New-York tribune., 1905-07-11
WARNS AGAINST GRAFT.
Mr.. BONAPARTE SPEAKS.
Tices Threaten TO Make Nation
Political SOdom, He Says.

Baltimore July I0.-Charles J. Bonaparte
Secretary Of the Navy. was the principal speaker
az the session Of the Christian EndeaEor Con-
vention here this afternoon His subject was
Pure Politics and Religion" and he sounded
warning against corruption Of ali kinds in pub
&c life. lie said in part:
The underlying evil in the ADMINISTRATION Of our
hoes are TOO often held BY dishonest too often
g&-nse % eishonest means 100 otten Used + LoT al
eg majority OF even any large number OF our Ut et
1,Ii1c properly OF IN any way cause pententiartes
70 yaWn for them Such incidents are noseS, noe :;
may be doubted whether the proportion Of down.
rght thieves among the peoples servants b y sTest
bulk OF Americans IN public employ wisn l aia , IN
So @ t - 90 IIer GUY, 5o5 1gS CONFUSION OF ideas
what Is their duty makes The oes5 =. str ose,r,
-rs1-1,se q neglect i fa1a with n1panity in
theory as 10 The nature OF the position they hoIa.
the people: its duties are fixed by the. peoples
laws It's salaries are pad with the peoples money
n the words Of the court OF t4e reS05S n n s -
sJrooe-rv Of he incumbent because Il belongs 70
,s T.s rs s pSeeIsration Of organic principles
1rssxed 10 ths instrument creating the government
ofaces are declared 70 be the trustees Of the pub
ls The sane ossgasfio3 aseessTg s,s sPphes go 70
suTbor1zed 5y thai instrument IS a public trust
created for rhe public benefit.
While. however. few deny haty and openly the
ideally contTadicted every day and in all parts Of
the Union; for seYenty-ive years we have per-
uaitteo our oraces 10 De treated as mere loot IN
political warfare not as trusts belonging TO the
R9, DS. -, , losS . ii Inc " aS,,,
Offices can Be largely Increased by adopting latI-
duct. al absence OF prejudice is soon cultivated
sge1ast Ups -sugars the -Plugglng Of ooTpoTaS7
egpnerlistio names which cloak such bald terms as
civil Service reform. IN fact applies caustic TO
The very ulcer IN our politics, IN the application OF
se-y-ants The tvpcai american noIjticas as de-
veloped BY the spoils system Of politics. his
living 6y holding, when ne can get IT, public once
&c OF nm and his work We must thoroughly eradi-
cate from our minds and those of fellow
citizens the absurd and wicked notion that Offices
= VIII 80 far to render needless any further steps
n the Work OF purincation.
After defining the words pure" and ''politics"
Mr. Bonaparte continued:
Between the good and bad men in politics there
.s ana snoulc Dc warfare without truce or quar-
10 his fellow men fnds the iegra dation OF our
political life a hindrance in MS path. Il ne would
train youth shelter the unfortunate suppress vice
OF punish crime, he must deal with the boss
must sooner or later sweep them from his path
alone fer they viii not indeed t3ev cannot Ist
him alone Could he and those ike minded with
were doomed, for they would then have 10 Victims
EEhereon g prey, 20 dupes 10 do their work: by
the very law OF their being they are the natural
enemies OF every one who would lead others TO a
have made their trade So dangerous, SO odious
so nolsoTne. that against tt every force in our
reeted to-norrow, as it should be to-day
Because We cannot expect perfect government.
aSa 9at4 q 1t ths & people governed are also perfect
time the conclusion Is not infrequently drawn
that meantime any improvement IS hopeless, but
this IS q grave mistake No doubt. there never
has been, 50 there never viii be- a perfect gov
eTnnent Of men by men; but there have been. there
are now, much better goFernments than those We
live under IN the United States to-day and I be
-lese ma laeIe tlleh @ Deter goyeTnLnenTs now
tLo mere nan any Nhlcn the world mas KNOWN
II this country or any other The true lesson is
: asse-+tsT = roo-ei 80 o,fzZ 1ret5sn+ari1- q -
tical this is indeed true OF all governments.
5sat he friends OF good oVernnent in America ri
Cand especially in America OF today have 10 do
much less 10 devise methods for the efficient and
economical administration Of public affairs than
and forciby impress on the attention OF their Eel
ciples Of government and the daily manifest and
gTievous dershcrions OF duty on the part OF the
our aim IS 70 spare Americans shame at the gov
tr ~ our poit rom its basesf hands to root
out national vices. which threaten 70 make US,
sees such a goal before him can Wen ight on with
calm confidence, and any temporary reverse, any
public opinion are but inevitable incidents Of so
Tnonenrous struggle but hitting preludes 10 so
glorious & victory
Arthe afternoon session IN Arnory Hall, which
was presided over by General Secretary Won
ogden Togt, Henry B. F. Mcfarland, president
OF the Board Of Commissioners Of the District Of
Columbia delivered an address on "Responsi-
bniry for Public Opinion" z. Tennyson Smith.
OF Birmingham. England. weA known social
worker and political reformer, spoke on Prog
ress in Temperance Reform" Organized Labor
and the Church" was the subject Of a paper by
the Rev. Charles SueiZle, Of Chicago.
The convention was opened this morning by
the Rev. Dr.. James L. Hill, Of Salem, Mass who
presided The collective work OF the various en-
deavor societies and unions was considered, re-
sponses being made by many State and local
union officers Services and conferences were
held in several churches in the city.