Year: 1876

forsn of Cordoba face is disssnctivnIy
5onth0rn, bic mustache and ohm whiskers
have Southern cut, and the sound OF his
voice and his peculiarities of pronunciation
ell proclaim his section. As an orator, he
speaks with dignity and in tone that
makes the Senate Chamber ring, using
choice and elegant language, and occasion
ally letting clip sentence that shows some
thing of the rhetorician's art.


Senator Gordon won his first laurels in
the South against slanderers like Hays, and
the union of moderation and manly courage
which he displayed in the performance of
that duty gained the confidence of a mel
ority OF the people of the North. He was
the secopd Southern politician who COM
manded respect and attention outside of
his own section since the war. Among his
own people his course established his pop
ularity on broad and firm basis, and they
look up to him with an admiration such Ss
no one else in his State can command. 1t
Is good to know that the influence which
he has acquired will not be employed for
any base or any uni ust purposes.


His principal speech during the present
session was that delivered in March
last, which although of no great length,
caused good deal of commotion. 1ts CEN
sral idea was curious one, and his oppon-
ents met it in a strange fashion He ar
gued for the necessity of reform in the





it is not possible TO secure an honest and
economical collection of the revenue with
cut removing that branch of the public
business from the influence of party poll
tics. He said that we had plagiarized our
whole system from England except the sim
gle provision which made hers effective,
| namely, the appointment of revenue Of
| tcers on their merits, with tenure of
Office dependent on their good behavior.
We had, in his opinion created our reve-
nue. system with two purposes in view, the
| one the collection of taxes and the other
The English system worked only for the
| former of those ends. In the nature of
| things, it was to be expected that the man
agement of in erDal revenue affairs should
grow corrupt when officials were chosen for
| their political influence and not for their
capacity and integrity, and when they were
| maintained against accusation go long as
| they served the party whether they
plundered the country or not. He argued
that although there might be periods of
spasmodic effort after purity, or periods of
change in administration when the internal
| revenue service would be honest, yet it
| must invariably lapse into corruption,
whether Democrats or Republicans con-
| trolled it, 80 long as it was portion of the
party spoil in political conflicts. There
| were some minor points in the speech, but
this theory that the internal revenue in the
service should be simplified and made nom
| partisan was it's essential popularity, and
it was only for the purpose of promulga-
ting the doctrine that Senator Gordon
spoke at all. In answering him the Re-
publican Senators took strong ground in
| opposition to the proposed reform, and
finally, while Sherman made skilful ci-
version in regard to the details of the plan
suggested by the gentleman from Georgia,
Morton and others tnrned the discussion
into a sectional debate, the object of which
| seemed to be to prove that as Gordon had
once been a rebel, and as Toombs had said
there was bribery in the last election in
Georgia, therefore the internal revenue
service which has given us the whiskey
frauds at st. Louis, Indianapolis, Milwau-
kee, Chicago and Pekin is good enough.
A more absurd method of treating reform
earnestly and eloquently urged could hard
ly be conceived of !; but the design was to
raise the usual gust of war passion to cover
| up the real question at issue, and it sue.
ceeded.


1t is a remarkable fact that Republican
Senators should place themselves on the
record against Gordon's plan for reforming g
the internal revenue service, when their
party made the canvass of 1872, on Upto-
| plan project for regenerating the whole
civil service by the same means. To be
sure civil service reform failed under
Grants administration, but its advocates
say that il failed only because it was moi
fairly tried and the non partisan policy


which could not, perhaps, be applied to all
branches of the Government, might prove
practicable when tested in a business rather


than in political department. tits neither


honest nor consistent for the leaders of the


Administration to meet Gordon's proposed


reform with such spiteful intolerance, anC


if they think that they have disposed o


his plan for regenerating the revenue ser


vice by attacking his war record, they may


fiod themselves mistaken. He professe
} himself thoroughly in earnest in his theo
} ries, and he has received letters from al
quarters of the country commendiDg hi
course, which convince him that the peopl
are with him. IRdeed it is plain, whateve
, statesmen may think of the matter, tha
, the public has foil faith in such a scheme Q
t refor nation, aud will stand by the man VIII


proposes it in good faith.


A Hn R-rn nnc1cns ARrIsE A nainfnl inrider