Evening star., 1901-04-27
In ESSENCE Is THE new MORALITY
No Other Safeguard is So CON-
pIete and Efficient.
AN ECONOMIC FACTOR

pTeSSeu Will CcIldill DdSSdSc II oC-
| CURED during an audience between Henry
! the Third Of France and his cousin, the
Due de Guise. while the latter was urging
the formation of great holy union to meet
and combat the growing forces of the HUI
guenots. The king was disposed to feel safe
because Of the forces he had at his COM
| mand but the duke replied that "Men are
visible, paipable, mortal. You can meet,
attack, subdue them; and when they are
subdued you can subject them to trial and
hang them. But ideas you cannot oppose
in that way, sire. They glide unseen; they
penetrate; they hide themselves especially
| from the sight of those who would destroy
them. Hidden in the depths of the SOUL
they there throw out deep roots. The more
you cut off the branches which inprudentIy
appear, the more powerful and inextirpable
become the roots below. An idea sire is a
young giant which must be watched night
and day; for the idea which yesterday
! crawled at your feet tomorrow will dis
pose of your head. An idea sire, is a spark
| falling upon straw. There is need of good
| eyes to discover the beginning of the con-
| iagration; and this is why, sire, millions of
watchers are necessary. 1t Is in order to
provide for and direct that watchfulness
| that l propose to your majesty that you
| appoint chief for the holy union"
This Is a truth that the spoiIsmen over
| looks and the advocate of the merit sys-
| tenn forgets. The former thinks that If he
can choke on the appropriation in Congress
| or IN the state legislature, or if he can Sc
| cure some modification of the rules or the
| appointment of a commissioner unfriendly
to the reform. he can effectually defeat the
! movement; and the latter at times feels
| disposed to agree with him.
Cannot Be Defeated.
A little reflection must convince us that a
| reform founded upon the principles of right
| and Justice cannot be defeated by such
! means 1t may be given temporary set
| back, but ideas, such as are involved in
| the merit system, cannot thus be perma-
nently defeated, and all history offers proof
! In corroboration. We are now beginning IN
| realize that in this generation, as never be-
| fore we are face to face with two stand
| ards of morality-the standard of the small
] er social group and that of the larger So
| cial aggregate
The merit system, in its essence, IS the
new morality. 1t places the public sood''
! apoVe All else; above personal interest;
above factional and partisan interests,
| Until our people realize that 'the newer
| morality demands that men should place
! the public good above all other consii era
tons, the merit system cannot be estab-
| lfshed in its entirety and for all time There
| must be no cessation of effort until the
| people realize. and act upon thei reaIiza-
I ton. that the good of a part must, IL nee
| essary, be sacrificed to the good of the
| whole; that love Of party must be subordi-
| mated to love of country; that loyalty to
| neighbors and friends, devotion of wife and
| children even. must be forgotten if the pub
| TIC Weil-belng is endangered, or If it exacts
| the sacrifice
| Slow but Sure.
| The ethical development of our time ia
| making for the establishment of the merit
system. slowly perhaps as
That growth which some perchance deem sleep
Wherewith the steadfast coral stems uprise;''
solidIy until it
| Spreads a speck Of green
| Into pleasant island in the seas
| "nere mid tai palms, the caneroofed house IL
| And wearted men shall sit at sunsets hour
| Hearing the leaves and loving Gods dear power"
| 1t Is not alone the ethical development
| of our time. however that Is making for
| the merit system, but likewise the political
| when our national government was found
ed there was profound distrust Of lone
| man power. Our ancestors had suffered
| greatly at the hands of George III in the
| irresponsible exercise of his unrestrafned
| and unregulated power. They overlooked
| the fact that the trouble did not lie in the
| concentration Of power In the executive
| but in the frresponsibility of hereditary
power and the entire lack of adequate safe
| guards. A government of checks and bal
| aDces was established. premium was put
upon indirection, and responsibility was d.
| vided up among a large number of fire.
| quently elected officials, subject to the un-
! written law Of rotation in office.
| Followed the Precedent.
Our state governments followed in the
footsteps of our federal government, and
our municipalities followed our states Eff
ficiency was at a discount. and 1t has taken
| us more than a century to realize that
| efficiency is not to be secured through d.
| vided responsibility. We appreciate now
| the need of a strong executive and the
| tendency Is toward a responsible Presi-
dent a responsible governor and, above
all, responsible mayor. Congressional
| action Is In the direction of placing larger
| powers and duties in the hands of the
| President. and likewise Of the state legis-
| latures to repose more power in the gov
| ernor, and practically all the new charters
of the past decade have been modelled on
| the principle of concentrated responsibility
| in the hands Of the mayor.
This power. however, should not. and. in
| fact, cannot be, efficiently utilized for the
public welfare unless adequately safe
| guarded, and experience is rapidly demon
| strating that there is no safeguard so COM
| plete and efficient as the merit system.
| ministratfon and appointment, without civil
| service reform, and we have a dangerous
| situation. Protect these same powers by
| satisfactory civil service requirements of
| merit and fitness and good government is
not far off. Potent though the ethical and
political factors making for the establish
ment Of the merit system may be, they are
| Of comparative tnsfgnifcance with the eco
nomic forces tending In the same direction.
| Municipal Development.
| 1t is not necessary In this connection to
refer in detail to the great growth Of gov
ernmental functions. Confning ourselves
| solely to municipal development. we see
| that city government is growing in extent
| and force. Every year 1t requires the ser
vices OF more competent officials. When
city government represented an expenditure
| Of $40, 900 per annum, 90 cents per capi-
| ia, as 1t did in Philadelphia in the year
| 1900, it made but little difference to us how
| 1t was spent how those who spent it
| were appointed. When it represents $685.
| 100000, or 500 per capita, as 1t does now, it
becomes of vastly greater Importance
| There has been an unconscious recognition
of this and an equally unconscious, but
none the less certain, establishment of the
merit system a consequence
Taking the Philadelphia bureau Of sur
! veys as an example, We find that in 1900
there was practically nothing correspond
Ing to it, unless We so regard an item Of
$500 for regulating streets" and further
| item of $1.65O for Center Square improve
| ments." In 1899 the funds available for