 Garfield thought the land grants given to expanding railroads to be an unjust practice ; as well , he opposed some monopolistic practices by corporations , as well as the power sought by the workers ' unions . Garfield supported the proposed establishment of the United States civil service as a means of ridding officials of the annoyance of aggressive office seekers . He especially wished to eliminate the common practice whereby government workers , in exchange for their positions , were forced to kick back a percentage of their wages as political contributions . 
