The New York herald., 1877-10-19
The Presidents Aims.

| him for some time very carefully, ana we
are reluctantly forced to the conclusion that
he is trying to put new wine into old bot
| ties.
Mr. Hayes is faithful republican. Those
who talk of his "Johnso nizing' do not
know him. Not only has he never been
anything else but a republican, but he has,
we suspect, n kind of moral antipathy to
the democrats, which reinforces his nasural
and habitual allegiance to his own side. lie
| is republican pure and simple; believes
that organization to be the ''party OF great
moral IDEAS" and even if he were not, as its
| choice to the highest Office in the land,
| gratefully bound to it, it would still never
occnr to him to be anything but q member
of that party, faithful and Jealous for its
future.
But being also patriotic man, man
who loves his country as well as party, MI.
Hayes would like to serve both. Many cir
cumstances show that his aim is not, as
some of his opponents foolishly say, to
break with his party, but to purify it. lie
believes in the old and somewhat stale
watchword of 'reform within the party.
He sees with grief that under Mr. johnson
and General Grant the pure, high minded
republican party fell into bad habits, got
tipsy, gambled for high stakes and finally
landed in very dirty gutter. He sees that
year after year it's respectable friends aban-
doned it, OF ut least gave it the cold
shoulder, and that by the time General
Grant ceased to rule the party had got to be
a sort Of political black sheep. His hope is
to reclaim it, to persuade it to a bath, to
give it n clean suit of clothes and decent
hat, to get it to 60 to Sunday school and to
abandon the tipping shop, and to re-
introduce it into respectable society. In
short, he hopes to reform the republican
party, and his first difficulty is that it re-
fuses to be reformed, and with muttered
curses threatens to leave him.
We suspect the amiable exhortations OF
the President to the party leaders to 'stop
off" will not do him or them much good.
They are by no means tired OF their suits.
They regard him as sort Of ''goody" who
would reduce them to bread and milk
diet, and their rebellious stomachs are long
accustomed to strong meat. The Presi-
dents notions give Messrs. Blaine, Conk-
ling, Robeson, Chandler, Cameron and the
rest sort Of intellectual dyspepsia. Mr..
Hayes most just and most cherished ideas
appear to these more vigorous statesmen
mere Sunday school twaddle; they do not
conceal their contempt and dislike.
That the President should wish to reform
and rehabilitate his party is natural and
praiseworthy. But that he should expect
to carry with him the old leaders, the men
who have SO long and SO badly mismanaged
the machine; that he should call on these
to join him and hope to persuade them to
lead in the new paths-this appears to US n
blunder, an amiable mistake Whether ''re-
form within the party" is possible is q ques-
ton about which men differ. We will not dis
cuss it; we should be glad to see the repub-
lican party ''born again." to use Scrip
tural phrase, and sloughing off the vices
and the stupidities it has contracted appear
as the exponent of new policies and live
ideas. 1t would be a good thing for the
country in many ways. But whether "re-
form within the party" be possible or not
one thing is certain-reform under the old
leaders is impossible. If the republican
party is to be purified and made new by the
Presidents efforts it is logically and NOR
ally necessary that he shall give it new
set Of leaders TO certain extent he saw
this when he chose for his Cabinet, not the
men whom the party leaders would have
Il nr
who, while with perhaps one exception
they represented the new ideas and new
policies which he had at heart, were yet SO
hateful to the party leaders that these, in
their first rage and disappointment even
plotted to reject them in the Senate. If
any one had advised Mr.. Hayes to carry out
his Southern and civil service reform poll
cies with the help of such men as Cameron,
Robson, Taft and Chandler he would
rightly have rejected the suggestion as
absurd He would have said, Il dare not
put new wine into these old bottles" But
he ought to see that what was thus true Of
his Cabinet is equally true OF all the leaders
Of his party.
He cannot hope to reform his party and
at the same time hold the friendship and
count on the support Of its old leaders.
His enterprise is a most laudable one !;
every good citizen, every republican Jealous
for the future success of his party must
wish him success. But unless he looks all
the elements Of the problem in the face !;
unless he sees that for the new work the
old tools are Of no use; unless he has
courage to face their opposition, and Wis
dom to bring forward new men rs leaders,
he will fail and fail miserably. 1t is use
less for him to invite them to repentance
and good works with the promise of
speedy reward if they will submit. 1t is
worse than useless for him to cry "peace,
peace" when there can be no peace or
to try by careful, and, as he seems
80; 10 min