Year: 1876

mOndrcny may idst uy tho fuio VI AoiSoi
q corrupt republic cannot endure and it
is useless to console ourselves with the
idea that the corruption amen : us must be
assigned solely to the Immediate effects
of the civil war and will without
an effort at reform soon pass away. There
is another cause which is not transitory,
but threatens to become permanent 1t
is that system which has made the affairs
OF the government the mere 'spoils of
party victory. The system which dis
tributes the places Of trust and RESPONSE
bility as the award of party service and
the bounty of favoriteism. The system
which appeals to the mean impulses OF
selfshness and greed as q controlling
motive of political action. The system
which degrades the civil service to the
level OF mere party agency and treating
the officer as the hired servant of the
party and taxing him for
party support stimulates corruption
and places it under party protection.
This system, which being. the organiza


tion of the parties, under the control of
their most selflshly interested and there
fore most active elements. the place hold


ers and the place hunters, thus tending to
organize standing army of polical mer-
cenaries to- be paid out Of the, es,treasury OF
the government, who by organized action
endeavor to subjugate the will of the peo.
pie to their ends, through the cultiva-
tion of a tyranical party spirit.
Every student of our political history
knows that since the spoils system was
inaugurated, corruption has steadily
grown from year to year, and so long as
this system lasts, with all its seductions
and demoralizing tendencies, corruption
will continue to grow in the extent of
power and patriotism, and true merit
will more and more be crowded out OF
political life by unscrupulous selfshness.
The war has only given q sudden slim
ulus to this tendency, but without the war
it would have grown up, and it will not
cease to grow as long as the hot-bed o


corruption, the spoils system lasts. The
skill IN corrupt practices acquired by one
generation of ofspoilsmen will only be i'm
proved upon by the next. The result
we know. We have already reaped so
great harvest of disaster and shame
that, we repeat it, has now become the
first duty of the American people to re-
establish the moral character of the gov


ernment by thorough reform. Wha..
can we do towards this end, and in thu
impending national election. In THE
respect fellow -citizens, we consider it our
duty to speak very plainly. Never were
the cause of good government and the
honor OF the American name more de-
pendent upon the Character ability and
reputation OF the men to be selected for
the highest offices. In view of the grave
circumstances at present surrounding US,
we declare that the country cannot now
afford to have any man elected to the
presidency whose name is not conclusive
evidence of the most uncompromising
determination nf the Amer,ran neople
to make this pure government once
more. Our duty in this respect is plain
and imperative 1t suffers no trifiing or
eouivocstion. The wornout clap trap
affair promises in party platforms Will
not satisfy 1t, neither will these fine pro-
fessions on the part of candidates. Not
mere words are needed, but acts; not men
pla,for but men. We therefore de-
clare and call upon all good citizens to
ioin us; that at the coring Presidential
e,ection we shall support no can
didate who in public position ever
countenanccd corrupt practices or com.
binations and who Old not
urged their exposure and
punishment or opposed necessary meas
ures ofreform and we shall support no
candidate, who while possessing ofiic.
ial influence and power has failed to use
his opportunities in exposing and cor
70 ting abuses within the reach OF his
observation, but for personal reasons
and party ends had permitted
them to tester on, for such men may be
counted on not to crush corruption
but for party sake conceal IT,


We shall su pport no candidate, how
ever conspicuous his position or brilliant
his ability, in whom the impul:es OF the
marty managers have shown themselves
nredominant over those of the reformer,
for he will be inclined to continue that
fundamental abuse, the employment ot
the government service rs machinery
for personal or party ends. We shall


upport no candidate, who, however tsV'
orably judged by his nearest friends
is not publicly known 70
possess those qualities of mind and char
acter which the stern task Of genuine re-
form REQUIRES, for the American people
cannot now afford to risk the future OF
the Republic in experiments on meaely
snnnossd virtue or rumored ability to be
trusted on the strength OF private recon-


nendation. In one word at present, no
candidate should be held entitled to the
suppor. of patriotic citizens, OF whom the
question may fairly be asked, lis he
really the man to carry through
a thorough going reform OF the gov
ernmentf Can he with certainty
be depended upon to possess the moral
COURAGE and sturdy resolution 10 grapple
with the abuses which have acquired
the strength of established CUSTOM
and to this end firmly to resist the pres
sure even of his party friends. Where
cver there is room for such question
and doubt as to the answer, the candidate
shou,d be considered unfit for the emer.
pency. This is no time for so-called
availability, springing from the distinc-
tion gained on the fields OF action, for
eipn TO the duties OF the government,
nor for that far more dangerous sort OF
availability, which consists in this thst
the candidate be neither so bad as TO
repel good citizens, nor SO gooo rs 70
encourage the bad ones. Passive VIZ
tine in the highest place has too often
been known 10 permit the growth OF
active vice below. The man to
be entrusted with the Presidency
this wear, will deserve not


only the confidence Of honest men,
but also the fear and hatred Of the
thieves. He who manages TO concll'ate
| the thieves cannot be the candidate.
Every American citizen who has the fu-
ture OF the public and the national honor
sincerely at heart should solsmnly resolve
that. the coantry must now have fresi.
dent whase name is already watchwerd
| of reform: whose capacity and courage