The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-12
Conference of Representatives Last
Night, at which the Matter Was
Discussed at Length.
SEVERAL RADICAL SPEECHES
URGING PROMPT UNCONDITIONAL RE-
PEAL OF THE MERIT SYSTEM.
Committee Finally Appointed to Pre-
Features of the Present Law.
Special to the indianapolis Journal.


WASHINGTON, Dec. 1.-THE conference
of anti-civil-service Republicans Of the
House, this evening, was enlivened by rich
and varied assortment of speeches, covering
every phase and feature of the opposition
Messrs. Faris of Indiana, Dorr of West
Virginia, Linney of North Carolina, Davi-
son of Kentucky and several others were
for the unconditional repeal of the pres
ent law Crumpacker and Lands, of In
diana, were for radical notifications in the
law, ''alOng lines of common sense as
they express it. Mr.. Stoll, who is for re-
peal, was absent, but is on the committee
appointed to draw up bill embodying the
composite views of the conference.
The dominant sense of the meeting was
against repeal, but strongly in favor of i'm
portant modification of the law. Innumera-
BILE suggestions as to how the system should
be changed were made and it became APP
parent that the work of capitalization
would have to be delegated to a committee
and one was named, consisting of General
Grosvenor of Ohio, and Messrs. Hepburn
of Iowa, Pearson of North Carolina, Taw-
ney of Minnesota, Evans of Kentucky, Odell
of New York, and Steele of Indiana.
1t came out in the discussion that over
fifty bills on civil service had been intro
duced and referred to the civil-service COM
mittee. The conference committee was in
structed to take these bills and see what
there was in them and then draft one to be
submitted for Endorsement or amendment to
a subsequent meeting of the full compile
ment of "antis." The bill as then agreed
on will be brought before the civil-service
committee, which will be urged to report it
to the House and demand action thereon.
hot
the meeting a thrill by conveying the in
formation that he was satisfied, from
quiet, informal canvass of his colleagues.
that majority would receive this PROPOSE
ton in friendly spirit. 1t had been sup
posed that this committee had been made
up for the purpose of choking off attempts
to change the existing law. but this notion
appears to be erroneous.
The conference viewed with GOODNESS a
proposition to fight the appropriation for
the maintenance of the Civil-service Com
mission, the discovery having been made
that such a move would not prevent the
secretary of the treasury from assigning
clerks to attend to the work, and, in fact,
would not cripple its operations in the
least. The expression was freely made that
any such move would be dangerous, even
though it were possible for it to be effect
i've, as it might invite public sympathy for
the system.
General Grosvenor caused a futter by
stating that on his positive knowledge the
Civl-service Commission had called on
President Cleveland several times, two
years before he laid down his office, and
urged him to make the extension and reg
ulations that President Mckinley subse-
quently promulgated but that he had abso-
lutely refused to do so, holding that the ex-
executive had no authority for such action.
1t filed the general with sorrow to think
that President Mckinley should have
found authority to go further than Cleve-
land had dared to-
The conference committee which is au
thorized to prepare bill is a strong one.
Tt is not likely to propose a rash measure,
or one that the President would veto, if
Congress- should pass 1t.