The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-03-15
OUR WASHINGTON LITTER.
Hayes Plans and Purposes.
The Fight With the Radical caucus Over
His Cabinet nominations.
sehurx as Minister Of the Interior.
Especial Correspondence Mo. Democrat
WAsH1saToE, March IL, 1877.

Tt would be mauifestly improper for
me to speak rs by authority-se
officially, In other words--of the inten-
tions and proposed policy OF this Ad-
ministration, for that, In the first place,
my only avenue through which to
speak is the columns OF newspapers
which are understood to sustain an at
tituds OF unaltarable opposition to the
methods by which this Administration
came into being and for that, In the
second place, it would be- obviously In
congru0us for me. as correspondent.
to assume to speak by authority as to
the purposes OF q regime with which
could possibly have neither fellowship
nor communication without first aban.
doniug all the positions of law aud logic
/ have maintained for the last eight
months. Yet am enabled to speak Of
the views, Intentions, purposes and
projects OF this Administration as mat
ters Of fact and as matters of my own
knowledge.
A great many good people have been
thrown into
PAHoxYsMs OF ACCOMPLISHMENT
that the first act Of President who
had been fraudulently counted In should
be TO repudiate the miscreants to whose
partisanship and perjury he owes bis
them, he should turn about and call to
his aid the best men and the purest
sentiment OF the country. But Mr..
Hayes has already done nothing less
than these things. IL may interest the
public to know the logic upon which he
bases bis phenomenal attitude.
Mr.. Hayes holds that he is RESPONSE
BILE only for the promises held out In
HIS LETTER or ACCEPTANCE:
that he cannot be held accountable
for the speeches Of public men or the
writings OF editors who saw fit to sup
port him. He holds, further. that
when the dispute arose ls to the count
OF the electoral vote, he withdrew from
public view and carefully abstained
from any expression, suggestion, hint
or intimation that could possibly be
construed into q design to influence or
an effort to shape the result. He holds
that he has been declared President
according TO the forms and under due
observance Of d law which was passed
by the votes OF men OF both
parties. acting with view to maintain
the peace and secure the welfare of the
country. He holds that he has not
been party to the struggle; that he
hos not asked or advised anybody to
vote for that law, or to vote against 1t
that he has not requested anybody act
| ing under that law to count him
in, as the saying is that he has not ad
vised, eounseled or requested that any
step whatever In the proceedings be
taken or avoided from the beginning to
the end Of the dispute; that he is not
under personal obligations to any one
man or to any set Of men for the honors
and responsibilities which he finds In
Il. II hH4 fssa law ~,
obligation to every citizen OF the United
| States to see that the public business
is administered to the best OF his knowl-
edge and ability In its administration.
He utterly rejects the ancient idea that
the government belongs to a successful
| party; he refuses to entertain the old
notion that any set OF men claiming to be
THE LEADERS or A PARTY
have any right. moral or legal, to
| come to his executive Office and say,
"Give this man this Office" or "Refuse
that man that office; :" and he declares
that he will respect no claim to any
| right that is not either moral or legal,
or both, by tho plain Interpretation OF
common sense. He holds that the chief
source Of all the troubles that are upon
the country Is the fact that men have
80 long used the passions and pre-
judices Of political parties as in
struments for the accomplish
ment Of personal ends, that sue.
cessful politicians have come to regard
themselves as vested with prescriptive
right to use the purse and the sword o1
the nation at large to sustain the for
tunes Of faction, and then to employ
the fortunes Of the faction to their own
| individual behoof and benefit. These
are the broad, general propositions
which Mr.. Hayes lays down, In his inter
course with his friends, as embracing In
the main the evils which have crept
into our system Of government.
NO DESIRE Te BREAK UP PARTIES.
But he does not wish to be understood
as Quixotic enough to cherish any de-
sign OF breaking up parties or annfhila-
| ting political divisions. That is not In
his line OF business, but belongs to the
people to determine for themselves. As
| for himself he is an agent for the trans
action of stated business, an employe OF
firm, so to speak, consisting OF forty
odd millions Of partners, and his duties
are plainly defined; he is, in short, a
trusted servant, charged with limited
duties and accountable for the dis
charge Of specified trusts. These trusts
he says he proposes to discharge, these
| transact according to the best OF his
ability; and in the performance thereof
he does not propose to know
anything except that the United
States is one country and that
it's forty-four millions OF inhabitants
constitute one people. In short, that
he considers himself President, not Of
the Republican party, but of the United
States. These, OF course, are glitter
and they sound we'll. But when it
comes to the execution Of the pro-
gramme which they embody there will
be plenty Of test for the stuff the man is
made of.
@ CABINET NOMINATIONS.
One test has been made. When the
Cabinet nominations had been made,
Mr.. Hayes was waited on by deiega-
ton Of Republican Senators who ex-
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