Carl Schurz (1829–1906) was one of many Prussian exiles who arrived in the United States following the failed revolutions of 1848. After reforms failed to materialize in Europe, Schurz became one of the German "48ers" who came to America to escape political persecution for his role in the unsuccessful uprisings. Schurz went on to contribute to his new homeland as a political reformer, a Union Army officer in the Civil War, a US Senator, presidential cabinet member, and commentator. He shaped a unique legacy throughout the Gilded Age as a determined classical liberal who advocated civil service reform, sound currency, low tariffs, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. Many key episodes in Schurz's life offer meaningful lessons for Americans today, but perhaps none more distinctive than his 1897 dispute with a sitting US Senator.

Schurz was a firm believer in political independence, the principle of placing one's convictions above partisan loyalties. Consequently, in the years following the Civil War, he had no qualms about supporting Republican, Democratic, or third-party candidates whenever he believed they best upheld his ideals. In 1897, Schurz published a series of open letters in response to criticism from Republican Senator Jacob H. Gallinger. These letters provide an interesting window into late-19th-century America, offering considerable wisdom for Americans today amid our own partisan struggles.

The Gallinger Dispute: A Clash of Principle and Party

By the time of William McKinley's ascension to the presidency in 1897, Carl Schurz was no longer actively involved in the political arena. His last official role within the federal government was as Secretary of the Interior under the Hayes administration. Yet he remained a prominent political commentator and advocate for nonpartisan politics as president of the National Civil Service Reform League, an organization dedicated to upholding the practice of making federal appointments on merit rather than through party connections. It was hardly a surprise, then, that when Senator Gallinger (Republican of New Hampshire) accused Schurz and other political independents of treachery in an open letter, Schurz leapt to respond.

Gallinger objected to the civil service law of 1883, which established the practice of candidates qualifying for jobs via examination. Gallinger depicted the law as being "modeled after India, China, and Great Britain," and generally working poorly. In addition, Gallinger accused civil service reformers of being "worshipers of Grover Cleveland." Cleveland, a Democrat, had championed the reform, earning the respect of the independents like Schurz. Gallinger referred to these reformers as political "traitors" and "renegades" because they couldn't be easily labeled as solid Republicans or Democrats.

Ironically it was the Republican Party itself that had championed the Civil Service Reform being enacted in the first place. Even President McKinley, a Republican, remained committed to upholding these standards. Gallinger had no patience for independently minded men like Schurz—those who changed political allegiances not out of opportunism, but out of devotion to principle.