ABSTRACT
On January 10th the Washington correspondent of the New York World, Mr. Louis Seibold, published a letter written by Mr. Wilson as President-elect to Representative A. Mitchell Palmer. Presumably Mr. Wilson meant to take his appointments out of party politics. His words seem to indicate that he had in mind some kind of civil service reform which would reduce the President's patronage. No such reform has taken place, of course, and while there is no ground for saying that Mr. Wilson has used patronage for his personal ends, he has unquestionably allowed it to be used for the purposes of his party. Mr. Wilson determined to depend upon his party to carry through tariff and currency legislation. But in depending upon his party Mr. Wilson had to hold his party together, and the glue that consolidates parties is patronage, "pork," pensions.
