The early reformers believed that the eradication of the spoils system would deal a deadly blow at political corruption and professional politics.

But although they have been fairly successful in establishing the "merit" system in the various public offices, the results of the reform have not equaled the promises of its advocates.

While it is still an important part of the programme of reform from the point of view of many reformers, it has recently been over-shadowed by other issues.

It does not provoke either as much interest as it did or as much opposition.
Municipal reform has, of course, almost as many centers of agitation as there are centers of corruption--that is, large municipalities in the United States.

It began as a series of local non-partisan movements for the enforcement of the laws, the dispossession of the "rascals," and the businesslike, efficient administration of municipal affairs; but the reformers discovered in many cases that municipal corruption could not be eradicated without the reform of state politics, and without some drastic purging of the local public service corporations.