The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-12-14
AMERICAN VOTERS
STILL PATRIOTIC
Idea of Political Parties that
People Have No Princi-
pies Is False.
(National News Association)

National News Association)
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 1.-THE big
feature of the two day convention OF
the National Civil Service Reform
League. which opened its thirty-first
annual meeting in the auditorium OF
the City club here today. was the
speech OF Assistant Attorney General
Winfred T. Dennison, on Coal Hod
Politics" MIR. Dennison reviewed ex-
tensively the prevalent form of party
politics az represented by the distribu-
ton OF favOrs, or bones" as he term
ed II. by those who were at the head
OF the organizations, basing his plea
for civil service reform upon the mil
lions Of dollars that are wasted by in
efficient labor administrations in un.
necessary offices created solely for
the purposes of patronage.
In illustrating his crusade against
Goal Hold Politics." or the domina-
ton of the machine through pseudo
charity with vote attached to each
favor. MIR. Dennison reviewed the
great political fights of the East in
recent years, drawing conclusions
from the integrity of the men who
fought for principle without favor,
that, according to him, pointed toward
political rectitude and the dissemina-
ton of ideas. as a better means of
swinging ballots than the virtual pur-
chase of votes through the dispense
ton of charity.
Makes q Comparison.
In making his comparison Mr.. Den
Olson said:
II resent the fact that the organiza-
tons. of both political parties in our
by Eastern cities are founded upon
the theory that the mass of people
have no principles and can be swayed
only by those concealed forms of
bribery which are involved in the dis
tribution of bones" and coal.
This amounts to an effort to d.
vide the people Of our cities on lines
of dollars and not OF character. That
is to my mind a shocking ignorance
of the facts of human character
1.-THE same political ideas were
prevalent in Chicago until Mr.. Fisher
and Mr. Crane. and their group Of
young men, such as you and l, made
up their Municipal Voters League, an
nohncing their belief that the people
OF Chicago would not stand for crooks
II they knew they were crooks. The
league went with this proposition in
to the actual wards, rich and poor,
and proceeded to show up the crooks
and they found that Bath House John,
with all his bones" could not hold
the poor voters against them. For
fifteen years, by this method. the lea
que has controlled the Chicago council,
changing it from the usual stripe of
coal hod body with a membership, as
has been said, very few of whom could
have been suspected of being hon
est'D, to a body Of public spirited, hon.
orable men, on which it Is considered
q high distinction to serve.
I'm New York City, much the same
thing has been demonstrated again
and again-by Jerome, by Low. by
Hughes. and by the present fusion
Board OF Estimate.
What Hearst Proved.
I'm some ways the most interesting
demonstration of the fundamental err
ror OF political organizations in their
estimate of human character. particu.
larly in reference to the poor, has
been furnished by Hearst. We may
think what we like of the sOundness
Of his ideas. but has he not proved at
least the fact that ideas a." more ef-
1ective vote getters than COAL"
In speaking o, m..4 n~.uers and
candidates for office. MIR. Dennison
asks the question. what man of any
big vote getting power has appeared in
the last decade. or the past two decad-
es, who has come up by the Coal Hold
route?"
He then goes on to review the ca
reers of Hughes. Cleveland. Bryan. and
speaks of ex-President Roosevelt in the
following terms:
Consider also Roosevelt. As the
historian Rhodes recently said. no
President up to his time. made so
great an advance as he for civil serv-
ice reform. True. Roosevelt unlike
Hughes. having grown up in the
transition period, believed in a middle
course. He frankly yielded to the or.
ganization to some extent in the mat
ter Of patronage. considering that in
the then existing state of public opin-
ion 1t was a necessary evil which he