The New York herald., 1876-08-17

over goes to Florida and threatens every
federal ofiice-holder in the State with re-
moval unless he supports his pretensions to
the Governorship; and this is not concealed,
but openly spoken Of
1t is no strange thing; in fact, it happens
every day. Senator Sargent controls the
federal patronage in California; Senator
Spencer appoints his friends and turns out
his opponents in Alabama; Senator Logan
threatened to quarrel with the President last
winter because General Grant ventured to
remove some federal officers in Illinois with
out consulting him; and so on to the end
of the chapter. No sooner is new Congress
man elected than he rushes to Washington
to regulate the appointments" He holds
himself entitled to divide with Senator of
his State the appointments in his district.
He believes himself authorized to demand
certain number of clerkships in the Wash
ington departments. His most important
correspondence relates to the nomination Of
this friend and the removal Of that enemy;
and the worst of it is that there is no one at
Washington to dispute his assumptions. So
complete is this tyranny and so inexorable
that we could relate cases where an appoint
ment has been forced, in spite of the COM
plaint of superior that the appointee was
VIGOROUSLY unfit; SO thoroughly is it carried
out that there is not to-day poor woman
employed as copyist in any Washington
department who can be certain over
night that she will not be dis
missed the next morning, to oblige some
member Of Congress, who wants the place
for a favorite-unless, indeed, she is the
1rotfgfe Of some other Congressman. So en-
tirely has custom ceased to make it shame
full that when Congressman takes the lib
erty to oppose the administration the per-
sons charged" to him are turned out of
office, and when the democrats took posses
sion of the House last winter they did not
hesitate moment to kick out Of the petty
places in it dozens Of crippled soldiers who
had found q refuge there for their declining
years.
This is the atrocious and demoralizing
system for the reform Of which the people
cry out It leads necessarily to misgovern-
ment. It's main object is to enable the party
in power to defy and defeat the peoples
will, and to enable the party striving for
power to make spool, in gamblers phrase,
of the public Offices, and promise them as
the reward of victory AS it demoralizes the
public service by giving its rewards not to
honest and skilful service, but to skill in
partisan intrigue, so on the other hand
it debases Congress, because Repre-
sentatives and Senators are no longer
selected by the people for conspicuous
ability; place in the national legislature is
the prize, IN the great majority of instances,
of the more adroit and successful manipua-
tor of the machine; the strongest" man
is he of whom his fellow workers
of the patronage of his district or his State
Hence finally, follows the decentralization
of the Executive; he has no longer to fear
opposition within his party, for he has
bribed the party leaders beforehand; and
as they came to be bribed, as they were Sc
lected by the machine for that purpose, they
are not advisers, but fatterers. Thus, knowl-
edge, genius, Skill, independence are ex-
cluded from the public service, and if any-
where by chance an able and independent
man gets into Congress the machine in ter
ror combines against him and filings him
overheard with as little delay as may be.
Governor Hayes showed in his letter of
acceptance that he thoroughly comprehends
the nature and the danger of this monstrous
evil. He has shown, more satisfactorily
than Mr.. Tilden, we think, that he knows
how to apply the remedy. His remarks on
civil service reform have produced pro-
found dissatisfaction and alarm among the
managers of the republican machine. But
he has the people and the press with him,
and if he is elected he will have their sup
port in beginning reform without which
the country cannot much longer got on