THE DEMOCRACY OF THE MERIT SYSTEM.
By Carl Schurz.
AT our last annual meeting I had occasion to congratulate the country upon the extraordinary advance the cause of civil service reform had made during the preceding year. President Cleveland's executive order of May 6, 1896, had not only added many thousands of positions to the classified service, but it had also established the general principal that it is the normal condition of public servants under the executive departments of the national government to be under the civil service rules, and that they should be considered and treated as being there, unless excepted by special regulation — a gain of incalculable consequence. I was also able to report signal progress of the reform in various States and in the municipal service of various cities. At the same time I expressed the apprehension that the advocates of the spoils system would not cease their hostile efforts and that, although the final result could not be doubtful, we might still have a period of arduous struggle before us. This apprehension has proved to be well founded.
The American people have hardly ever beheld a rush for the spoils of office more tumultuous than that which followed President McKinley's accession to power. Nor have we ever heard a more furious, and, I may add, a more disgraceful clamor from party men for the breach of party faith than that of Republican politicians demanding the repeal, or at least the disembowelment, of the civil service law by a President and a majority in Congress solemnly pledged to its maintenance and extension.
Recall to your memory some of the almost incredible scenes we have had to witness. The Republican national
