The New York herald., 1877-12-07
NJ Hayes Merit. ana HI. III .na.r..

Mr.. Hayes Merits and His m ndsrs.
We wish to recall a well known anecdote
OF Henry Clay. When that brilliant states
man had done some act which displeascd
his constituents and which he did not care
to defend he made graceful retreat by a
conversation with an old Kentucky hunter,
which was sure to 60 the rounds in the
newspapers. Have you good rifle =
s.Yes" "Did it never miss fire 7" 1T has
once or twice" '.Did you throw 1t awayr'
'No.' "What then?" Il picked the flint
and tried it again" ''Treat me in the same
way pick my flint and try me again. We
commend this story TO President Hayes
Mr.. Clay was above that besetting weak
ness Of small minds in public sta
tions by which, when they have fallen
into nm error, they are tempted to
commit several others in vain attempt
to hide it. We trust Mr. Hayes is above
this weakness, and indeed he has already
given proofs that he is not incapable OF
profting by experience. In the early part
of the summer he looked with considerable
favor on the silver scheme, but his Message
is as clear as a bell on that subject, and
nobody doubts that he will veto the Silver
bill if it should pass the Senate. His
famous civil service order proved to be
mistaken method Of carrying out valuable
reform, and instead of defending it he
quietly let's it drop, making no allusion to
it in the Message. We need not despair OF
finding him equally wise on some other
points. and until he shows himself persist
ent in error his party should be willing to
pick the flint and try him again.
Considering that Mr.. Hayes is Western
man and citizen of the State which has
been the hotbed of oil the rank imitation
and reputation heresies which have sprung
up since the war, it is alike creditable to
his sagacity and his courage that he hos
taken such high and correct ground in his
Message On the financial questions which
are pending in Congress. The most alarm
ing of our national dangers are those which
threaten us on the financial side. The
country owes the President and his Secre-
tary of the Treasury an unstinted recogni-
tion of the great service they have rendered
in withstanding assaults on the public credit.
This resplendent merit does not require us to
be blind to the Presidents faults and short
comings. 1t is wiser to practise discrimi-
nation, judging every part Of Mr.. Hayes
public course by its separate merits, blam-
ing where we must, praising where we can,
but always seeking to guide public opinion
for the public good. We are not to encour-
age him in his errors because we indorse
his financial policy, nor to underyalue his
really wise acts because his civil service re-
form has thus far proved to be foolish mud
die The true way is to keep just account,
making fair entry of the current debts
and credits with view to correct balance
when the account comes to be closed. We
conceive it to be our duty to nothing
extenuate, nor set down aught in malice"
The best thing for everybody is the plain.
honest truth.
Mr.. Hayes has shown too much of o
quality which in expressive colloquial par
lance is called 'bounce." Instead Of be-
ginning his civil service efforts in quiet,
judicious way, like man Of sense who had
taken the full measure of obstacles and un-
derstood the value of flank movements, Mr..
Hayes entered upon this difficult part Of his
task with mighty flourish, as if he could
repeat Joshua's miracle and cause the walls
of Jericho to fall down by blowing sonorous
trumpets Of rams horn. He expected to be
crowned with laurels before he had won the
victory. But civil service abuses are too
deeply rooted to yield to bounce" Had
the President begun more modestly, had he
made less parade Of his intentions. had he
RETAINED from putting on any lofty airs
Of moral superiority over other republi-
cans, he would have saved himself from
considerable modification. IT. instead of
making public bid for newspaper incense,
rs he did in the foolish civil service order,
he had quietly intimated to one or two
prominent federal officers in every State
that he preferred they should keep aloof
from party politics and asking them to
repeat this wish to others in their respec-
tive States, he might have accomplished his
object without rousing any opposition. If
he had put the request In qualified form,
asking them to keep aloof from political
conventions and electioneering activity ex-
cept when they saw some special reasons
and had received his permission, Secretary
Sherman might have gone to Ohio to
make Q political speech without caus-
ing any scandal. and there would
have been no necessity for explaining
away an imperative public order. as was
done when the President encouraged the
federal officers in Massachusetts, to use their
efforts to save that State. The same quiet
method would also have been better in the
attempt to accomplish changes in the New
York Custom House. Had he invited Col
lector Arthur and the other principal officers
to Washington, explained to them the
changes which he thought it desirable to
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