is Conservative.
Rodeuborg idea of "practical politics. "
The reform needs friends , not enemies ,
in its chief administrative officers. The
civil service commissioners , and Pen
sion Commissioner Evans likewise , have
justified their appointments by execut
ing laws , rules and regulations. The
civil service commission have , there
fore , incurred the inveterate dislike of
the most relentless and malignant of
all "good haters , " the disappointed and
disqualified place-hunters. There is
good ground for the belief that Roden-
berg will eventually become the head of
the commission. In the assault of the
spoilsmen upon the civil service regula
tions the securing of the appointment
of one of their kind to the defence of
the citadel ; probably later to its chief
command , is a master stroke of strategy.
The republican party stands pledged
to the preservation of the civil service
laws and to the maintenance of the
"efficiency of civil service rules. " The
appointment of Rodenberg flies in the
face of this doctrine. It is totally irre
concilable with the president's own
record when , as a member of congress ,
he took a position with respect to an
appropriation for the salaries and ex
penses of the commission diametrically
in opposition to that taken by Rodenberg
a year ago. On April 24 , 1890 , Mr. McKinley -
Kinley , in speaking on a motion made
in the house to strike out the appropria
tion for said salaries and expenses , said ,
with fervor :
"If the republican party of this
country is pledged to any one tiling more
than another , it is the maintenance of
the civil service law and its efficient
execution. The law that stands upon
our statute book today was put there by
republican votes. It was a republican
measure. Every national platform of
the republican party since its enactment
has declared not only in favor of its
continuance in full vigor , but in favor of
its enlargement so as to apply more
generally to the public service. * * *
For four years under a democratic
administration nobody on this side of
the house had the temerity to rise in his
place and make a motion similar to the
one now pending for the nullification of
this law. We thought it was good then ,
good enough for a democratic adminis
tration , and I say to my republican
associates it is good enough for a repub
lican administration. * * * Mr.
Chairman , the republican party must
take no backward step. The merit
system is here , and it is hero to stay , and
we may just as well understand and
accept it now and give our attention to
correcting abuses , if any exist , and im
proving the law whenever it can be done
to the advantage of the public service. "
By what perversion of language or
gloss of comment can it be made to
appear that Mr. Rodenberg's elevation
to the commissionership squares with
the republican doctrine , which the
president himself so eloquently and so
forcibly applied and defended in the
foregoing extract ? Philadelphia Public
Ledger.
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It lias escaped general attention that
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ple of both sexes and of the lower and
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astronomy , and chemistry , are covered
by the courses given. The universities
have associate members who pay $2 a
year , while the workingmen pay only
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enjoy the advantages afforded. It is
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at least partially the class lines and to
promote a friendly spirit which will
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