The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-01-11
The Wessel1er.
AN ARRANT HUMBCG AND A
DANGEROUS SUGGESTION

That arrant humbug, civil service, is
being warred upon in the congress by
a part Of the republicans. But for
that party this British system would
have never been foisted upon this coun-
try. We never approved of it, but have
uniformly denounced it as anti-Ameri-
can, anti-democratic. Why should any
portions of officials have life tenures in
office any more than president or the
cabinet or the foreign officials? If 1t is
to be d life time business let the British
system operate from highest to lowest.
The queen holds for life and so hould
the American president If the life ten
ure theory is to prevail. There are
some 1870, 600 officials under the federal
government. Why should these favor
ed ones out of 70, 900, 900 be retained in
office through administrations and gen
CREATIONS to the exclusion of all others
equally as meritOrious and capable?
In fact it rs coming to light that the
civil service men do not render really
as efficient service as the new men
who are not OF the perpetuals. But if
they were turn about is fair play. In
a republic like our own the interests of
abe people are better served and pro-
tected by a change i'm officials than by
an army Of office seekers sucking for
life. The statesmen of former genera
lions were not 50 namOr6d Of this Brit
fish system as to hold that a democratic
administration must be supported, serv-
ed and manned by officials of the Op-
position. No captain would he willing
TO fight with his regiments manned by
officers of the enemy. But whether the
arguments urged for the British sys-
tenn as applied in this land of the free"
be strong or weak, the fact remains
that ut is to a great extent a miserable
sham as administered Already, after
a few years trial, the new secretary of
the treasury finds the civil service fell
bows absenting themselves for two
months each year and yet drawing pay
for full time, thus getting from the peo-
pile two months wages to which they
are not fairly or legally entitled, as they
contracted 1OT d years WOIh. LII SyS-
tenn is falsely based and badly worked.
1t is a miserable fraud as we'll as a
wrong. The St. Louis Republic, dem
ocrat, thinks if a change is not made,
the death sentence upon the entire
plan will be pronounced. The following
is timely an9 sICVs more of the fraud
ulent character Of the foreign system
imported among a free people
I'm announcing a few days ago a re-
ductiOn in The salaries of the large
number of clerks in the treasury de-
partment who have become so old that
they can no longer do full work, Score
lary Gage dealt a hard blow to the life
tenure plan so Stoutly cOntended for
by the so-called civil service reformers.
The secretary's action is, of course,
i'm the line Of establishing a civil pen
sion list, which in the end Will be as
heavy a burden upon the country as
army pensions.
BY no stretch if the doctrine of graf
dtude can it be claimed that the govern
ment owes clerks and other civil en-
.ployes anything beyond the
tion which is paid with a certainty and
"a regularity that cannot be depended
upon in any commercial or other bust
ness pursuit. 1t is, therefore, mott only
un-American in principle to establish a
civil pension list-and that is a logical
outgroWth of the merit system"-but
1T is an outrage upon the tax payers
You see how this vile plan works?
First, you see men put in places of the
government and kept there Indefinite
ly. Next; they being ~intrenched, feel
their oats" and take holidays amount
-. Ill +;D,o
for which they engaged, and still re-
ceiving full pay. Then comes the at
tempt to pension these perpetual teat-
suckers at the expense of the people.
1t is not enough to rob the tax payers of
hundreds of millions of dollars to pro-
vide for rascals who in fraud draw PEN
sions, but the army of clerks must be
pensioned too after drawing a for de-
-cades. The very suggestion is vile and
not to be tolerated for an hour. This is
only another indication of the steady
trend towards a monarchy-the con
slant aping of foreign ways and prac-
tices. 1t shows hat the republican
politicians are now 50 completely sat
urated with the national" idea and af-
fected by the strong government idea,
that they lose sight of the people, of the
real fundamentals of government, of
she great principle enunciated by
President Lincoln (but borowed) that
ours is indeed a government of the
people and by the people and for the
people. Let no patriot stand for a mo-
ment the suggestion of p~ensioning the
federal officials.