The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-04-24
An IMPORTANT QUESTION.
Continued from First Pase)

Continued from First Page.)
influence on elections. Who will say
that the soldiers and sailors in the
army have any corrupting influence
upon the politics Of the country?
Why should the influence Of the rail-
road employees be any different from
that of the employees Of the postal de-
partment, or the soldiers of the army?
The facts are that the political influ-
ence of large body Of men is never
so dangerously corrupting when in
the employ Of the government as
when in the employ OF private cor
poration. II you want a good ex-
ample, just behold the employees Of
the Minnesota Iron Company on the
Vermillion Range, and their influence
on politics in this county.
Why should not the Civil Service
Laws now governing the postal de-
partments be as effective in keeping
The railroads out of politics when
they become the property OF. the gov
eminent? Make the head Of the de-
partment appointive if you please and
accept no one else into the service un-
til he has passed his examination and
let the one with the best Qualitica-
tions, theoretical and practical and
who has proved himself attentive to
duty be promoted step by step. This
is the system now in vogue in the
postal department throughout the
country and in nearly all the depart
ments in Washington. 1t everywhere
works satisfactorily. Under this sys-
tenn we find the employees OF the post
Office transformed from a gang of
Ward HeelerS to some of cur most in
telllgent and conscientious citizens.
The railroad employees Of today have
the reputation Of being composed to
large extent of the most ignorant and
disreputable element in the commun
ity. What truth there is in this is
not my province here to discuss, but
certain it is that if the government
had control Of the railroads and oper
ated them under strict civil service
laws, the railroad employees will be in
telligent and Industrious; the rowdy-
ism now SO characteristic of part Of
them will disappear; intelligence, edu-
cation and sobriety being made con-
clifton precedent to obtaining even one
OF the lower positions, every employ
ment however mental connected with
the road will be honored and every
employe respected. The mems sue
cess will be dependent upon the cap
rice OF no master but only upon their
own merit and they will feel that
they have rights as we'll as RESPONSE
bllities, and that is the proper way to
make manly men. These facts are
certainly of the highest Importance
to the public and should be taken into
proper consideration when the ques-
tlon before us this evening is dis
cuSsed
1t is argued that the Civil Service
Laws do not and cannot recognize per-
sonal worth and peculiar ability in
the individual, that promotion comes
as machine work and each one must
wait his turn. This is to some extent
true. Yet our civil service laws are
In this respect a great improvement
upon the European laws, but even in
those countries genius in the employ
OF the government has always found
i is way to the front. True merit will
never under any conditions be given
the full and just reward as long as
the human heart remains filled with
Jealousy and hatred and other degrad-
ing passions. True merit does not
now receive it's just reward, and never
did. The meritorious men are not
now always the successful men. En-
ter the employment of the manufac-
turing company and you will find that
unless you have some special pulp
your promotion will be next to impos-
sible. You will find again and
again that worthless or inferior men
pass by you in the race for advance
ment. You commence to look into
the matter to ascertain the cause, and
you find that it is necessary in order
to be promoted to be related to the
foreman, or have some friend of your
father on the board OF directors.
Years ago | worked on the Pillsbury
A. Mill, Minneapolis | started in
with the hope and expectation Of re-
ceiving promotion based upon meri-
tOrlous services and did my work ac-
cordingly. 1t did not take me long
however to learn that there were as
good as, and better men than myself
who were old hands in the company;
had worked there for years, who had
never from the first day they entered
it's service, been advanced one step,
while almost daily new men and infer
lor Workmen were pushed to the
front in comparatively short time
Upon Inquiry | found that nearly all
of the successful men employed in the
mill were related to one another,
e'' her by blood or marriage. OF the
fifty or thereabOuts men, employed as
packers and nailers nearly every one
was related to the Packer foreman.
The same was the case in the other
departments. A railroad is run on
very much the same plan and if that
is true, individual merit will have far
more recognition under the govern
ment than under a private corpora
ton.
But whatever the result maybe, the
influence Of the railroad when a part
OF the government, can never be SO de.
grading as today; and in this respect
any system however bad, must be an
improvement on the present. Any one
who has anything to do with the pub
lie affairs knows the corrupting influ-
ence OF large corpora tions on Ameri-
can politics. The Hobbies Of the state
and national legislature swarm with
their agents, whose paid employment
and boosted occupation it is to buy
legislators and laws. Practical politi-
clans have learned to respect their
power and avoid their enmity. They
know it means political death to OBJ
pose them. Even poor alderman
knows that opposition TO privileged
cooperation is political suicide: not
that the people are not at all times
stronger titan the corporations, but
the peop'e can never act together.
while the corporations do. No pru-
dent man will now run for Office
when he knows he has the railroads
against him He knows that locc