New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-09
SOME SIMPLE PEOPLE.

No doubt our able contemporary The New
| York Evening Post" is right I'm saying, concern
| ing the Presidents failure 10 lengthen his neces-
sarly rather long Message with discussion OF
Civil Service reform. that Ibis complete silence
| about il now. for the first time in twenty-five
years has strange significance to many
simple people, And we entirely agree with it
in thinking those who attach this strange sig
nificance to the omission simple people.
They are indeed, very simple people
Toany but simple people it would appear per-
fcctly natural that President should not
waste time in repeating declarations previously
made and lived up TO, just for the sake of put
ting them in Il twenty sixth message when he
had enough new subjects Of which there was
need of discussion to occupy all the space which
could reasonably be devoted to such a docu-
ment. Mr. Mckinley declared in the House Of
Representatives in 1890 that the merit system
was here TO stay, and that we should give our
attention now to improving the law whenever
lit can be done to the advantage Of the public
service" In the campaign of 1896 he an
nOunced himself in favor Of maintaining and
strengthening the merit system. and he gave re-
peatcd assurances to the same effect. Most
people who were not simple were disposed to
he was studying the Civil Service rules, TO await
his action, confident that 1t would be In the di-
rection Of strengthening the merit system. But
the simple people knew better. They saw clear
lv that his words were only meant for political
effect and that, once in office, he was now 60
ing to pull down the bars for the spoilsnen and
undo the work of a quarter Of a century. But
the simple ones one day took up the newspa-
pers with fear and trepidation TO see how he
had violated all his Civil Service pledges. and 10
their grieyous disappointment found that he had
more than kept them and instead Of pulling
down the bars had raised them higher than ever
and built new fence for the protection of the
merit system where others had left it open to
attack All Civil Service reformers had to con
fess that his orders marked the greatest adj
vance in the establishment of the merit system
! since the passage of the original law.
After that any but simple people would be
| likely to assume that the Presidents attitude on
| the subject was correct one and that when he
| had occasion to act on 1t he would probably do
so in good faith in the interests of the merit sys
| tem and that he might speak keep silence
about the Civil Service laws, according TO cir
| cumstances without arousing suspicion that he
| was about to prove false TO his pledges They
|
| establishing the merit system more securely
| warranted them in trusting his honesty and be-
| Eeving that he would speak when there was
| need, and that when he did not speak 1t WAS
| because there was at the moment nothing that
| needed to be said. But that Is not the way
| simple people look at 1t. Like DOgberry, they
| know that the President Is proved already TO
| be little better than false knave who means to
| betray his country, overthrow the gold stand
| ard wreck currency reform and re-establish the
| spoils system. and that all his acts In the con-
trary direction are only blind. Therefore, un-
less he keeps repeating his old promises In sea-
| son or out Of season. so that they know he Is so
| occupied that he cannot be doing anything else
| they are sure he is using his leisure to plan
some mischief 1t Is great thing for our lib
critics that we have simple people TO keep our
wicked President straight.
But for these simple people 1t might be
thought that the selection Of such men as Gen
eral Wood and Colonel Warng for work In
Cuba indicated the Presidents intention 10 fol
| low the spirit Of the merit system in dealing
with our new possessions. Ordinary folks would
take 1t for granted that in the supplementary
messages promised concerning the new territoi!