Sen. Conkling, who used the phrase in 1877 to assail reformers.

Snivel service reform was a pejorative term applied by United States senator Roscoe Conkling in reference to advocates of civil service reform.[1][2][3] Conkling, the leader of congressional "Stalwarts," conservative Republicans who advocated the continuation of Radical Republicanism and the spoils system, used the phrase as a means of derision against reformers including Rutherford B. Hayes and particularly George William Curtis.

At the New York State Republican Convention in 1877, Conkling delivered a speech excoriating President Hayes and reform-minded allies as "snivel service" reformers.[4] Curtis, among the targets of Conkling's assails, subsequently responded:[5]

It was the saddest sight I ever knew, [Conkling] glaring at me in a fury of hate, and storming out his foolish blackguardism. I was all pity. I had not thought him great, but I had not suspected how small he was.

— George William Curtis, 1877

The phrase "snivel service reform" was also used later in 1885 by the Democratic-aligned newspaper Register of Raleigh, North Carolina.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Lee, Frances E. (June 6, 2016). Patronage, Logrolls, and “Polarization”: Congressional Parties of the Gilded Age, 1876–1896. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  2. ↑ The Remarkable Roscoe: Friend and Nemesis of Presidents (Part I). National Park Service. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  3. ↑ Shribman, David (February 9, 2017). A history lesson for Trump. The Detroit News. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ Truesdale, Dorothy S. (October 1940). Rochester Views The Third Term 1880, p. 3. Rochester History. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  5. ↑ George William Curtis. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  6. ↑ September 23, 1885. CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.; UNFAVORABLE COMMENTS ON THE SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN PRESS. The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
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