New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-20
THE SCIiEGOIT JOST.IH

What a year this is Tor goats. Scaprgoa's.
The woods are full Of them. and the JallS ana
prisons are getting filed. I'm very early Times
one scapcgoat served for the whole Pcopi" or
Israel They garland"l the poor creature bound
lie legend d" For AzaZcl" on his horns and.
having with great ceremony laid on nm the
sins Of tie people. turned his head To The Will
dcrncSs and said "Shoo." 10 him. Then they
all took 10 SHINING again 50 as 10 nave fresh
load the next year for new goat. lui thrfe
is 40 record that in any one year more IMAM
one goat WAS necessary. Under Il Democratic
Administration we do things differently. Oar
ing the first year Of II. which i now drawing
10 Il somewhat melancholy and rrinor>cful close
W.. have had Il constant procession OF loaded
coats moving ont from every department of me
public service \ few days ago lligh Priest
John H. Fellows laid with suitable ceremonies
the sins Of Tammany on several goats ana
pointed them toward Sing Sing over III Brook
Nn they have laid The sins of the Democratic
party on rhc back of II Sunday school Sup"rin-
tcndcnt and healed him in the same direction.
over in Ncw-Jcrscy the Democratic party has
been trying for several weeks 10 lay lis ac-
cum,laied sins on some goats In the LEGISLATURE
but the goats are skittish and The High Iricst
is afraid 10 exercise his functions.
But whoever would have thought a year ago
that the whole burden Of al the lying the Dem
ocratic party has done for the last ten years
on the subject of the civil Service and all the
dishonest professions Of Grover Cleveland wOuld
be- laid on the back Of that eminent civil Ser
vice Rcformcr and political purSt Josiah Quin-
cy. Of Massachusetts? And Yet HAT Is the
spectacle now presented. " For Azazcl " is tied
10 the horns of Josiah. The High Muckamuck
and II score or more of Mugwump High Priests
have sOlrmnly laid hands on him and In concert
said "Shoo." He doesn't 9" Shoe" for cent.
ON the contrary, he turns mp with all his load
ON rs some sort OF special counsel In m inter
national arbitration case In which the High
Muckamuck Is arbitrator. And II * more than
intimatcd that he has been selected for this
place because Of his influence with the High
Muckamuck All of which Is not only highly
improper in a scapcgoat, but subycrsiye Of good
morals.
The case Of Josiah is a hard one He knew, OF
course. that the party had been engaged In
wholesale lying about Civil Service Reform for
many years. and that II could not be- Kept mp
after Mr. Cleveland was elected. So without
the slightest hesitation he gayly stepped into
the office Of Assistant Secretary Of State and
began choppng Off heads. not only In his own
but in all the other departments within bis
reach in such way as 10 disclose The cheat
in the shortest possible order. Having done
this necessary work he calmly resigned and
went back 10 Massachusetts. suppOSing lac had
rendered his party Il great and useful service
And he had Somebody had 10 do ii. ana 1t
was fit that II should be done by one ~ the
loulcst If the ltcfOrmcrs. He was probably the
only man among them who could coolly 20
into a meeting Of his fcllow-Rcformcrs and in
answer 10 their question. what does this
mean: Has there been wholesale lying In this
matter. and have we been chcat0lf" could say
with Il cynical smile: why, certainly. How
else could we hold the party tOgcthcr:" And
now they call him petty boss" 3" the infant
prodigy of Massachusetts" and other pet
names. and say the collapse Of Civil Service
Reform II I'll his fault.
But Josiah. Let The Tribune whisper word
in your ear. If You don't want 10 be- scape-
goat. and don't want 10 20 into The wilderness
because Of the party's sins-don't do II. You're
all right. Stay where you are and max" what
You can out of il. It's the opportunity of your