The Washington herald., 1913-07-27

failed. and occasionally . man VINO
turned out to be bad ofncer passed.
but, a. q rule, the men with inteliigence
suficient DO enable them to answer the
questions were Of . type very distinctly
above that of thoss who failed
80 much for the objections 70 the ex-
aminations. Now for the objections To
the men who advocated the reform. AZ
rule. these men were high-minded ana
disinterested. Certain of them. men ike
the leaders in tn Maryland and INDIANA
Reform Associations. for instances.
Messrs. Bonaparte and Rose. Foulke ana
Swift, added common sense, oroad sym-
pathy, and practical efficiency 70 tneir
high-mindedness.
A Reform Downward
But in New York. Philadelphia. ana
Boston there really was . certain mental
and moral thinness among very many OF
the leaders in the civil services reform
movement. It was this quality which
made them 20 profoundly antipathetio to
vigorous and intensely human people OF
the stamp of my friend Joe Murray
who, as have said, always felt that my
civil service reform afdliations formed
the one blot on an otherwise excellent
public record. The civil service reform
movement was one from above GOWN
ward, and the men who took the lead
in II were not men who as Q RUE pos
scssed a very profound sympathy with
or understanding Of the ways OF thought
and life of their overage feliow-ciuxen.
They were not men who themselves de-
sired to be letter carriers or CLERKS Oh
policemen. or to have their friends ap'
pointed to these positions. Having nc
temptation themselves in this direction,
they were eagerly anxious to prevent
other people getting such appointments a.
. reward for political service2 In this
way they were quite right
1t would be impossible to run any ol8
public Office to advantage save along
the lines Of the strictest application OF
civil service reform principles; and the
system should be extended Throughout
our governmental service far more wide
ly than Ii now the case.
But there are other and more Vital re-
forms than this. Too many civil service
reformers, when the trial came. proved
tepidly Indifferent or actively hostile to
reforms that were OF profound and far
reaching social and industrial conse-
Quence.
Many Of them were at best lukewarm
about movements for the Improvement
of the conditions Of toll and life among
men and women who labor under hard
surroundings. and were positively hostile
to movements which curbed the power OF
the great corporation magnates and
directed into useful instead Of pernicious
channels the activities Of the great cor
poration lawyers who advised them
Most OF the newspapers which regarded
themselves as the especial champions OF
civil service reform and as the highest
exponents Of civic virtue. and which dis
trusted the average citizen and shud-
dred over the "coarseness" Of the profess
sional politicians, were, nevertheless
given to vices even more contemplate
than, although not SO gross as. those
they denounced and derided. Their edi-
tors were refined men OF cultivated
tastes, whose pet temptations were back
biting. mean slander. and the snoboish
worship of anything clothed In wealth
and the outward appearances OF conven-
tional respectability.
The answers returned to some OF the
questions gave an Illuminating Idea of
the intelligence of those answering them.
For instance, one of our questions In a
given examination was request to name
five of the New England States One
competitor, obviously Of foreign birth.
answered: England, Ireland, Scotland.
Whales, and Cork" His neighbor. who
had probably looked over his shoulder.
but who had North of Ireland preJudices,
made the same answer except that he
substituted Belfast for Cork.