Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-08-05
REFORM UNDER HARRISON,

REFORM U NDE1S 1IA ts1SlSON,
 The effort that ;a being put forth in some quarters to make it appear thet the hope from President Harrison than from his enocratic-mugwump predecessor is not particularly complimentary to the president, neither is thore any evidence that he so regards it. His record since his inauguration is the best evidence that there is no foundation for steh claim. When Mr Cleveland went into office on 1 the 4th of March, 1885, he found every one of the fifty thousand fou1th-class post offices manned by republican. From March until July 15, 1885, however, only | about four thousand postmasters were ap- pointed. When Mr Harrison came into office on the 4th of last March he found ten thousand republican postmasters still on the list From March to July 15, 1889, there were thirteen thousand repub- lican postmasters appointed, beating Mir Cleveland's record by nine thousand. In no case has any excuse been offered for
 
 which is at least creditable to the administration The same percentage of removals has gone on ill the minor po- sitions of the service where it has been possible to escape or evade the provisions of the civil service law, and the brutal frankness with which democratic clerks have been told that there was nothing against them but their politics has been proof strong as holy writ that civil ser vice reform is regarded as humbug un- der this administration We are not dis posed to find fault with that fact, for we are of the firm opinion that the adminis- tration, from tuerrt to foundation, should be in the hands of it's friends who have the largest interest in making it most suc- cessful in all its care of government de- tails. Had Governor Cleveland paid less heed to the mugwumps and put ill office those who had upheld and battled for democratic principles he would not now be practising law ill New York city. Leav- ing aside republican poodle and the meth ods characteristic of Quay and Dudley we believe there was no influence so potent in defeating Cleveland as this recognition of the fact that he was an ardent advocate of the mugwump theory of civil ser vice reform. Many democrats Were of opin- ion that if republicans were to be retained ill salaried positions under democratic administration it made little Iiffarapca w hn of bo had cf ernment. Others of them, disgusted at the kind of democrats chosen to feed at the public crib, lost interest in Cleveland's success, and some even went so far as to vote for his opponent. It is to avoid similar dangers i'll 1892 thatHarrison and the repub- Ecan managers have set about putting his administration in the hands of its friends, and that, now that the mugwumps are not to be reckoned with, he is going back on his promise that "only the interests of the pnblic service should suggest removals from public office" And ill doing this Benjamin Harrison proves that he is a bet ter politician than Grover Cleveland.
 Civil service reform has nothing more to
 
 than it had at those of his predecessor. It has, indeed, very much less; in fact, there is no future for it. It has had nothing but kicks and cuffs from this administra- tion, and unless all signs fail there will be nothing but memory of it three years hence. The execution of the civil service law has been the most powerful agent in creating lack of interest in the reform.
 Under Harrison's administration civil service reform is dropping into innocuous desuetude, and on its tombstone will vet be written this epitaph ''Civil service reform; mugwump hobby nurtured dur ing the reign of Grover Cleveland and killed during the administration of Ben jamin Harrison. Peace to it's ashes rest to it's forgotten embers" 7"