Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1870-11-17

to offer suggestions that he hoped might
be beneficial to his department.; and this
view of the case is strengthened by the
course taken 10y few Republican papers
in relation to the subject, such papers "a
show disposition to find fault with tire
administration generally. But the Pre-
ident with his characteristic frankness
and honesty of purpose took the Secre-
tary at his word and very politely ac-
cepted his resignation, never doubling
that it was the ardent wish of General
Cox to be relieved. Nor would it have
been doubted by any one else had it not
been fo- the indescretions of some of the
Secretary's friends. Whatever may be
the true state of the case, a precedent is
thereby established that may be useful
to other, that is; that it is not safe 10
tender resignation tc President Grant
unless the party is sincere in his request
to be relieved. ThePresident's prompt-
ness on this occasion may prevent pre-
cipitation and isahness on the part of
officials hereafter and prove beneficial to
good Administration.
The Cincinnati Gazette publishes lot
of letters from Secretary Cox, in reply
to several political Committees, asking
him to furn a list of names and sala-
ries of the q. rks of his Department,
that they MI 1t be assessed for political
purposes. W., It connection these letters
have with the resignation of Secretary
Cox is not very apparent; but they are
paraded in this connection, and argued
under the same head as though the Pres
dent had any thing to DO with political
assessments or cared any thing about
them. By these letters we see that Sec
retary Cox refused to give the list of
names asked for and defended his clerks
with great zeal from political assess
ments. In his reply to the Republican
State Executive Committee of Ohio,
he says: "Your Committee requests a
full list of employees of the Government
in this Department appointed from Ohio,
with the amount of salary and name of
county, &C., from which each was ap-
pointed, for the purpose of making a
small assessment upon them for State
and Congressional campaign purposes"
To which he replies: II am constrain-
ed to decline complying with your re-
quest, because l am convinced that it
would moi be right to do so. The con-
siderations which lead me to this con-
clusion may be summed up in two, name
ly:"
l. "That such assessments are directly
antagonistic to the civil service reform,
which believe TO be so imperative
necessity that the Republican party, as
the proper party of true reforms, cannot
longer Delay to make it a part of their
platform; and
2. Because the specific assessment you
now propose TO make on behalf of the
State central committee is an innovation
in bad direction"
To prove these positions is the effort
of long letter in which his notions of a
civil service reform is developed in the
following lines: This leads me to the
general subject of the absolute necessity
for civil service reform, in which the
Republican party ought to take an early
and positive lead, 1 think no candid
man can have o responsible place in one
of our Administrative Departments for
year without seeing that some perma-
nence of term of office in the subordinstes
is essential to the proper and eoonomi-
cal performance of the Government
work." Is it possible that this is the |
text of the civil service reform proposed
and so persistently urged by Secretary
Cox, and which some of his friends
claim the President has sufficiently sup
ported him in; to fix the tenure of Off
of the Executive Departments of the
Government so as to put it out of the
power of the heads of Departments to
remove them, even for causes, without |
the slow process of a resort to the Courts?
The Secretary after speaking of being
"dogged an harassed by never ceasing
stream of applicants and their friends,
who are supposed to be influential;" says:
"There is no remedy but one which cuts
up by the root the whole system of dis
pensation of public patronage as mat
ter of favor or of political claim, SO call
ed" We would not let political princi- |
Piles have anything to do with the ap-
pointments or retention c cfsubordinates. |
How impartial! But the Secretary
defends the clerks of the Departments |
we'll He says: "The idea that public
service is profitable employment is a
false one in the main, and if it were true
1t would be necessary to reform the sala-
ries by law" And again: "The gen.
tlemen of the Departments have as a
rule, borne far greater pecuniary burdens
in proportion to their salaries than other
men are usually willing to do for party
purposes" The Secretary will not be
accused with not being true TO the in
terests of his subordinates, but where
the benefits, to the country, of his civil
service reform comes in does not very
plainly appear in his letter. 1t is pro-
baby true that the late Secretary got
himself unnecessarily into some trouble
with several political Committees of his
Republican friends, by refusing to con-
form to what they deemed to be reason
able request, but that the President
knew or cared anything about it is not
in evidence. Would it not then be better
for certain leading Republican journals
to make an effort to reconcile themselves
to the situation, and acquiesce; especial
ly since the President has succeeded so
well in pleasing every body by placing