Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-11
HOWARD OF ALABAMA His Appearance Creates Con-
 siderable Comment, CIVIL SERVICE REFORMERS
Given a Lesson-Republican Employees, Re tained Under the Rule, Give Out
 Information.

Washington, Dec. S.-(Special Corre- spondence.) .)-Among the members that fit in and out the corridors of the house of representatives is a tall, clean-shaVen man; his hair as black as the ravens coat, is long and hangs in profusion over his standing collar; his Prince Albert coat, glossy from constant wear, is but toned close to his slender form; his trousers bag at the knew. but their owner doesn't seem to mind it. This is his first term in congress. and if the readers of the State Herald could follow him as he goes to the cloak room to deposit his wide wool hat some morning before congress convenes they would notice several fin- gers pointing him out, and then, if they could get close enough to hear whisper emanatng from the lips above the ex- tended fingers they would hear: Who? The tall, bushy headed one? Why, that's the author of If Christ Came to Con- gress'-that's Howard of Alabama"
 A Lesson to Civil Service Reformers.
 If practical illustration were needed to prove the utter folly of the civil ser vice the recent performance of three em- ployes of the postoffice department, which resulted in their discharge on Sat urday last, is amply sufficient. The three men were republicans, who had dTeen in the employ of the government for num- Der of years. kept in their places by vir- tue of having been placed under the civil service. All held good paying positions, the chief offender, William w Hill of Mississippi being assistant superintend- ent of the free delivery system of the postoffice department. The men had been giving information to republican con- gressmen as to the working of matters in the first assistant ster-gener- ars office. and also charged that fund had been raised in that office for cam paign purposes in Ohio in the recent cleo tion.
 No sensible man in business would think of retaining in his employ a clerk who was his enemy, or a clerk who was informing his competitor of all the de- tails of his affairs, yet this humbug of a civil service comDels democratic ad- ministration to retain in it's employ thousands upon thousands of men whose greatest joy is to witness its failure to carry on the business of the government.
 Stand out in front of one of the news paper offices here on a night when the bulletins announcing the result of an election are being thrown upon a screen, and listen at the cheers that go up when a republican gain is announced and hear the faint applause when a democratic gain is shown; then if an inventory was taken Sof the immense crowd, numbering many thousand men, it would be found tnat tWo-thirdS or those who were cheer- ing and hurrahing for the victory won by the republicans hold positions under a democratic administration and them selves and their families are kept in Washington by the kindness of the men whose defeat they are gloating over.
 Away with such humbug. May the day come when the statute that provides for its lawfuiness is stricken from the books, and an administration, whether democratic or republican, be allowed to surround itself with it's friends, that success may crown its efforts to economi- cally administer the affairs of govern ment.