Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-05-06
EYE OPENERS.

There have been good many eyes opened since the 9th of November and the scales have dropped from a good many others since the fourth day of March. Those that are still closed or likely to remain so probably could not see anything if they were opened. There are some eyes that could not see the side of house at ten paces.
 The workmen who expected the mil lennium to break upon the country after Harrison's election have been sorely dis appointed. They have seen all the promises of the campaign broken-re- ductions of wages, shortening the hours of labor, shutting down of factories and generally hard times have been the con- dition that has confronted them since. It would be little harder to fool the workingmen to-day than it was last November. With our high tariff dis eliminating against them and still fixed at war figures there is no reason, accord ing to the republican methods of argu- ing, why times should have been duller
 
 ton than they were before. But they have been and are, and the wage-earner is already convinced that in democratic success and tariff reform lay his highest hopes. If an election were to be held tomorrow, we think tomorrow would be a very cold day for high tar if and the party of high tariff.
 But those who took stock in the civil service reform prating of Harrison and the republican leaders, of the republican platform and the presidents letters have had still more shocking awakening. They have had proof, in the unseemly scramble for public office the like of which has never been seen in Ameri- can history, that civil service reform was a rag baby to be fondled while Cleveland was president and the republi- can party was looking for votes only to be picked to pieces when the party got into power. That the baby is going to pieces rapidly has been shown by the energy displayed by Wanamaker, Clark son, Tanner, Bell and the others who have swung the axes with mighty power in tue last few weeks. And now along comes Secretary Windom and gets in his little dab at the republican platform and the presidents S promises-or rather, we should say, at the hopes of the fools who builded on republican sincerity. To treasury off tci. hn ocJ-n +1,- MT Windom said:
 MT -, I have heard many compli- ments paid you in the discharge of your official duties, and were your politics different I should be pleased to have you remain ill the department. You can, of course, appreciate the fact that it would be bad politics to retain you while so many faithful republicans are knocking al, ,our party's door. What the feelings of this official were, and what his opinion of the president and MT Windom, can probably be i'm agined, as he turned to these words of Harrison's inaugural address: "Heads of departments, bureaus and all other public officers having any duty there with will be expected to enforce the civil service law fully and without evasion" If President Harrison has been expecting anything of the kind he must have experienced a terrible lot of dis appointment since the 4th of March. But it is quite likely his expectations were something like those of the little boy who looked through the fence at a ball oame-the fence might fall down but it didn't If Mir Harrison continues to expect we shall be tempted to suspect that he is one of that blessedly expectant crowd known as mugwumps. But then Mir Harrison has given proof that the only thing he expects is that heads of de- partments will fill them up with repub- hcans as fast as possible.
 Anybody who wants an eye-opener these days need only watch the republi- eau party and contrast its performance with its promise.