The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-06
CLEVELAND'S MAN BENEDICT
ALSO RECEIVES a CAsTIGATION FOR
HIS "DIRTY WORK"
Senators Discuss the Census Bill and
Join i'm the War On the Civil
Service Regulations.
special to The indianapolis Journal.


Congress to-day. He was accorded recep-
tion such as is rarely the fortune of sea-
soned favorite to receive. He had his time
extended three times and the thirty minutes
| granted him at the start were strung out
| TO an hour and forty-five minutes. During
! all that time he held the pleased attention
of both sides of the House and the news
! paper correspondents paid him the unusual
compliment of sitting through the entire
| speech and in meeting afterward TO discuss
the new "spellbinder' Speaker Reed, who
had surrendered the chair TO Mr.. Hopkins,
| of Illinois, fingered q moment to how
the Indiana man began his maiden effort.
| He stayed five minutes and then he leaned
his huge bulk against the clerks desk and
remained there an hour and quarters.
| His face throughout wore an expression of
cherubic pleasure and satisfaction. 1t is
with irrepressible joy that Mr.. Reed wit
| nesseS the birth of Il new House attraction
| and he recognized in Mr.. Landis a charac-
| ter to his liking. There is not another man
| among the 357 Representatives. that he would
| listen to as long as he did to Mr. Lands,
unless he was chained to his chair
The theme Of Mr.. Landis's speech was
civil-servce reform lie took the off side
| of the proposition and several times during
| the course of his remarks he had the whole
| group of 'reformers' on his back at once.
| Messrs Johnson of Indiana, Moody of Mass
sachusetts, Brosus of Pennsylvania, HefZ
derson of Iowa and others pounded away
at him, but from start to finish he never lost
his head nor his temper. His good nature
was infectious. His delivery was pleasant
and his treatment of the subject so free
from rant and venom that even those who
differed from him were charmed. Mr. Bros
| lus, who had charge of the "tme." and who
| is the most stalwart upholder of the civil
service law as it is, was so captvated by
| the young Indiana orator that he let the
| hah-hour extension run over twenty min
utes. He apologized by saying that he was
| so interested that he forgot to look at his
! watch. The Democrats deserted their seats
entirely and flocked over to the Republican
side while the Republicans closed in around
the speaker. Nobody went away who was
| within earshot when Mr.. Lands took the
center of the stage until the curtain was
| rung down on him.
| A REFORMER OF REFORMERS
Mr.. Landis insisted that he was not an
enemy Of the civil-service system; that he
believed in the principle Of civil service,
and he must be classed as one of the re-
formers, a real. sure enough reformer, one
who wanted the pure article, stripped of
sham, false pretense and Mysteries He was
| for the publication of the law not it's re-
| peal, and he wanted a system so clean and
| so honest that it would make us all better
| citizens and not breed hypocrisy. Mr.
| Lands directed the burden of his remarks
to an exposure Of the fallacy of the merit
| system as it has been practiced under
| Democratic rule, and endeavored to prove
that the extensions in the classified serv-
ice ordered by former President Cleveland
were cloaks to protect thousands and tens
Of thousands of Democrats after they had
been appointed in the place of that number
of Republicans ruthlessly discharged from
government employment in gross and
fragrant violation of the letter and the
| spirit of the law. He quoted copiously from
the private record of Albert Baker conf
Dental clerk to former Public Printer Ben
| edict to establish his charge that that
great establishment was vast butcher
| shop for the massacre of Republicans 500
Of that political faith having been saugh-
! tered because they were Republicans and
| for no other reasons His indictment Of
! Benedict and Baker and the evidence
massed in support of it was certainly inn
pressive and after the speech Mr. Brosius
and other reformers did Mr. Lands the
| honor to say it was the worst blow they
| had eyer heard.
In closing, Mr.. Lands stated that the
| greatest objection he had to the present
| civil-service law now construed and en-
| forced was that it discredited party poll
tics. Il believe in political parties" said
| Mr.. Lands. "They are the standing armies
| of peace in a republican form Of govern
| ment. They Nations surest de-
fense and protection against fads and
crazes and political Mysteries believe in
the Republican party first, and after that
/ believe in the Democratic party Cap
plause on the Democratic side) BY the
| Democratic party do not mean the BRYAN
] party. l mean the Democratic party we
had before its name was captured and ap-
! propriated by the tambourine players and
serpentine dancers who went crazy over
the cross of gold and crown of thorns at
| the Chicago convention. applause on the
| Republican side) 1 mean the old Demo-
| cratic party that traced its traditions back
to the sage of Monticello and the Hermit
age. do not mean that party whose most
conspicuous representative is a candidate
on a sure financial guarantee in time OF
| political and the same basis di-
| vides with prize cattle and the wild child
| from Borneo the admiration of county fairs
/ in time of political peace. loud applause)
! Political parties We're coincdent with the
birth of the Republic. fundamental with the
| Constitution. and it required century OF
national existence to produce an element
composed mostly of golf-players and cdu-
Gated gentlemen in affiuence who talk with
their astral selves and who come forward
and sneer at men who take an interest in
| party politics.
Il am friend of the party worker at
home while candidate, and 1 do not pro-
! pose to turn my back on him away from
home when l am not candidate | like the
party worker--1 like him because ne is
| bright, keen, active and courageous [ like
| him because he represents. in Indiana at
| least. the best brain, the best blood the
| best enthusiasm and the best citizenship In
| the community in which he lives He "a
sneered at by professional ctvil-service
retormers as placeman,' spoken OF an
though he were bad man and a DANGEROUS
citizen. Such an imputation is unfair, an
! just and outrageous Parties being essential
TO a republican form OF government, The