The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-07-04

old - tho Magma Charta OF King John.
What force - there, then, il tho tsunt that
reform 10 English1 There il none.
You all know 10 what great degree the
Of division Of labor" j. car
ried by oil civilized nations; and you Oh
know what great advantages, both in
efficiency and Gust Of labor, arc derived
from this division. Now Why mot carry
it right into the civil service, and apply
it to clerks, postmasters and other ohic.
ials? While they are doing good and
efficient service, what il the advantage to
the people - whole in turning Thorn
out? Every time there il change made
the efficiency gained BY the experience Of
the former incumbent u sacrificed, and
generally for the purpose Of paying
some political debt.
A great many people labor under de.
lueion right here. They seem to think
that the public places arc gratuities to Be
fairly distributed among the members Of
the winning party, instead OF being pub
Lie trusts, established for tho benefit Of
the people - whole, and which demand
the best talent and character available.
Even II there were equally good and
capable mon appointed under the Spoils
System, it would b impossible to have q
good public service - when men Of ex-
perience were employed for . longer
term Of years. But il You viii examine
the civil service Of to-day you will 6nd
that great many appointees are entire
j unfit 70 hold any kind Of IN o0icA
The present custom OF senatorial
courtesy" enables tho President TO escape
tho full responsibility Of his appointing
power by emitting it upon tho Senators
and Representatives It also destroys
that spirit Of independence and neutral
ity between tho different branches Of gov.
eminent which i % essential TO . good
administration. When orr forefathers
framed the Constitution il WAS their do
sire and purpose to lodge absolute pow.
or nowhere, but to leave eaoh depart
mont independent within its own sphere,
yet in every case responsible Tor tho ex-
ercise OF it's discretion; but some danger
ous innovations have been made, and tho
existence Of that spirit or the exercise Of
that discretion will Be again impossible
until there 10 political reform.
Since the introduction Of the Spoils
System great many unnecessary Offices
have been created, thus mot only increas-
ing the spoils but also the cost Of gov
eminent.
The present system also leads to the
overpay OF officials to enable them 10
meet the demands Of their fsudal lords
when political assessments come again.
which is generally about once year.
Now it is acknowledged that there il
Legitimate uso Of money in election cam
paigns, and further that large per cent
Of the party funds j. willingly and freely
donated by men who believe in tho prin.
ciples advocated by their party platforms,
but there u also great deal Of money
obtained by dishonorable means and
used in any way to whip ''the enemy"
Il requires . great deal Of money to
run the political campaigns a. carried on
to-day, and the losing party must expect
to lose all they have put into it; while
the winning party has 1t it, disposal the
spoils Of victory in the shape OF nearly
one hundred thousand Offices. Under
such condition Of things it il the most
natural thing in tho world for tho poll
tician to regard all ~ fair in war and 10
carry the election.
Lastly, what il STATED To mo il il,
in an abstract sense, simply All-of.uA
In practice il 10 only . little group OF
men chosen in . very hap-haxard way by
the Majority-of.us, to perform certain ser-
vices for All-of-us. They arc paid by AL
of-us, with the intention that their work
shall be equally beneficial to All-of-ua
II they use their time or power for per-
sonal or political advantages, then Al-of-
rs are paying for work beneficial TO only
Some-of-us. But Those-0f-us who receive
the benefit are, to certain degree, paying
for what We get, % We can cancel those
out, aud We have left that Some-of-us are
paying for labor beneficial TO Others-of.
rs, while receiving NO benefit from it
themselves.
Applying this reasoning to political
parties, We have that when the Democrats
are in power, through their appropriation
Of the sp0ils, they force the Republicans
into paying to keep them there; and when
the Republicans are in power, rice versa.
This is indeed an absurd state OF things,
and not IN accord with the intslli-
gence and civilization Of this nineteenth
century. The only way We can expect to
obtain q moro efficient and moral civil |
service is by thorough and practical 70
form; and We all know that the only true
and lasting reform is that which every
ono begins within hlmself.
A STROLL THROUGH LONDON
WITH DICKENS.
By MISS NAY X. TOMAS.
THE good, the gentle, high gifted |
ever friendly noble Dickens, every
nch OF him an Honest Man. exclaims
Carlyle, and We applaud the senti-
nent.
Could We ask q better guide for
my long stroll through these streets
han Dickens, who has lived in Lon
lon from = boy, and always loved
t. streets! ! believe no other writer
4 fiction ever took such q real and
owing interest in the world about
lin, and certainly no one has better
described certain portions Of 1t.