Snivel service reform

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.

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

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.