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reform was to be made, must understand that their efforts have so far been in vain, and that, very thinly disguised, the old spoils methods in the appointment of Consular officers are in full flower. They seem to acknowledge this, for they have begun to petition for reform of the consular service once more, with Cleveland, Ohio, in the lead.
I am sure I am expressing the feelings of every member of this League—indeed of every honest and self-respecting citizen the country over—when I say that we should prefer the dropping of the disguise. If men of unsuitable character and acquirements must, at the dictation of Senatorial or other bosses, be put into the Consular Service of the country, let it at least be done frankly and courageously under the old spoils flag, and not under the cover of a so-called reform system.
The new Secretary of State, Col. John Hay, has done a good service to the country by permitting the truth about the Consular examinations to emerge from the veil of mystery in which they had been shrouded. The public obligation to him will of course be much greater if he employs his official influence to the utmost, as I earnestly hope he will, toward accomplishing what the business community of the country has so long and so vainly been praying for—that is a system of examinations for Consular positions that will really rescue the Consular service from the deleterious touch of spoils politics, and bring to it the best attainable ability and character.
I have no doubt that he is the man to do this, and that he has the honorable ambition to earn this title to the gratitude of the country. But if he makes the attempt he will, in order to succeed, have to take the experience of the past earnestly to heart. Why have all similar attempts failed? Not necessarily because the men making them acted in bad faith, but because they contented themselves with mere pass examinations.
The first consequence regularly was that presently admission to these examinations was granted only by way of political favor and influence; and the second, that the political favor and influence which had secured to the favored the admission to the examination, then also proved strong enough to have the examination so arranged that the favored could easily pass. And thus appointments were controlled by influence and favor, just as they had been before. Now I admit that in countries in which spoils politics have never
