satisfactory distri-
button of the spoils. The result is
that the two public Offices one OF
them by far the largest and most
important of its kind in the country,
which were in themselves conclusive
illustrations Of the practical value
of reform to the public welfare, have
been degraded again into prizes of
partizan activity by the administrn
tion of party which solicited sup
port upon the plea that reform Of
the civil service auspiciously began
under its guidance, should be fur
ther extended wherever is was prac-
ticnblc
FLouTED THE REFORM.
Mr.. Curtis then quotes and com
mends the following expressions from
Republican journal in Philadel-
phia. He said it was a just verdict:
1.-The administration, in almost every
one of its acts since it was Inaugural
ted on the 4th Of March last, has
secuted and nouted civil service re.
form and trampled under foot its
own promises to defend it. 1t has
turned it out Of doors and barred the
doors against it. That is the truth
about the matter in brief, and the
administration and its organs could
do no better, wiser thing, than to
frankly confess that having found
civil service reform to interfere with
it's plans, it whistled it down the wind
as remorselessly as it would dismiss
an Objectionable tramp