A REVIEW OF THE YEAR.
By Hon. Carl Schurz.
It was in this hall that, six years ago, my predecessor, George William Curtis, whose memory is reverently and affectionately cherished by us all, delivered the last of his annual addresses—addresses which never failed to instruct our judgment, to strengthen our faith, to inspire our efforts, and to lift us up to a higher conception of patriotic duty. After having, with the peculiar grace and force of his eloquence, discussed the evils and dangers flowing from the use of official patronage as party spoil, he proceeded, as had always been his wont on similar occasions, to review the conduct of those in power, as that conduct had served to advance or to hinder the reform of the civil service; and in doing so he pronounced praise or censure, according to the facts before him, in a spirit of justice and fairness, without fear or favor. In his annual address of 1886 he declared:
“This League is the only organized and authentic national representative of the reform sentiment. I challenge any man to show that it has in any degree, or at any time, betrayed the trust voluntarily assumed by it, with the approval of the locally organized friends of reform, of honestly and adequately representing that sentiment, and its criticisms and demands upon political parties and public men. The League has pandered to no personal ambition, to no party purpose. It has been no man's instrument, nor has it been the organ of any faction.”
I trust the League deserves this definition of its character and attitude to-day as much as it deserved it twelve years
