Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-28
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.

For the nrst time since the enactment OF the
civil service law and establishment of the
commission q few Congressman have mustered
the bravery to attempt the abolition of the
commission and the virtual repeal OF the law
by an amendment to the legislative appropria-
ton bill. striking ont the appropriation for the
enforcement Of the law. The way has been
paved for this by Mr.. Frank Hatton, the editor
of the Post whose attacks on the commission
have been annoying if not disastrous.
to that body, and have resulted in
an investigation that, at the least,
has not done the trio any good. "Mr. Hatton's
one virtue Is his frankness," remarked one OF
his acquaintances to me the other day. The
low estimate placed on the great EDITORS moral
ity was Immediately resented, but surely the
only virtue of the Post in its discussion on the
civil service law is its frankness, though it
would probably assert that this is mere mat
ter of opinion. The time is past, however, for
argument on this question. The long and the
short of the argument of the opponents Of
permanent civil service based on merit is that
office should be the reward of party success
that is for those who can get office. The work
OF the Government is a minor consideration.
Government Is not to enhance and conserve the
prosperity of the people. but merely for the use
Of the party, and a very small portion of the
party, in power. A business man who would
conduct his business on the principle urged by
ruptcy at railroad speed.
Must Stand by the System.
THE "spoilsmen" are right in some things,
however. The commission is useless. The
schoolboy examination is foolish as well as
useless. The heads of'departments and chiefs
of bureaus should be responsible for the char
acter and conduct of the people who do the
work under their direction. and should make
&l, 1o,r oh nuid da h
solutely for the retention of faithful and eff
cent persons. and for the removal Of the oppo-
site kind. 1t should be made crime to remove
faithful or capable persons from any position
at the whim of the power above or for the
purpose Of making place for another
understood that the employed have rights
as serious and substantial as the employer.
The machinery for the accomplishment and
operation of this system is simple and easily
constructed. This present attack on all that
we now have of thar machinery is one of the
last throes of those who would prostitute the
Government OF over 60, ,0O0.0OO Of people to the
uses of a few managing party politicians, and
only handful of them in Congress or out
of IL will dare to beat retreat. The majority
will be forced by public opinion to stand by
and perfect the reform system. and the friends
of this system while they should be alert, need
not be alarmed.
Mitchell Makes Himself Immortal.
INHILE few members OF the House argued
for a return to an old and vicious system
Of making appointments, in the Senate Mr..
Mitchell really made himself immortal by
powerful argument in favor Of the election of
Senators by popular vote, and of the abolition
of secret executive session. This was all the
more remarkable on account of the source
from which 1t came. Mr.. Mitchell was for
years lobbyist, and his election to office on
more than one occasion was asserted to be due
to corporation influences. Those who have
formed an estimate Of the man in the light of
these reports would have expected him to be
the last person in the world to advocate the
election of Senators by a body so difficult to
manage and purchase as the people. believe
Mr.. Mitchell IS the FIRST senator to advocate
such step. His speech was fearless. honest
and sincere. There was nothing in it that
with the tone of honest conviction. Toprevent
Senator Mitchell from winning all the laurels
some other senator should now propose an
amendment abolishlng the Senate altogether.
The institution of two houses of parliament
with president to sit in judgment on the acts
of both, is simply an expression of a conviction
is too dishonest and too imbscile to be trusted.
The president may be of use as part OF the
executive machinery of the government, but
he should not have the power to vitiate the
acts of Congress. But most of the representa-
tives of the people probably recognize the i'm
portance of having as many offices as possible,
places will be decreased.
Bnyard in the City.
7 SAW Mr.. Bayard, of Delaware, walking
down the avenue the other day. He is
living example Of the evanescent character of
fame and position. Upon the walls Of his
house, on Massachusetts, avenue terrace, are
big pla cards bearing the words, For Rent"
and the ex-senator and ex-member of the Cab
met looked himself as though he were for rent
to anybody who would take him on a short or a
long lease for almost any public purpose. 1t
must be somewhat melancholy reflection for
those public officials who make SO much of
their positions to see the Indifference Of the
general public here to the coming and
Dered are those who were altogether or nearly
assassinated. The old theater where Lincoln
was shot, the house where he died, the old res
idence where Seward was stabbed, the aisle IN
the old Senate chamber where Sumner was
struck down by the bludgeon of Bully Brooks.
the spot in the Baltimore and Potomac station
where Garfield fell. are always of lively inter-
est. Guiteau and Booth are well remembered
as are their victims. Must one, then, kill or be
killed. or be forgotten? Except as possible
candidate for nomination in 1892. Cleveland is
as though he had never been. The names of
his Cabinet can hardly be recalled. Those who
blaze one day are extinguished the next There
are men in this city who few years ago were
United States Senators and United States
Judges who are now little more than genteel
tramps, not known nor wishing to be known.
$50
He Drinks n Cocktail and Swenrs on.
TWO former officials of the Government,
cronies in their more prosperous days, met
here recently. One had gone West and made
small stake, o very small one. The other drIfted
into the financial doldrums, and became
hanger-on among his old friends and usually in
the revivfying atmosphere of the bars. The
%Ia;-
fashion of their kind, the more prosperous one
furnishing the kopecks and the other accept
ing the hospitality with bountiful capacity. At
a late hour the seedy one assisted his we'll
dressed friend TO bed. butwa unable to re-
move either his boots or his trousers. Keeping
vigil by the side of the bed. whose occupant
talked of bacchanalian scenes, but was con-
scious of nothing, the one of tnreadbare coat was
seized with thrifty longings, and without ado
and without one pang he there exchanged his
old, greasy, tattered coat and vest for the al
most new ones of his former associate in fat
offices under Uncle Sam, and left his friend to
his fancied bacchanals. The seedy one has not
the cast-off garments of his friend, which were
worse than his had ever been in his most dire
distress. They would not fit him anyway. He
had not sufficient funds left to purchase new
suit. He sent for a cocktail and then for some
other old friends, and succeeded in borrowing
enough to buy a secondhand suit. He then
swore off. The betrayal Of his confidence
broke his heart, and he will never again have
hankering for reyelry. E. W. L.
TO GO OVER THE FALLS.