New-York tribune., 1877-03-14

O generous, liberal policy, can build up ne" Au-
mnistraton party in the South, the gallant men
who have upheld the banner OF Repubhcanlsm ana
filled the offices during the last ten years in the
country lying between the Potomac ana the MO
rande will be allowed to retire to private life with
ont regret. They may object and strive to cling 10
the places so many of them have disgraced, but the
country will feel very little sympathy for them and
even the Northern Republican politicians VINO now
are disposed TO befrend them will desert their cause
assume, therefore, that if the Presidents South
ern policy is at all successful and especially II II &c
cures for his Administration the support of any con-
siderable portion of the Southern white people, IL
will meet with no embarrassing opposition. But
with civil service reform il is entirely dlHerent.
Not few of the most prominent Republican poh-
ticians in Congress owe their influence III ,he''
own States almost exclusively to their control OF tne
official patronage "a change in the system OF
appointment itself" the adoption of system
which provides "that appointments to ONCE
are not to be made nor expected as re-
wards for partisan services. anor merely
on the nomination of members of Congress as being
entitled i'm any respect 20 the control of such ap-
po,ntmentsp will certainly be followed by the
political overthrow of some men who have hereto
fore been very influential both at home and In
Washington Such change is certain not 10 DO
universally acquesced i'll at first Men never allow
power of any kind to slip from their hands without
a struggle and the politicians who have become so
potent in conventions through skiful distribution
of the Federal patronage of their Districts or States
will not allow the ladder by which they nave
climbed to their present positions OF influence 10 DC
taken away without at least very vigorous protest
Isce no reason to anticipate immediate trouble
between the Administration and the machine poll
ticans While appointments are not to be made
.1,, for rt,san a Senator
sentative neither are removals to be made for the
same or similar reasons. 1t is as much part OF
sound system of civil service reform not to turn
good men out of Office as to put good men in. lie
new Administration sets out with no friends In the
Republican party to be rewarded at the expense ot
other Republicans, and no enemies to punlst, anu,
have reason to believe. it will refuse to recognize
local party divisions in any State. Senator Conk-
ing's friends are not hereafter to have monopoly
of the desirable offices in New-YOrk, nor those OF
Senator Cameron in Pennsylvania but the 1act that
good officer in either of these States was appointed
on the recommendation OF the Republican Seha-
tor will be no reason for his removal
Ills already predicted that President Hayes will
not be allowed to carry his ideas of civil service re-
form INTO operation; that the Republican Senators
will stand by and sustain each other; that nomina-
tions sent to the Senate will be required to have the
approya of the Senators most interested or else they
will be rejected and that in this way the President
will be forced to recognize the "caims" OF members
Of Congress and their friends If the appointments
made are good ones, President Hayes will have no
occasion to fear Republican opposition to them IN
the Senate Some of the Republican members OF
that body will never aid in any conspiracy to break
down genuine evil service reform, and the Repub-
can majority in the Senate is small that II can
not afford to divide upon such questions. Some OF
the Republican politicians thought that they could
prevent the confirmation of President Haycss Cabi-
net but the wave of public opinion that swept over
them left hardly vestige of their opposition re-
naming.
Civil service reform will not be accomplished in
day. The system of making appointments may be
Immediately and radically changed, but TO raise the
standard of the public service. to discover abuses
and to root them ont, and to bring all the parts OF
the great machine of government into harmony
with each other and with the ideas that are to
prevail will require months and perhaps years. The
old system was by no means all bad, and the work
of the Administration will consist more in repairing
It where II was imperfect and infilsng into it new
life and better morale than in pulling down and
destroying. Although our civil service may not bo
the "best on the planet" it is far from being the
worst. L. L. W.