Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-04-06
The President.
Washington Cor.


home in his new position, and could
not act more at ease if he had been
to the manner born. There is 4
frank and hearty courtesy in his
manner, which Is just the opposite Of
Grants chilling reserve and clam-like
immobility. lie talks with free
dom and ease which reminds one of
Abraham Lincoln, but don't tell fun
ny stories as Lincoln did, and has
more dignity Of bearing than the
great emancipation had. In thor
ough honesty and integrity of char
acter the resemblance between Hayes
and Lincoln will, I believe be mark
ed more and more as the country
comes to know the man who,
through much tribulation of Return
ing Boards and Electoral Commits
sion, has come to our Republican
throne. 1t is singular how people
generally misunderstood Hayes dur
ing his candidacy. He was popularity
supposed TO be milk-and-water man,
"a sort of goody-goody person,
without the stuff in him to make n
frst-class sinner. Even Republicans
outside of Ohio predicted that he
would be run by Morton, Chandler,
and the old Grant clique. 1t all
came from the quiet way he has and
from his aversion to noisy self.asser-
ton. In reality, he is one of the
most positive, unyielding men in
public life, and under velvet glove
conceals hand of IRON. He is the
most dangerous of all opponents, be-
cause he has himself under perfect
control, and is therefore never off
his guard. His public and private
life appears to be governed by a set
OF fixed principles, from which he
never swerves. His pet political
hobby is Civil-Service reform. He
seems to believe that he has mis-
sion to lnaugurate system that
shall make the offices no longer re-
wards for partisan service, and his
Ohio friends, like Garfield, Foster
and Cox, who know him thoroughly,
say he can't be moved an inch from
the course he has laid out to accom-
plish this reform. 1t is no new no
ton with him. remember as long
ago as 1866, when he was in the
House from one of the Cincinnati
districts, that he gave warm sup
port to Jencks' bill, which was the
first tangible embodiment Of the civ
il service theories. He studied the
question carefully at that time, made
up his mind, and, with characteristic
persistency, has ever since stuck to
the ideas he then imbibed.
The business reception at the
White House lasts until 2 o'clock,
the last two hours being for such of
the general public as approve them
selves in Mr.. Rogers eyes as no of.
fcc-seekers. At the close there is
always a crowd Of forty or fifty per-
sons in the hall and ante-room, and
the President usually come out OF
his wcll-guarded retreat'fora few min.
utes, and shaking hands right and
left in the throng, listens to the pc
titions of such as can get his ear and
possess impudence enough to urge
their claims of office under such I'M
favorable circumstances. He shows
no annoyance, but pleasantly refers
these applicants to this or that de-
partment; according to the nature of
their requests.
''THE FIRST LADY IN THE LAND"
Mrs. Hayes seems rs much at
home in her difficult station as the
President does in his. She has re.
ceiyed every afternoon thus far, and
scarcely an evening passes without 4
score or two of calls. Everybody
praises her, unless it be the very
fashionable ladies', who think she
ought not to dress SO plainly. The
truth is, they feel little ashamed of
their gorgeous attire when they see
the "first lady In the land" receiving
them in an inexpensive black silk,
without any jewelry, and her hair in
nocent OF puffs, bands,or frizzes. If
Mrs. Hayes will only succeed in get
ting the women Of the country to
stop their extravaganza oyerdressing,
she will accomplish as much good
as will her husband in his Civil-Serv-
ice reform project.