The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-10
And Stand by the Law When the Final
Chance Comes to Wipe 1t on
the Statute Books.
MANY MEMBERS WISH CHANGE
BUT OTHERS ARE GLAD TO ESCAPE
HORDES OF OFFICE SEEKERS.
Little Comfort to BE Gained from APP
peaIs to President MckinIey--Su-
preme Court Decisions.
Special to the indianapolis Journal.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9.-The spoilsmen
have enacted their annual farce Once more
they have marched UP the hill only to march
down again. Once more they have rushed
into the breach against the merit system,
as applied to the civil service, only to rush
out again Unable to accomplish the re-
peal of the civil-service law, or even its
serious modification by direct means, they
try every year, with monotonous regular
ity, to cripple if not destroy the operation
of the law by the indirect means of refus-
ing an appropriation for the support of the
Civil-service Commission. They have tried
this at every session of Congress since the
law creating the commission was placed
on the statute books, and always with the
same result-defeat Many of the congress-
men who vote to withhold the money neces-
sary to the support of the commission would
be vastly disappointed if by any untoward
chance they should be able to accomplish
their object. "A few of them are in earnest,
really believeing that there should be a
''clean sweep" in the offices at every change
of administration, or at least whenever the
politics of the administration changes. The
majority of those, however, who talk against
the present civil-service law do so for home
consumption entirely They have constitu-
ents who are anxious to figure on Uncle
Sans pay rolls. They tell these constitu-
ents that if it were not for the civil-serv-
ice law they would be able TO get them
places, whereupon the constituents invegh
against the law and the statesmen promise
to try to wipe it off the statute books They
come here and make their protest. They
fail, as they expected to, and are glad of it..
Then they tell their constituents how hard
they worked to repeal the law or kill the
commission and send them their speeches to
prove it. But at heart they are glad to be
relieved of the opportunities of place
hunters Even with the law as it is, con-
gressmen have a great of their time taken
up by constituents who want government
jobs and but for the law Washington would
be filled with a bowling mob of office
seekers.
The enemies of the merit system have
been instant in season and out of season in
their denunciations of the law and of the
acts of the commission charged with the
duty of enforcing it. They have introduced
bills at every session of Congress since its
enactment for the repeal or modification
They have never succeeded yet in bringing
one of those bills to a vote. Probably they
never will until as Senator German said
in a speech on the floor of the Senate a
party pledged to the repeal of the law wins
an election. Failing in their attempts al
direct assault the enemies of the law have
sought to defeat it's aims by indirection.
Hence their efforts TO deprive the Civil
service Commission Of the means to carry
on its work The motion to strike out the
appropriation has always been carried in
the committee Of the whole house where
there is not a record vote, but it has al
ways been defeated in the House on a record
vote Last Friday the appropriation was
voted down in committee of the whole by
vote by tellers, 81 to 81, but when the yeas
and nays were taken on the proposition in
the House to-day the appropriation was
voted back into the bill by record vote
of 119 to So.
The path of the spokesman is rough. He
cannot repeal the civil-service law, he can
not modify it by legislation, he cannot de-
prive the commission of its appropriation.
President Mckinley has not issued the order
they hope for and if he should modify the
orders of his predecessors it is not likely he
will go so far as the spoilsmen desire He
voted for the law in the Forty-seventh Con-
gress and the Fifty-hrst When he he was
the floor leader of his party in the House
he declared when the spoilsmen were rail-
ing against the law that the merit system
had come to stay. It looks that way.
The director of the ports for Porto Rico is
not giving satisfaction, and it is limited that
he will be replaced by an Indiana man.
Senator Morgan is angry at the filibuster-
ing to put off vote on the Nicaraguan
canal bill, the excuse to-day being the i'll
ness of Senator Turpie. He smiled sardon-
ically when asked if he thought there was
a connection between Senator Turpies in
disposition and the meeting of Republican
Legislature in his State.
4. 3. Commons, of Union City, Ind, and
A. S. Helms, of Edinburg, Ind. were sworn
into the postal service to-day and will leave
Immediately for Cuba, where they will be-
come annexed to the postal force under com
mand of Major Rathbone, director of the
post Commons was postofice clerk sew
eral years and Helms was postmaster of
Edinburg for eight or nine years The ap-
pointments were secured by First Assistant
Postmaster General Heath who is always
mindful of federal necessity for just such
talent as Indiana is best able 10 supply.
e-
RESTORED BY THE HOUSE.
Mofiop fo Strike Our CiVfI-Sarx-gca