New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-06-06
DIFFICULTIES AND ECChNIRiCiTIES or
ENtCRN.

In carrying out his Tc9OFm Of the Cyli scr
vice the President il exposed TO Il dilemma
which must cause him a great deal Of ann0y-
ance and mearIness, theHsh lis frcads de not
fully realize it, Ii lie Hai,es appointments and
removals solely on his own discretion, he races
the certainty of Misrepresentation as well a.
the danger of many serious mistakes. lie viii
be deceived by imperfect information or dis
honest advice, and h0 viii find a ci,i;-
cal and suspicious pal@c always ready
10 imagine a ba,c political motive for
changes which it does not comprehend.
If he governs himself, on the 0ther hand, 10y
stringent general rules, he will En1 them work
ing badly in particular casss, since neither
men nor circumstances are so piiSblc that they
can be made to fit c.s-t-iT0n mold. Hence
we must expect to hear sometimes th9t the
President is false 10 Avs own professions of le-
form, sometimes iAa4 he is doing more 'unS-
chief to the public by abJurd and inheN:5le
regulations tkan four years Of political patron
age could accomplish andtT the old system.
Both horns of the dilemma were exhibited
in our dispatches yesterday. II is true that
the matters referred TO happened in ;he Treas
my Department. and not uEdci The Immediate
supervision of the President, bat Mr.. Hayes is
held responsible for the manner in which his
policy is carried out by the members Of
his Administration. The first of the occur
rences Of which we speak was the ap-
pointment of an Inspector of Steamboats,.
The story nuns that prominent RcPub-
cleans Of Ohio" urged the Supervising
INSPECTOR @ cuoIai "tO make II place l0r Mr..
" Fchrenhatch, who has been prominent IN
"Ohio politics, and Was II StrGHg supporter OF
STANLEY Matthews in Ills Senatorial contest
II was suggested at first that place gould be
made by turning ont Inspector Shepherd of
Buffalo, but "Now-YGIk people objected. to
"iLis on the ground that il would he unfair
" to remove a Ncw-Y0rll man to make place
"for one from Ohio" the appointing ofi-
GERS cast about for another victim, and settled
upon one at Cincinnati, who is said TO he COM
Dctent and faithful; nevertheless he must go,
because his place is wanted. Now this seems
TO be very bad case Of tho sP0ils
abuse in its NEST aggravated form,
embracing all the varieties of wrong
which Nh Hayes is trying TO ab0Iish,--the re-
moyai of a good officer tic appointment OF Il
man not on the score Of fitness, but as a re-
ward for party service, aud the prostitution Of
the Federal patronage 10 reward the personal
adherent of a Senator. We say it seems to be
all this; but we cannot believe that the Pres
Ident would sanction such a violation Of his
principles aud we do nos doubt that there IS
a creditable explanation of the occurrence. Ii
is probably an instance OF tho pcneness of
people when they do not lmowthe reasons for
a change to suspect the worst, an~iliustration
of the peril ~ President mcurs when ap-
pointments and removals are made not by
rule but by free discretion.
The other difficulty arises from the stringency
OF a department rule. We have had two or
three regulations lately respecting the tenure
of Office. One fixes four years as the extreSne
duration of diplomatic appointment. Another
iufimates that eight years is rs long a period
rs the best of officers ought To expect to hold
their places in the home establishment.
Another is Secretary ShcIman's regulation,
referred to in cur dispatches yesterday. that
no two members OF the same family shall
"hold Office in the Treasury Department."
And the reason for adopting this rule IS said
to he that "uumcrous complaints have been
"Inade TO The President and the Secretary
"that great fayontsm has been shown,