The Saint Paul globe., 1898-01-10
a CONGENIAL TASK,


The Republican party Of the nation
has found task most congenial to
its disposition and eminently suited TO
Its ability in the assault that it is now
making upon the civil service reform
system. The Clio b e has already
warned the public that this is no mere
diversion of an irresponsible body, but
a serious, well-concerted, determined
attack of the spoilsmen upon the great
est advance made in American politics
in the last half century. The mutter-
1ngs OF discomfort among the spoils-
men, which have been growing in vol
ume and intensity ever since the presi-
Dental election, now take clear form
and shape in the demand for the COM
plete destruction of civil service re-
form. We knew what this meant from
the beginning. The moment that lead
Ing Republicans, once supporters of re-
form, began to tell the country that
the system had been carried too far
and that it needed to be modified" it
was as clear as daylight that the cru
sade was under way. The hypocrisy of
the position could not deceive an in
fant In every case where they conde-
scended to furnish a bill of particulars
and mentioned specific features of the
law that, in their Judgment, should be
changed. it was found that to bring
this about did not require any action
by congress at all. Just as in the in
csta oh, CT
cited in connection with his own de-
partment, where the existing rules
have been, in his opinion, extended too
far, so in every case in which a criti-
clsm has been made it will be found
That the modification suggested needs
nothing but an order from the presi-
dent to bring it about 1t is not neces-
sary that congress do anything, but
Mr.. Mckinley, by scratch of the pen,
can put into actual operation every
change in the rules that has been sug-
gested as desirable short of the COM
pIete restoration of the old spoils sys-
tenn. That is what is wanted, and
therefore congress has been called in
to act.
1t is convincing exhibition of the
spirit and the ideas that animate the
Republican party Of today that this
is the sole department Of activity in
which it can find pleasure or bring it.
self to the carrying out of a definite
policy. We are told by its leaders that
financial reform is beyond hope be-
the u
1t, and no monetary scheme can be
forced through the senate No such
helplessness descends upon the party
when it is a question of getting rid Of
civil service reform. 1t goes ahead
with a rush, pushes impossibilities i'm
patiently to one side, scouts the difficult
ties that may present themselves in the
senate and forms its lines with enthu-
siasm and vigor for an assault upon
the only barrier that stands between
the nation and a return to the cor
rupt and debasing political practice
that prevailed for nearly twenty years
after the close of the civil war
Is the country prepared to allow this
to pass without protest? Has 1t for
gotten the suffering, the humiliation
and the colossal crime through which
it passed in order that reform might be
made possible? 1t was only, let us
remember, when the assassin's bullet
struck down president Of the United
States and when the mad act of his
craZed brain was traceable directly to
controversies over the bestowal of Of
fee, that the moral sentiment of the
nation was aroused; and it was be-
l;eved that a repetition had been made
forever impossible by taking the offices
out Of politics. SO unanimous was this
feeling that both parties bowed to it.
and only the venal and irresponsible
minority, which always creeps in, dar-
ed to lift a voice in favor of the old
regime that had gone out in bribery.
incapacfty, the degradation of the
public service and the deliberate muir
der of our chief executive. Was not
that price sufficient for us to pay?
Must we learn the same lesson over
again? Must we traverse that same
path to a similar or a more deplorable
crisis before we shall have stamped
out for all time to come the Infamous