McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 7 Jul 1886, p. 3

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>V ,C $|k|§ciKf fjlaindcalcr J. VAN SCYKE. BWw wi Esbtoher. McHENRY, - - ILLINOIS. MrLtAtS, the great painter, is finish­ ing his picture of "The Night of St. r.artkolomew." It represents a ehurch interior. A Catholic soldeir is depart­ ing from the scene of the massacre. A priest encourages and urges him for­ ward, while a Sister of Mercy kneels at his feet imploring mercy for tlie Pro­ testants. . THE English laborer who recently undertook to imitate Dr. Tanner as a faster came to grief. He was known as the "Fasting man of Guilford." Mys­ terious voices commanded him to go forty days without food. He was 74 years of age when he started in to obey the strange command. He drank tea with out milk or sugar, and smoked a pipe, incessantly. He survived the ordeal, though reduced to actual skin and boneB, and celebrated his performance by making a hearty meal of a leg of mutton. The gorging was too much fop his enfeebled stomach, and he died in a couple Of days. His surviving relatives were much distressed because the old man had just received a tempt­ ing^ offer from a museum manager who Iras prepared to make a guinea or two out of his notorietv. > THE Turkish Minister at Washington tells a reporter that the Mohammedan religion permits only four wives. If the first wife objects the husband can­ not bring a second wife under the same roof; indeed, he cannot marry another unless he is amply able to keep a sepa­ rate establishment. The law gives the wife the right to have her husband dragged before the courts if he violates that rule. Plural wives are not uni­ versal among the Turks, and in Con­ stantinople one wife is the general rule. In Asiatic Turkey the custom of plural wives among the peasantry is very com­ mon. The first wife, who works in the field with her husband, urges him to marry a second, a third, and frequently a fourth wife in order to have more as­ sistance in tilling the farm. These wo­ men, too, are great company to each other, and belp to lighten the common 4«ily burdens. _ • AN American lady met -with a strange adventure in Paris as she was driving down the Boulevard Haussman in an open carriage the other afternoon. A young man who had been walking quietly along the footpath, suddenly made a dash at her and tore from her back-hair a valuable pin, studded with brilliants. The follow then bolted at a smart pace, leaving his victim scream­ ing with fright. Some gentlemen who Were passing by at once set off in pur­ suit, and after an exciting chase, suc­ ceeded in collaring him at the end of the Rue Troncliet. They took their prisoner whose name is Martin, to the nearest policy station, and on being confronted with the magistrate, he <*oolly T?xpiftrned that, being without work, he considered it the most natural thing in the world that those who had more than they required should supply him with meat and drink. - *'JL CONNECTICUT farmer cured a balky fl&rse in the following manner: He drove him, attached to a rack- -wagon, to the wood-lot for a small load of wood. The animal would not pull a pound. He did not beat him, but tied him to a tree and let him stand. He went to the lot at sunset, and asked him to draw, but he would not straighten a tug. "I made up my mind," said the farmer, "when that horse went to the barn, he would take that load of wood. I went to the barn, got blankets, and covered the horse warm, and he stood until morning. ,, Then he refused to draw. At noon I went down, and he was hungry and lonesome. He drew that load of wood the first time I asked him. I returned, got another load be­ fore I fed him. I have drawn several loads sincc. Once he refused to draw; but soon as he saw me start for the house, he started after me with the load." . IT sometimes looks as though there was a streak of deceit in the breast of every human being. A man may sail along quite serenely for a time, ' and until he shall meet temptation in some form that strikes the weak spot in his make-up, when he falls, and all the good that was in him "don't count." West Virginia has a game law that for­ bids the killing of deer" at certain seasons. The immunity afforded by this law has had the result of making these animals quite tame in some sec­ tions, and at the village of St. George, the other day, two stately specimens of the antlered tribe- actually stalked through the streets. This was too much, though there was an organiza­ tion there to enforce the provisions of the State game law. The deer had hardly got outside the 'village until, they were shot at by some one who made a mistake and wounded another man, bent on the same errand. They tried to keep it a secret, but it finally got out, and the worst of it was, tliev are both officers in the association formed for the protection of deer. This is "Nasby" reaching for the whisky- bottle in the church corner-stone in another shape, but in effect it is all the same. • THERK are twice as many Cabinet Ministers in England as here, and in many cases the salaries paid them are more than three times as great as the American ministers receive. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who receive $50,000 a year between them, do the work that is here accomplished by erne Secretary of State, who gets $8,000 per annum. They former, besides, has sixteen under secretaries to help him, and the latter ftrdlve and two private secretaries each, receiving annual salaries of $1,500 to $11,000 each. There Js, moreover, a Secretary of State for India who gets $25,000 a year and rWho has a number of tmder secretaries. The First Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer get $25,000 apiece, and the Junior Lords of the Treasury, who number two dozen, get $5,000. The Secretary of State for Home Af­ fairs gets $25,000 a year, the Solicitor General and Parliamentary Counsel $15,000 apiece, and the latter has an assistant at $10,000. The President of the Privy Council gets $10,000, as also does-the Vice President of the Council on Education. The First Lord of the Admiralitv gets $2*2,500, and the Presi­ dent of the Board of Trade and of the Local Government Board, offices re­ cently resigned by Messrs. Chamber­ lain and Dilke respectively, get $10,000 apiece. A GRIZZLY-HEADED Boston lawyer, who is a graduate of Darmouth College, tells a story of Daniel Webster which has probably never been in print. Webster was present when this lawyer and the others of his college class de­ livered their orations on commence­ ment day. Knowing that Webster would be there, the young man in ques­ tion prepared what he considered to be a graceful compliment to tickle the ears of the great man. , When the time ar­ rived for him to be heard he noticed with (gratification that Mr. Webster sat in the front seat. By the statesman's side was Mr. Woodbury, also a graduate of Darmouth. The young orator, in order to drive home his compliment, looked straight at Webster while delivering it, and bowed repeatedly to him. "Among the sons of Darmouth," said the gradu­ ate, "there is one whose fame has ex­ tended throughout the nation and the world. He combines Attic culture with Roman eloquence, and with both the unanswerable logic of the greatest En­ glish orators." There was more .of tli9 same stuff, but Webster sat calmly through it alL That night Webster was the guest of the graduate's "father. He met the blushing youth cordially and said, as he grasped his hand: "I was delighted with your oration, sir. It was fine--fine. I particularly ad­ mired that part ,of it in which you spoke of the Attic culture and Roman eloquence of my friend Mr. Wood­ bury." A CORRESPONDENT of the Cincinnati Enquirer cites as an authority an ex- slave dealer for the statement that the real negro is disappearing from the South. A\ the rate of change since the year 1818, when the slave trade was for­ bidden, in less than 100 years hence the colored population will be wholly mu­ latto. There are now, he declares, only 500,000 negroes of pure blood. Most Southerners have lost all knowl­ edge of the African type. When Kalakaua, King of Hawaii, was in the South he was occasionally refused ac­ commodation and slighted through the belief that he was a "nigger;" although thdre is a wide dissimilarity and nothing in common except the color between the native Sandwich Islander and the African. A pure Hindoo in New Or­ leans, an Aryan, writing Sanscrit, from the same great race as the Anglo-Saxon, American and German, is always con­ sidered an African although not pos­ sessing a single negro feature. There are, too, among the colored people the straight hair, aquiline nose and striking features of the Arab, but all are indis­ criminately grouped with Africans. Any prophecies as to the future of the colored people, their looks, their intellectual capacity, or their achievements may therefore be set down as presumptuous. They are in their very infancy, and what they may become is one of the mysteries that only the distant deceud- ants of the American people will ever know. ' Easy to Get Married. Anybody can marry. A man may be so homely that the reflection of his face would dent a new milk-pan, but he can marry. I know miserable creatures who have existed scores of years and all they have been able to get was to get mar­ ried. Down through the flying years I have passed safe froqj Cupid's darts. 1 have met young ladies so eager to get married that it kept them up nights --with male companions. I have been besieged by old maids, bombarded with widows and outflanked by book agents. "Age does not wither nor cus­ tom stale" a man of my build, and I have to change my boarding-place often. What I do not know about love, courtship, and marriage you need not look in the census of 1880 to find out. But I shall not lecture upon these themes. I have marked the ebb and flow of taste in these matters. There has been a run on coachmen until good drivers became so scarce that the canal boats of our distracted country were rotting at their wharves, and gilded horse-shoes were the fashionable adorn­ ments of our homes. Then the drain of our foreign noblemen left our res­ taurants and barber-shops without help. Afterwards the cockney dude was in demand until the ladies became attached to a cheaper kind ot dog--with a string. "Pity is akin to love," and women marry some very pitiable objects. Weddings and funerals are put side by side in the papers, for they l>otli settle a man's destiny for paradise or perdition. There has been a steady eflort in our progressive country to make divorce as easy as marriage, but the lawyers will always be more expensive than the preachers. Young men, I have seen some happy marriages, but they are founded on respect and mutual fitness. They were undertaken with more calm thought and preparation than moon­ light and gum drops. There will be the same moonlight after you are married, but a small house and lot will cost you coin of the realm. Buckle down" to your studies and get an assured po.sirir>n in society, a pull in a political party or an account at the bank, atyl then I guarantee there will be girls left and willing to marry.--Exchange. A BEAUTIFUL girl said to a wit, "Why don't you say clever things to me? You're* as dull as a footman when in my company. Don't you know of something to say to me?" "Oh," he replied, .gazifag upon her with admira­ tion, "even a footman can always ans­ wer the bellfc." FACTS AM) FIGURES. How gallant Democrats Fonght, Bled, and Died In the War of the -, • v >- •»« - ftohftiiUm. lie Athnhrfstration and OMt ^Sririoe Beform--Speach of Hon. T. X. Browne, of Indiana. {From the Congressional Recoild.] The House being in committee of tho -whole on the state of the Union, and having under consideration the bill (II. B. 8974) making appro­ priations for the legislative, executive, and ju­ dicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year cn.ting June 30, 1887, and for other pur­ poses, Mr. Browne, of Indiana, said: MR. CHAIRMAN--I move pro forma to strike out the line just read. It seems to me that this -is a very appropriate time for me to relieve somewhat the monotony of discussions upon points of order and to submit a few suggestions on civil-service reform. I have no desire to re­ vive the memories of the unfortunate conflict through which the nation has passed. If there ;s a singl^pt-vtioutil Mttemess or sectional hate Btili lingering as the result of that conflict. I would, so far as I could, send it with Uncle Toby's oath to heaven's chancery and let the tear of pity fall Ri.dlilot it out forever. Hut there is foicething due to truth, some­ thing due to history ; and I desire to correct a statement inadvertently made by my amiable friend from Illinois Mr. Townshend, In his speech of yesterday. I do this for fear that with his growiug imagination the time may come ifor he is yet a young uiani when he will believe in truth he put down the rebellion all himself. [Laughter, j He says in the first plaso : "I tall you, gentlemen, tiiat if tho long roll could be called of the detui and the living who fought for th£ Union in the late war. and th< ir ixilitical sentiments could bo ascertained, you would find that a majority of these were Dem­ ocrats." " * Now, Mr. Chairman, it is a matter of very lit­ tle importance whether they were Democrats or not. I lmve the same admiration for the gallantry and patriotism of one who differs from me in politics that I have for the same qualities in one who is in political sympathy with me But what are the factsV I have here, compiled from authentic records, the votes of the soldiers of those States who, by the laws existing at that time, were permitted to vote. In the year 1802 the States 01 California, Iowa. Missouri. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin voted in the field. The aggregate Republican vote was 27,820, the aggregate Democratic vote 6,4.14, the majority for the Republican ticket be­ ing 21,466. I find that in 18(3 there was an election in which the soldiers of the States of California, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wiscon­ sin were allowed to vote "in the field, and In 1804 the same privilege was accorded the sol­ diers of Maine. New Hampshire. Ohio,Vermont, Pennsylvania and Maryland, an.l a number of other States, the record of which I will print in full. In these States in these years soldiers in the field were, as I have said, permitted to cast theii votes for the party of their choice. In the last year, it will be remembered, Mr. Lincoln was a candidate upon the one side, and the distinguished soldier, now dead, General McClellan, upon the other. I will put in the liccord tabulated statements of the votes; but simply desire to state them here to show in the aggregate that eighty-two per cent, of the soldiers voted the Republican ticket at these elections. Now, continuing further, I read another ex­ tract from the speech of the gentleman from Illinois. He says: "I am warranted in making the statement, sir, that if you will ascertain the number of Repub­ lican soldiers who have been removed from office under this administration it can be shown that an equal number of Democratic soldiers have been appointed. Has the President not the right, when a vacancy occurs in an offioe filled by a Union soldier, to select a Democratic soldier to fill his place?" I have hero, sir, a paper published at the cap­ ital of my State, in which it is said of the Dem­ ocratic Postmaster of that city that-- "The Grand Army men are lodging complaints against Jones for "the wholesale discbarge of crippled Union soldiers in the Indianapol is post- office. Jones has been in office now for a little more than a year. In this time he has discharged about twenty-five Union soldiers, some of them badly wounded and disabled. Their places have been filled by ward heelers of the worst sort. Not a single Union soldier has been appointed by Mr. Jones, and not a single Republican has obtained employment in his office under the civil-service examinations had from time,to time." This charge hns been often repeated in the Indiana press, and has passed without challenge. I have seen it stated in the newspapers thut Dr. Hunter, the gentleman appointed ou the recom­ mendation of my colleague. Judge Holm in as collector of one of the disiricts of Indiana, has removed fifteen or twenty Union soldiers,and has largely.supplied their places from the ranks of civil life. I do not know--my colleague, who is in hearing, knows--whether this bo true or not; but I say to the gentleman that in my own knowledge" within my own Congressional district a widow of a pensioned soldier, of a soldier who was disabled in his country's ser­ vice, was turned out of a little postolfice, which furnished her a meager support, and her place was supplied by an able-bodied man. I know of a number of instances in which crippled Union soldiers were removed from office, and one case where a soldier halting through the world upon a wooden leg was removed to give place to an able-bodied man ; and while I do not know that these matters are of interest to the committee, or even to the Democratic party. I make the statement in order that these asser­ tions of my friend from Illinois may not go uooti the record unchallenged. The time is coming when tho books will be opened, and we will see who have been the friends of the soldier of the Union. And now, with the per­ mission of the committee, after putting the promised election statement on tlie record, I will extend my remarks ou other branches of the subject. In lsi',2 Union soldiers were permitted to voto in the field in five States only. That vote was as follows: oat to all that was pure and honest in govern* raent. To be sure, these pretensions are ab­ surd. Those who were induced to believe that the men who wen at the election two years ago would prove to be the champions of a whole­ some reform are disenchanted now. No one dis­ putes that the administration was fully com­ mitted to the polity embodied in the Pendleton bill, the policy wLich in its most, essential feature this appropriation bill seeks to nullifv. It was indorsed in Chicago; it was repeated in burden--from no responsibility. Are these peo- pie, these five million people who bear their full share of every burden, to be declared ineli­ gible to even the smallest office in the gift of the administration? Such a position is mon­ strous. But, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, before pro­ ceeding further I deaire to notice the charge so freely indulged in in this debate bv the other side of the House, that the civil service was .. , _ . . - . « .fearfully degraded by tho Republican party. the letters of acceptance by the national can- that it had brought reproach on the people bv diaates; and this l>olicy was emphasised by the appointing unprincipled men to office. It is ah President in his inaugural. . i old saving, sir, that "the teaching of the priest If it is possible to commit tho Democratic • • - - STATES. -| Rep. | l)eui. Itep. nittj. California . . i f i « 7 ; •12i •• 555 Iowa .,1 14.874! 4,115; 10,7 V.) Missouri t .. 2,139' 7| 2,132 Pennsylvania.,. . .1 l,867j 2741 1,591 Wisconsin ...j 8,.173| 2,046) 6,827 Totals .. | 27,8201 6,454! 21,460 Percentage: Republican, 81.13; Democratic, 18.87. In 18G3 the soldiers' vote was as follows, to wit: STATES. | Rep. 'j Dem. Uep. maj. California "... ...1 4,143! 140 4,003 Iowa ; . . . 1 7 , 0 4 1 1 3,004 14,037 Missouri . . . I 8 , 8 2 7 1 777 8,050 Ohio ..! 4ti,315) 2,391 .'9,224 remiBvlvania . . . j 1 , 3 9 2 43 1,339 "Wisconsin . . . j y , 2 5 7 747 8,510 Total . . . 1 8 2 , 2 7 5 ! 7,112 75,163 Percentage--Republican, 92; Democratic, 8. In 1864 the soldiers' vote was as follows, to wit: I Lincoln's Lincoln. M'Clell'n majority Maine '/#M74' 2,006. 741 3,433 New Hampshire.. '/#M74' 2,006. 600 1,37ft Vermont 243! 40 194 Pennsylvania 26.712 12,349 14,363 Maryland <: 2, SIX) .321 2,479 Ohio 41,146; 9,757 81,389 Michigan... 9,402i 2.959 9,142 Iowa 15,178! 1,364 13,814 Wisconsin. 11,372 2,458 8,914 California 2,600 237 2,303 Kausus • 2,867: 543 2,324 Kentucky I,194j 2,823 2,324 Totals 119,751* 34.291 85,463 These votes are an emphatic contradiction of the assertion of the gei tleman from Illinois. Mr. Chairman, this bill seeks to destroy a vital feature in tho civil-service act by making the appropriation of the money necessary to its due execution dependent on the condition that the rules governing the selection of public serv­ ants be so changed as to gi\» easy op- ix>rtunity for making appointments excluBive- y from one political party. The change pro­ posed is radical, and if coerced will insure a re­ turn to the old method of rewarding "party zeal" and disregarding proved competency anH personal merit. It is evident that this change is suggested by the greed of the place-hunters. The spoilsman "is to have a chance. There is a statesmanship, sir, that has no Sinai higher than an official ]iosition, and whose decalogue begins and ends with "To the victors belong the spoils." These profess to believe that when Grover Cleveland was elected to the Presidency the eloction carried with it to the Democratic l arty every office within the control of the Executive, little and bitr. from a spittoon- cleaner or towel-washer to a Cabinet Minister. It' strikes me that is too broad a claim for the size of the victory. Sir, although Mr. Cleveland was elected, he was not the chice of a majority of the legal votes cast in 1881. Of a total vote of 10,0.56,347 his vote was but 4.911.017, or 234,313 less than a majority His majority over his principal competitor was less than 63.000. And I assert, Mr. Chairman, that this victory was only made possible by the nretense that the Democratic party was, in good faith, in favor of a non-partisan reform in the oivil service. Con­ fiding aiyl over-credulous men of Republican antecedents voted the Democratic ticket upon the faith of these promises. Had the spoils sys­ tem been asserted then as it is proclaimed now by the leaders, to be Democracy pure and sim­ ple, there would have been another defeat for that oft-defeated party. To desert the civil ser­ vice policy now is to betray the allies who made Democratic success possible. The Republican party was defeated because the adherents of Mr. Cleveland pledged themselves that he would inaugurate salutary reforms in the civil service of the country. The orators of the Democracy talked glibly of the monstrous abuses that had grown up under the Republican system, as they said, of par­ tisan appointments, and held up their new gos­ pel al civil-serrio® reform a*„a political abort party to any policy it Is committed to this. It was committed to it in its national platforms long before the convention at Chicago. It gavo it a specific and unqualified indorsement in tho most statesmanlike platform it ever made or is ever likely to make. And this was done in a convention the history of which will rescuo modern Democracy from oblivion. I refer to the convention and platform adopted at P>alti- more in 1872. I quote lroin that platform: "The ' civil service of the Government has become a mere instrument of parti­ san tyranny and p< r.^onal umhiliou and an object of selfish greed. It is a scandalous re­ proach upon free institutions, and Imeds a cen­ tralization dangerous to the perpetuitv of re­ publican government. We therefore regard a thorough reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing necessities of tho hour; that honesty and capacity and fidelity constitute the only valid claims to public employment; that the"offices of the Government cease to be a mat­ ter of arbitrary favoritism and patronage; and that public station shall again become a post of honor." Do the Democracy stand on this doctrine now? If not, why not? Was this grngd declara­ tion honest then, or was it a sham and a fraud? Was it announced to be put into execution, or was its only purpose to influence votesAre we to understand that there is no such thing as good faith in politics? The principles of the platform of 1872 have been reasserted in every Democratic national convention since then. A civil-service plank as clear in its language, as lofty in its declamation, and as captivating in its promises of reform was adopt, d at New York in 1876, and was written by Samuel J. Tilden himself. The rni- ministrat on party must face these declarations and abide by them, or confess that it did not in­ tend to keep , these promises when they were made. I have little reason to doubt the sincerity of the President. That he desires to redeem his pledges to the people by a firm enforcement of the statute is evinced by his every public utter­ ance. In his letter to l k rman H. Eaton of Sep­ tember 11, 1885, he said : "I believe in civil-Bervicereform and its appli­ cation in the most practicable form attainable, among other reasons bccause it opens the doors for the rich ana the poor alike to a paiticipa- j tion in public place-holding; and I hope the time is at hand when all our people will see the advantage of a reliance for such nil opportunity upon merit and fitness, instead of a depend­ ence upon the capiice or selfish interest of those who impudently stand between the people and the machinery of their Government. In the one case, a reasonable intelligence and the education which is freely furnished or forced upon the youth of our land are tlie cndentials to office. "In the other, the way is found in favor secured by a participation in partisan work, often unfitting a person morally, if not men­ tally and physically, for the responsibilities and duties of public employment." • , I wish I could impress the truth that "a favor secured by participation in partisan work often unfits one morally, if not mentally aud physical­ ly, for the responsibilities and duties of public employment" on tho place-hunters of to-day wlio seek to destroy the law. But the party is drifting away from its chief. It is not in harmony with him on any important question. It lias no sympathy with him on mat­ ters of finance, and on the question of reform­ ing the civil service it is preparing for open re­ volt. There should be no surprise, sir, at the return of the Democracy to the spoils system. The piratical declaration that "to the victors belong the spoils" is tlie coinage of a Democratic brain. The system was first put in practice under a Democratic administration. Why. sir, Wash­ ington. during his eight viarsof administration, made but nine removals ; John Adams but nine, and none of these because of offensive partisan­ ship. Although Mr. Jefferson made thirty-nine official changes he most solemnly declared that none of them were influenced by uolitical con­ siderations. Madison removed five; Monroe nine, and John Quincy Adams, "the noblest Ro­ man of them all," but two. Mr. Benton tries to vindicate Jackson from the odium of having first inaugurated the policy of punishing politi­ cal opponents by indiscriminate removals from office. With this record behind it, who could expect any reform in the civil service from that party? I have repeated thie hiBtorv also to show that if the old system resulted in conferring office on men who had no fitness for public employ­ ment but their fealty to party, it was an evil not discovered by the Democracy until the Re­ publicans secured control of the patronage of the Government. But why this sudden hostility? Why should this law be repealed or even cripplcd? When the Repuolicaiis were in control ot the Govern­ ment the gentlemen on the other side were zeal­ ous in its sijpiKjrt. They demaiuled its passage, they supported it, and clamored for its enact­ ment. Do you want tlie spoils for" your hench­ men, and is this law in your way? The De­ mocracy this day nre in possession of nearly every office worth the having. The heads of de­ partments and of bureaus are all in its keeping. The foreign service, consular aud diplomatic, is filled with the friends of the administration. The territorial offices have been given to the faithful. The postoffices that ore worth tho taking are in Democratic hands. The confi­ dential circular of the Postmaster General has done a perfect work, and no offensive Repub­ lican survives. All over the country soldiers' widows have been removed to make room for able-bodied men. and crippled veterans made to give way to civilians. The work is going on, and soon" no Republican will bo left. A few Republican clerks remain, and they are kept in a con­ stant state of alarm. Every day the pub­ lic press gives thu names of unfortunates whose heads are in tho basket of tho execu­ tioner. Even with such protection as the civil- service law affords it will not be long before the spoils will all, or nearly all, be in the Demo­ cratic household. Be patient, gentlemen! There is no necessity for haste. Some device will be discovered by, you by which the law will be avoided. When the Postmaster General discov­ ered that to edit a Republican newspaper, to belong to a Republican committee, to make con­ tributions to Republican campaigns, or. in fact, to be an honest and outspoken Republican, was to be an offensive partisan and make one sub­ ject to removal for cause, the Democratic heart was glad. This circular was a bald perversion of the law, in its letter and its spirit. The very essence of the civil-service law is to prevent the question of partisan politics from being considered in making appointments or re­ movals from office. I refer to tlie class of offices covered by its provisions. These offices were not to be given as a reward for party services, nor was want of fealty to the party in power to be punished by removal. These questions were to be decided on merit. If the officer was faithful and capable he was to be retained ; and it the applicant proved his moral and mental fitness, to the satisfaction of the commission, he wus entitled to an appoint­ ment. Partisan politics were to be absolutely ex­ cluded from consideration in this connection. If this is not tho spirit of this law it has none. If it does not ineuu this it is a miserable fraud. One of the most attractive features of the law is the fact that it leaves 1 oth the applicant and the employe free to speak and act us American citi­ zens without the hazard of losing their places. It was the pur))ose of this law to require of the public servant fitness, comjwtency, fidelity--to accept nothing less, to require nothing more. How did the offensive-partisan circular operate"/ Always to remove a Republican, and always to put a Democrat in his place. A Republican ed­ itor, e>r committeeman, or contributor to a cam­ paign fund is displaced to make room for a Democratic editor or committeeman or con­ tributor. True, the civil-service law was i.ot violated in these cases, for it does not apply to postmasters, but this action was a wide departure from the declared policy of the President and a flagrant disregard of the tenure-of-office act. I speak of this new crime of offensive partisanship because it lias been made to do its miserable work in almost every room in all the executive depart­ ments. It nas been made to do service in se­ curing the removal of the humblest Republican officials. I do not say that political considerations should not in many instances influence both appointments and removals. There are certain agents of the administration to whom are com­ mitted the high trust of shaping and executing its jHilicy, foreign and domestic. These have the guardianship of the principles and aims of tho party in jtower. Those intrusted with this responsibility should be in r ecord with tho ad­ ministration, and in selecting these political considerations muBt be regarded. A free-trade policy should not be left to the mercy of pro­ tectionists, nor could the enforcement of the law for the s efonn of our civil service be confided with safety to officials who denounce it and seek to nullifv it. o The policy of a party, when that policy is in­ dorsed by a"free election, becomes the policy of the people, and it should be put in the hands of its friends. No one questions this. In select­ ing agents of this class, however, the public good demands the employment of the best available material, and party fealty should not be regarded to the exclusion of moral and men­ tal fitness. No amount of partisan service will Sxcuse the appointment of an unfit person to office. But, gentlemen, there is a class of public ser­ vants whose duties are wholly ministerial, whope employment has no relation to the policy on which the Government is to be administered. What have the laborers, watchmen, messengers, doorkeepers, copyists, accountants, and the multitude of employes of this class in tho sev­ eral departments to do with questions of pub­ lic concern? Nothing in the world. They in­ fluence a policy only to the extent of their in­ dividual votes. In the workshop of the me­ chanic, in the counting-roenn of the merchant, or on the fields of the farm they are as import­ ant partisan factors a3 when in public employ­ ment. Why, then, should tlie partisan test be applied in selecting these agents? Whatever party may be in power the Government is still the Govern­ ment of the people--the whole people. The 5,000 000 voters who withheld their support from Mr. Cleveland at the late election are still citi­ zens. They pay taxes for the nation's Bupport and bear arms in its defense. The result of the Presidential election liltevad them froim BO is not worth much who discourses of houesty with a stolen goose in his sleeve." It ill be­ comes a party that in the first year of its power made such significant, mistake's as the appoint­ ment of Judd, Miere and Dunton, Tyrer and Conroy, Polhir.l, Downey and a host of others of like ilk to preach purity and honesty to any othe r party. I tlinik tins administration, brief as has been its reign, has learned m "That pious ecstasies are easier far • Than virtuous deeds." After all its promise:; and virtuous resolves it has not been able to keep its own press from charging its highest officials with most rep­ rehensible conduct, and already* the Credit Mobilier has found its parallel in tie Pan-Elec­ tric scandal. It would be well, I think, for the fierce Demoo- racy to cry new-- An ounce of civet, good apothecary-- to sweeten this offensive stench. I deny that the Republicans gave the country a debauched civil service. That their confi­ dence was at times betrayed by bad men I do not deny ; that some of their chosen servants proved to be disreputable men and were guilty of crime I admit. Every recrcant was pros­ ecuted as far as it was possible to do so. But, sir, he who claims that honesty belongs to one party to the exclusion of others is a dem­ agogue. Dishonest men abide in every church and every political organization. And who so silly as to suppose it possible to select an army of officials from the masses without catching now and then a scoundrel? All experience proves that when large sums of money pass through the hands of many agents, whether of private or public employment, thero will be losses and embezzleni: nts. Ask your bankers, merchants, and corporation officials for their experience. These things will happen until liuimm nature is wholly reconstructed. What are the facts as to the" administration of the Government by the Republican party for the twenty-four years beginning in 1861? The" history of those years must not be for­ gotten. It must be remembered that it hat! to contend with the demoralizations incident to civil war. The rebellion more than quaurupled our expenditures and our public servants. Our annual revenue rapidly rose from SVH).O.K>,00) to ¥450,000.0<X). At one time our outlay reached nearly $800.01)0,000 in a single year, is it to be expected that no more will be lost in transact­ ing a business of four hundred millions than one of ninety millions? Is it to be expected that one hundred thousand servants will yield no larger number of disreputable men than twenty thousand? I insist that, tested by the facts, the Republican party gave tho people as wise, as patriotic, as pure, and as efficient civil service as they ever had at any time iu the history of the Republic. It is oft-repeated and uncontradicted history that of all the vast sums of money Rejmblicah administrations held in trust for tho people, the loss was but one-fifteenth of one cent on each ?100. Hundreds of millions of dollars of internal revenue taxes were collected and disbursed without the loss of a penny. The most prudent and skilliul men have never been able to con-!, duct their private business with a smaller mar­ gin of losses. The Republican party challenges the closest scrutiny of its record, and refutes declamation by iuterposing unimpeachable his­ tory. It has turned tlie pub] ic revenues over to its succi ssctr to the last mill, and for fifteen months its books and records have been in the keeping of its political adversaries, and no crimes or frauds have been unearthed or even suggested. It is true that the Republican party did not, in tho earlier years of its supremacy, inaugurate a method for reforming our civil service. It bad to deal with a bloody rebellion which occu­ pied its every thought. It accepted the civil- service system as it fouiul it. The system came to it from its Democratic predecessor, sanc­ tified by forty years of unbroken Democratic practice. . And So nn End! Mr. Morrison stated to the House of .Rep­ resentative that he had concluded not jto call up the tariff-revision bill. What he really meant to say was that tho tariff- reform end of the Democrat M'hat-in-it had decided not to call tip the anti-tariff- reform end of that phenomenal concern. So ends in this Congress, even as ended in its predecessor, (he pledge and promise of tariff reform that was made to the coun­ try by that double-tongued wench of lo$t virtue, the "star-eyed goddess of reform!" --Chicago Time#, Dcm. THE incoming of the Democratic admin­ istration was a misfortune to the sitting Democratic Congressmen. So long as the Republicans controlled the offices nothing was expected by the supporters of the Democratic Congressmen, but as soon as the Bonrbon party came into power the hungry Democrats all expected places. Of course, many had to be disappointed, afd these became the enemies of the Congress­ men from their districts. The beginning of the end has been seen. John R. Eden, of the Seventeenth District, has been laid on the shelf; J times M. Riggs, of the Twelfth, has failed to get a renomination, and even Colonel Morrison himself is threatened with defeat ilown in the Eigh­ teenth District. Ward is pretty sure to lose the Third District, aud Neece stands almost no show of going back from the Eleventh, while Wortliington in the Tenth and Towxishend in the Nineteenth have no mortgages on their districts. There is a very good chance for a large Republican in­ crease in the Illinois delegation of the next Congress.--Chicago News. BRICK POMEROY is not dead yet. He publishes a paper in New York, in a late number of which he says: "Tlie mainspring of Democracy in this city is coiled in the worm of the still. The ghost of Thomas Jefferson is not dence high beside a glass of whisky or a schooner of beer. Yon could no more run a Democratic party in this city without whisky than you could run hell without lire. Ten hours of prostitu­ tion, with whisky in the back room, cham­ pagne iu the parlor, aud politicians upstairs, count more than all the churches on Manhattan Island when it comes to setting the machine. There is no want for nor a welcome to a Democrat in this city who is not in favor of rum as the great Alpha and Omega for the Democratic appliance for controlling power." THE average American boy of to-day is very much interested in the development of his muscles. He gives as much or even more time and thought to this subject than to the depelopinent of his brain. It is not an uncommon thing for a boy to have his fingers broken at base-ball, or his body bruised aud his bones fractured at foot­ ball. When we read in our papers the ac­ count of a game of foot-ball, we expect al­ so to see a list of the wounded carried from the field. Athletic sports should receive at­ tention, but tliev are being pushed too far, especially in our collegies and universities. On this subject the New England Journal of Education says: "Boys should gain muscle as well as develop brain, hnt the question is coming home to a great many thoughtful parents, whether, on the whole, it pays to send a boy, especially if he is not an athlete and has simply the tastes of a quiet gentleman, into the bear garden that the muscular region of college life is now becoming. Some of these "accidents," as they are politely named iu the daily press, represent a roughness, not to say brutality, in the conduct of these sports, which wouid disgrace a crowd of young North American savages." "TALK about yer sudden changes of weather in this kentry!" contemptuously vociferated Ananias Shoothismouthoff. to his cross-roads tavern hearers: "they ain't a circumstance to what happened to me when I was trav'lin* through Palestine!" "Illi­ nois?" queried a rustic doubting Thomas. "Naw! the Holy Land! Why, one day when the gasometer registered over nine hundred and eighty-five degrees in the shade, and I was trampin' along in the bilin' hot sun, I notissed a drou of sweat about the size of a hickory nut rollin' down on each side of my nose; and jest as they dropped off I'll be darned if a thnnderin' old cold wave from Manitoba didn't kum howlin' along and freeze them two wads of pirspiration into solid chunks ot ice big- ger'n ostrich-eggs before they struck the ground! If you don't believe me, I kin prove it by a fan I've got home that I made out of a leaf from a palm-tree that stood right near where this 'sudden change of weather' took place." SOCIALISTS would divide capital where Bociety is established, not make it in an open, unoccupied field. • ' " CUBIOC8 FACTS. A MASS of lead in an elevated ftrrnaoe in Paris was completely dissipated by a stroke of lightning, no trace of the metal being found afterward. KATE ROWSAND, the dwarf, known in Europe as "Mme. la Marquise," provides in lier will that twenty dolls of her size shall be purchased, dressed from her wardrobe and given to orphans. She was so diminutive that her clothes would not fit the smallest child. THE Maluva tree in Central India (bassia latifolia) bears flowers w hich are now being exported to Europe for their sugar, of which they contain more than half their weight. The tree resembles the oak, and a single specimen some­ times bears a ton of flowers. AN association of pharmacists in Paris has been discussing the old question of the influence of plants in bedrooms upon the health of the occupants. The conclusion is that the plants are bene­ ficial, especially to consumptives, plants without flowers being preferable to those in bloom. ATTENTION has lately been called to two races of men that must soon become extinct. At the present rate of de­ crease, the Moors of New Zealand, now reduced to less than 45.000 from 100,- 000 in Captain Cook's day, must have disappeared by the year 2000. The Laplanders are estimated not to exceed 30,000 in nuihber, and are gradually becoming fewer. ; V A NEW time-system has been proposed by Prof. Lindon. The new system is on the decimal plan, and provides that the present day of twenty-four hours be divided into ten divisions, so that each hour would correspond to two hours and twenty-four minutes; this hour would be again divide<1finto 100 divi­ sions, called minutes if necessary, each hour on the new system thus corres­ ponding to 144 minutes; again, this new minute division to be subdivided for acurate measurements into 100 divisions, called seconds. The advantages aris­ ing from such a system, as enumerated, are the abolition of the so-called "a. m." and "p. m.," as has already been ac­ complished by the twenty-four-hour system. THE bed of the ocean is to aii enor­ mous extent covered with lava and pumice stone. Still more remarkable is it to find the floor of tho ocean cov­ ered in many parts with the dust of the meteorites. These bodies w hirl about in the heavens like miniature comets, and are for the most part broken into innumerable fragments. We are all familiar with the heavenly visitants as shooting stars, but it has been only lately discovered that this cosmic dust forms layers at the bottom of the deepest seas. Between Honolulu and Tahiti, at the depth of 2350 fathoms, over two miles and a half, a vast layer of this material exists. Falling upon land, this impalpable dust is uudistin- guishable; but accumulating for cen­ turies iu the sea depths it forms a wondrous story of continuous bombard­ ment of tliis planet by cometary bodies. To Young Men Who Want to Marry. Select the girl. Agree with the girl's father in poli­ tics, and with her mother in religion. If yon have a rival, keep an eye on him; if lie is a widower, keep two eyes on liim. Dbn't swear to the girl that yon have no bad habits. It will be enough for you to say that you never heard your­ self snore in your sleep. If there is a bothersome little brother who<has a habit of coming in just at the time you don't want him most, and who takes great interest in you, and makes unfeeling remarks about the shape of your nose, take him regularly the lat­ est Puck. Don't put much sweet stuff on paper. If you do, you will hear it read in after years, when your wife has some espe­ cial purpose in inflicting upon you the severest punishment known to a mar­ ried man. Go home at a reasonable hour in the evening. Don't wait till the girl has to throw her whole soul into a yawn that she can't cover with both hands. A lit­ tle thing like that may cause a coolness at tlie very beginning of the game. If you sit down on some molasses candy that little Willie has left on the chair, while wearing your new summer trousers for the first time, smile sweetly aud remark that you don't mind Hitting on molasses candy at all, and that "boys will be boys." Reserve your true feel­ ings for future reference. If, on the occasion of your first call, the girl upon whom you have placed your young affections looks like an iceberg and acts like a quiet cold wave, take your early leave and stay away. Wo­ man, in her hours of freeze, is uncer­ tain, coy, and hard to please. In cold -weather finish saying good night in the house. Don't stretch it all the way to the front gate, if there is a front gate, and thus lay the foundation for future asthma, bronchitis, neural­ gia, and chronic catarrh, to help you worry the girl to death after she lias married yon. Don't lie about your financial condi­ tion. It is very annoying for a bride who has pictured for herself a life of luxury in your ancestral halls to learn too late you expect her to ask a bald- headed parent^ who has been uni­ formly kind to her, to take you in out of the cold. Don't be too soft. Don't say: "These little hands shall never do a stroke of work when they are mine," and "You shall have nothing to do in our home but to sit all day and chirp to the canaries," as if any sensible woman could be happy footing away valuable time in that sort of style; and a girl has a fine retentive memory for tlie soft things and sill v promises of courtship, and occasionally, in after years, when she is washing the dinner dishes or patching the west end of your trousers, she will remind you of them, in a. cold, sarcastic tone of voice.--Puck. The Cost of Rmn. * The New York Tribune estimated that one in t wenty of the inhabitants of this country are rendered idle and in­ capacitated for work through the liquor traffic, and that the ordinary wages of this one man in twenty, if he was not idle, would aggregate not less than $200,000,000 annually. There is food for reflection in this thought. Take away the drink traffic and the condition of the poor will at once be improved to the extent of $200,000,000 annually. This, however, is one of tlie smallest items in the cost. The direct cost of the drink traffic is estimated to bo about" $900,000,(100 annually. Not less than half this amount is paid by the poorer classes. Add together these two items and we have the enormous sum of $050,000,000 as tlie actual loss resulting to the poor people of this country by means of this drink traffic. THE letter U is-said to be the merriest letter in the alphabet, because it's &1-. ways in fun.--Hoonier. 1 JttiLINOIS STATE NEWR, --Absalom Reifsneider, a wealthy citizen of Freeport, Expired last week, aged 8i. --Tho temperance agitation at Harmon ' led to the dealroctiop. of a saloon by dynamite. --Mrs,- Cornelia Buseell Hazlett, dip - first preceptress of Rock River Seminary, died at Freeport, aged 68.. • --Miss Lillie Fisher and Professor Hamil, of Colorado Springs, both deaf mutes, were married at Paris last week. --John Ryan, of Decatur, who was strode by lightning, has become insane and is un­ der confinement. His condition is pitiable". * --The Prohibitionists of Pike County have organized and adopted a resolution to hold themselves "aloof from all political organizations." --Harry Richardson, aged 18, a bank messenger at Anna, left that city, taking ! $300 of the bank's money. Two boy friends accompanied him. --In Alexander County, Judge Yosnm is named as a candidate for the Legisla­ ture. He has been the County Judge fotf ^ many years, and is, as most County Judges are, very popular. . * --A young man walked into the office at a leading law firm of Jacksonville one day in the spring of 1856. He found that the stove had been smoking and the pipe, which ran directly through the roof, had been taken down. One of the members of the firm was holding up the pipe, while tho other was on the roof. The one above shouted to his mate to look into the pip*' and see if it was clear; then, waiting until' the face of the other man was squarely un­ derneath, he gave the pipe a tremendous rap, filling with soot the eyes, ears, neck, aud clothes of the one below. The victim of the joke took the matter good-humored* ly, while his partner nearly fell off the ropf with laughing. The former was Judge Me- Clure, while the joker became the war Go#* ernor of Illinois, the Hon. Richard Yates, v --Mr. William D. Daton tells an amus­ ing story about Senator John A. Logan. It seems that some time ago the Senator fore­ saw thay the tariff question was going to become one of the gravest issues for Con­ gressional consideration, and he very wise­ ly determined to devote some time and study to it. Accordingly he sat down anf| addressed a note to the librarian of Con* gress as follows: "My Dear Spofford: Will you please send to my honsa whatever works on the tariff, protection, free trade,' etc., you may happen to have in the library. I will see that they are returned in a day or two, as soon as I have read them. Tours* JOHN" A. LOGAN." The next day, while Senator Logan was at lunch, up drove two express wagons loaded down with books of every size and description. One of the drivers handed in this note: "DEAB SENA­ TOR--I send herewith two wagon-loads ct tlie books. Will send two more this after­ noon. Will send the rest to-morrow if I can get to it, but our clerks are so busy just now with other work that I can't promise you for certain. Yours, A. R. SPOFPOBD." Senator Logan sent the books back again as fast as he could, but he thought the joke on himself such a good one c was the first to tell it. ' ' *' Hennepin Canal. The fo'lowing letter was received Hon. H. D. Dement, of Dixon, from 9eil§^ ator Cuilom, iu regard to the HennefdU Canal measure now before the Senate. I meeting of citizens was. called, and they decided to send a delegation to Washington to look after Dixon's interests: "WASHINGTON. June 24. "DEAK DEMENT: We have succeeded in getting an appropriation of $300,000 for ilia Hennepin Canal and a provision for the acceptance of <he old canal into the liver and harbor bill. But the committee has • struck out of my amendment the provision for a feeder, to be of certain dimensions, . to be constructed from Rock River, start- >. ing at Dixon, etc., and instead provide thai the whole question of a feeder shall be left to the engineer, to get the water for a feed­ er where lie pleases, etc. I write this that you may know the situation in advance of the consideration of the bill in the Senate. The impression Seem - to prevail that iheie is no necessity for such a feeder; that it means a little canal from Dixon. I doubt whether we can defeat the committee if we try, and I therefore write you to let you know the situation. Let me hear f*om you, as the bill wiil be up for consideration very soon. Truly yours, S. M. CCLLOM." V Although the letter has caused some ex­ citement, tbe fact is still true that at Dixdn is found the only proper level for a feeder ou Rock River, and the canal cannot be built without a feeder somewhere on the Rock River. As the proposed feeder is to serve for two canals, it certainly must be af large as one of them at least, thereby mak­ ing, it navigable. * l'oatmatten' 8alari«k * ' T:ie Postolfice Department has completed1 its readjustment of the salaries of the Presidential Postmasters going into efl'ect July 1. The following are all the changes for Illinois: present Readjust, salary, ed salary. Aledo 411,400 Alton........................... 2,100 Anna 1,900 Aurora 2.H00 lSiirrv 1.100 Carl vie 1,0)0 Corwin Canolltim Charleston Chester.. ])»lavun. KdwardUviile Kl-rin Kliiihumt Kn ̂ le w ood Kuivka.................. Fitmlay Franklin Grove Fultan fretieva Gitisoii City Howard., iJHiiviina Hr.vel.K-k ..... Ilmiilaml Jacksonville.. Jolict. Xnowilla Li con .... Lituurk... I.O 'HILOLL.. Litchfield..'..• .' I.< ckp. >rt. .V. a.tiOO ..... 1,300 ..... 1,60.) ...... 1,500 ..... 1,400 ..... 1,800 ..... 1,400 ..... 3,100 1,100 ....,'2.200 1,000 ..... 1.400 ....> 1,10I» ..... 1,100 ..... 1,300 1,100 1,900 ......... 1.400 1,400 1,100 2.500 v4300 1,100 1,400 j..,;. 1,000 Miirsl.all... ....... M>'tro;>oii® City ..... Minouk Morris Mount t'arutel....... Mount Morris ....,». Nushvillo Navji-.nl Stock Yards...... Xokoniis Onk Park (l.t W;i. \ nut. .. .................... " u \ toil................J.... ivcat --........ 1'. r i i It.-.iie'.d... r.nno.. <,imncv. . 1,400 ...v...*.' 1,100 .......Wl.OJO - i 1 , 2 0 ) ......... 1,700 ,...wS...5l,S00 ......... 1,400 ,1.400 >3L3J0 ?1,K» >1.6 0 1,3*) .i H&CO ,. 1,500 ..'1.400 ., 1,000 V. 1,500 ..;i.so> .. I,.x0 2.9C0 KllVtM-RWQOd ............. 1,'XW Sar.«!\vich l.tiOO - u i una l.l'JO S mv, '.itntown......v v»v,,..,1,100 > h i ' k l > n . . . . . l , 0 i ) 0 nt erliug «^.... .iMjSM ;2,S0) Stivut!!!-.. ...... i.t W0 v" ii'a'ii\,........i...... «...«i,l,4J0 V i r i l t m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * ; 1 , D # Warsaw ..5..' l.HOO \Vi> shingtaB..,. «4». Well ua. 2,000 M00 3.500 1.C0) 4th class 1,*U0 1,500 1,610 i.*x> 1,900 1,300 2.900 1,000 2,900 IJOi 1,300 1.300 1,*U 1,100 l.«N i,«o 1,300 1.1S) 1,100 3,400 2,600 1,300 1,100 1,500 4th class 1,700 1.300 1.800 1.000 4 th class 1.300 1,800 1.400 WW 1.SU 3.W0 1,01)0 1,760 1,400 2,400 1.000 1.500 4th class 1.6**) 1,400 l,4MO 3,tX» LMD UB0 1.4K» l.OUO 4th class 2,100 3.WO U» 1,100 1,M> 1,100 1.4 « 'jfy- 1..- . •

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