The Washington bee., 1889-07-20
REFLECTIONS.

or Quly auInoriHeu S'ohSIfest"u
al Committee desiring to reform
the present civil service which
works 80 much injustice to really
deserving people will visit incog
some of the Bureaus of the vari-
Gus Departments here where he
office holding aristocrat is pre-
sumed TO be at work ,arning his
salary, both or either of them
will discover that they have made
a mistake For they will find q
great many of these hard (OI
worked people promenading the
corridors, reading novels at their
desks, or busaly engaged discuss
ing among each other some
weighiy problem in politics or
religion. Some of these empty
ees are a destructive set, and it
all arises from the fact that the
property they destroy t'elongs 10
the government. If an ordinary
school child car not do the work
In less time ard twice ss satisfac-
tory as they do 1T, then education
is failure. The Government
supports in royal style large
clafs of men aud women who
could nor earn a decent living
outside of the Department in
which they rest daily from 9 am
to 4 p. M.
There are others who are indus
trious, capable, intelligent and
conscientious. There are q great
many more--who when they tBke
the oath of tfice make up their
minds to do as little work as pos
sible. Very few business men
pay their book, keepers, clerks,
statesmen and other employees SAL
aries ranging from $40 to $500
per annum, and yet these mer-
chants get a greater value for the
money expend' d, than the Gov
ernment has gotten or will get
from those who pledge themselves
only TO support the constitution
and draw the salaries. We are
in favur of a reform In the Civil
Service because the present law is
a glaring sham and fraud, in that
il operates against class of citi-
zeus who believe that common
sense ard practical experience
should always apply in the con
duct of the public business rather
than extreme learning upon mat.
tiers relating almost to distant
ages. The plan adopted by Supt
Porter of the Census Bureau, tt
determine The fitness of applicants
for positions under him is botf
sensible and reasonable, and is to
the present law what HypeIi ion i.
to satyr.
The very able remarks of judge
j. ID. Taylor, distinguished re.
publican member of Congress
from Ohio, on the subject of Civi
Servioe express our own view
fully. We have the utmost con
tempt for shsms and sham re
formers. The people who ar,
being benefited by this law am
who are in high glee becaus'
they believe they are lnvulnerable
contribute very little if anythi' 5
10 political campaigns except {
few paltry dollars to the genera
fund for necessary expenses, they
are thus placed in the position o
buying the right to hold offic,
just as people pay for, and oceup,
pews in our churches.
The great majority OF them ex
ert no perceptible influence upor
voters any where. When the,
lose their places they settle down
as a rule in this city, with a com
petence-some of them-insteat
OF returning TO the states from
whence they were appointed. /
the Republican party continues
to insult the majesty of the peopl,
by ke' ping in force this fool hu
which 'hrusts upon the taxpayer
of the United States a horde o
useless, grasping, conscienceles
hangers on whose acrobatic per
formances upon the change o
each administration serves t,
keep them in Office continuously
it will lose not only the respec
but the confidence of the mer
who placed it in power, anc
whose influence is sufficient te
relegate it to the place it occupied
six months ago.
The office holding aristocrac,
with rayarsibIo notitiooI on;n;on,