St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-02
CURTAIL ms POWER.

If the spirit of the times is not mlsln-
terpreted il is tending strongly toward
curtailment of the power of politics
The people have long felt that the poit-
icianS have too much to do with the
management of public affairs, and they
too little. 1t is asserted, and with ap-
parent good reason, that tie Republican
party remained long i'll power through
a presidential system of doing patron
age. The people became weary of this
practice. and the civil service law came
into existence. This law met the
public demand to some extent, but the
public system is such that the law is to
q large extent farce. The president
has found means of defeating the ends
of the law, and other presidents can do
the same thing. President CLEVELAND
came the nearest OF any president to
carrying it out in its spirit, and by his
integrity in that regard he lost many
political friends. Many of the thinkers
OF the country believe the power of
the politician lies to the largest extent
in the presidential reelection system.
These people would have the constitution
so amended that man could hold but
one presidential term. There are, no
doubt. two sides to the proposition: but
there seems to be some good reasons for
their view The most prominent reason
is the one most apparent, and that is
that the president would have no per
sonal motive to deal in patronage. and,
feeling that he had reached the acme of
political honor, he would naturally seek
to crown that with as much glory as
possible by making the wisest appoint
ments. There would be less opportunity
for intriguing politicians. it Sc ems quite
clear, and the people would have more
to do with the nomination ana election
of the man of their choice. The people
seem to quite generally desire that the
president shall be elected by popular
vote. Under the electoral college system
many times the Democratic candidate
for president has received large popu-
lar majority. but failed to receive
majority in the electoral college. The
will of the people was thus defeated.
The prospect is fiattering that our
system of electing United States sena
tors will be changed soon, so that they
will be elected by vote of the people,
This might be a good change, yet it is
not altogether clear that it would.
The theory of our forefatherS was that
the senator's not owing their election
directly to the people, would be in posi-
ton TO be conservative, and hold in
check the other body when it was im-
PEELED to action by some popular and
unwise clamor. However, many Of the
senatorial candidates secure their elec-
lions by controlling the election of legis
lators, so that they are as much under
the influence of popular clamor as
though elected by direct vote. The
philosophers seem to care little whether
the senators are elected by the legls-
latures OF by popular vote. They argue
that if the senators were limited to one
term they would to greater extent be
elevated from the mire of politics, and
in more complete position to be con-
servative. There are likely to be some
changes in the next few years i'll our
system of officeholding, and discussions
OF these subjects are timely.