The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1908-11-20

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4 tendent of the Industrial school. Are
| the present incumbents satisfactory!
4 Are these new men highly fitted to
discharge those duties? That IL moi
| the question. To the victor belongs
the spoils, means that 1t is more i'm.
portant for politician to pay his
ldebts with your property than to
lhave an office well administered. In.
cumbents may be capable but you
tempt those In authority to misuse
their power when you leave them
Subject to the insidious hidden pres.
sure which demands reward for poll
! tical service. An official may be en-
/ tirely satisfied with the administra-
tion of an appointive office, but how
do you expect him to resist the i'm
lportunities of a friend who helped
elect him and desires the same place?
/ The merit system demands an ap-
pointee shall serve the people Of the
Estate and not the party boss, upon
whose pleasure he has been depend
lent for retention. Turn the rascals
out, is not reflection upon political
| probity, but merely welcomes the OPP
lportunity to portion out the political
pie. Every time the state law Ii
brarians or the travelling case IL
brarian are changed months are lost,
while the new appointee familiarizes
himself with his surroundings. Who
| is to blame, the officer who makes
the appointment or the applicant who
receives it? No, the first is merely
living up to the accepted order of
things and would be condemned by
his party If he did otherwise: the ap-
plicant accepts the office the only
way he can get it. Then who is to
blame? The voter who by his indif-
ference and apathy invites and ac-
cepts the condition. If disaster re-
suits in the administration he Is an
accessory before the fact and parti-
ceps criminals.
It is slight step to put the heads
Of our reformatory and penal institu-
lions and their appointees on civil
service list, examined to ascertain
their general fitness and retained
during satisfactory service, but it will
insure us from the abuses older
states have suffered. We shall ask
for faithful consideration Of this
measure and our slogan will be, Are
the appointiye offices the perquisities
sof the politicians or the property of
the people?"
A college president has said,
American club women are the con-
SENATORS of the best intellectual and
ethical life and culture Of the coun-
try and their clubs are a national
crown Of glory. They have been re-
ceptive for generations. They are
now equipped for service. The best
aspirations Of our time have become
part of their intellectual and moral
fiber, and their ability for good is
beyond the power Of measurement"
Is this high tribute updeserved?
Then let us here highly resolve to
make ourselves more worthy such
encomiums.
Travelling up and down the length
and breadth of a state larger than
the whole Of the New England states,
with a couple Of Delewares added,
entering as | have to degree, into
your interests and occupations, hear
ing the story Of your trials and most
of all, Of your triumphs, what you
may ask is my final summing UP. II
have come back prouder of my native
state and Of her people, approaching
as never before, her material posi-
bilities and the sturdy strength of |
her citizens. One of the most inter-
esting discoveries. from a club
wonian's point of view, has been to
find in each district an atmosphere
all it's own. Distinct, clearly defined,
animating not a mere handful but
1t has been an amazing
evidence Of one result from our work.
In the First district there breathes a
learning for knowledge, a love of
books and learning for its cultural
value, II Is not for me to say by
whom awakened or by whom kept
alive. In the Second district we find
D legislative zeal, a true ardor to do
things, to correct abuses through the
enactment of better laws and this is
most natural from its nearness to the
capital, where the law-making body
gathers. Here at the north, where
Tor the first time state federation
meeting is held we find another DOM