The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-12-05

terity and by history with reference to his
supposable during the progress OF an adj
ministiation that 1t may mend before it
reaches its close, and hence there is always
some danger that injustice may be done to
President during his first or second year
by contemporary critics. But they can
Judge only by what is offered to their obser-
walton. and If q President makes feeble be-
ginning the best service they can render
him is to point out his shortcomings with
the frankness of true friendship, and thereby
aid him in retrieving his reputation and
securing from his countrymen the final
verdict that 'salls we'll that ends we'll. :"
Mr.. Hayes has had trial of nine months,
and the transmission to Congress OF his first
annual Message affords At occasion for
considering what ne has thus .far done in the
light of his own explanations. The press Of
the country has been disposed to treat him
with considerate generosity while he was
still new to his Office but after
the lapse Of the greater part OF q
year, and with the advantage of the
revised opinions expressed in his Message.
it would be derelictiou of duty to dandle
him as if he were still Presidential infant.
This, therefore, seems a fit stage for
candid and faithful estimate Of what the
President has done up to this time
In considering the Message we must lay
out of view all it says on the resumption
question and the silver question. for this
portion of the Message is only a hazy re-
Election of Secretary Sherman's annual re-
port. Mr.. Sherman has had opportunities
to learn sound views on these questions in
the best of all practical schools. His nego-
tiation with the Syndicate,for the sale of the
four per cent bonds brought him in con-
tact with some of the best informed fnan-
ciers of our time. The argument offered to
Mr.. Sherman by the Syndicate is one of the
most cogent possible. The annual saving
Of interest by refunding such Of our ma
tional bonds as fall due previous to 1881
would be more than twenty-five million dol
lars. Mr.. Sherman has had occasion to learn,
by his intercourse with the Syndicate that
funding at four per cent is impossible until
the Silver bill is defeated beyond all hope
of resurrection, and he has sense enough to
see that no possible gain by the remonetiza-
ton Of silver would approach this an
nual saving Of interest Nothing could
be more satisfactory than the clearness of
his perceptions on this point, and this part
Of his annual report is model Of lucid
exposition and conclusive argument. The
corresponding part of the Presidents Mes
sage, borrowed from this and rejecting it,
belongs not to Mr.. Hayes, but to his
Secretary of the Treasury, whose official
intercourse with the Syndicate has lifted
him into higher financial atmosphere
than that where float the current West
ern notions on this class of subjects. After
rendering unto Hayes the things which are
Hayes and unto Sherman the things which
are Sherman's the only parts Of the Mes
sage which can be credited to the President
are those which relate to other subjects than
the national finances. ,. !. .,.r ,,.s-
Laying out of the Message the parts
which belong to Secretary Sherman, what
remains to be carried to the credit of the
President? Nothing except what he claims
in connection with bis Southern policy and
his civil service reform. Laying out Of
view the financial merits of the Message,
that document is mere catalogue of unre-
deemed pledges, except with reference to
the Southern question. But. even with
regard to the South Mr. Hayes course
is exposed to criticism. It has been charged,
and is widely believed, that there was
great deal of underhand intrigue previous
to the withdrawal Of the troops Mr.. STAN
ley Matthews was supposed to be the prin-
cipal agent Of the President in those in
trigues. 1t is the popular impression that
the President, in order to reward Mr.. Mat
thews for that service, discouraged Mr.. Gar
fields claims to succeed Mr.. Sherman as
Senator from Ohio. The history Of that
intrigue is but vaguely known, but there
is widely diffused impression that its in
President. If, as he seems to assert in his
Message, it was his clear constitutional duty
to withdraw the troops from Louisiana and
South Carolina, why did he wait and bargain
and resort to dnesse aud keep the country in
state of protracted anxiety before discharg-
ing plain duty? Had he withdrawn the
troops within three or four days after
his Inauguration his action would have
been in perfect accord with the theory
OF his Message; but che long delay, which
covered q secret intrigue, puts this matter
in somewhat different light Justice does
not wait to consummate underhand bargains
before it consents to act.
Leaving the Southern policy, which is
dead question, we come to Mr.. Hayes bur-
lesque attempts to reform the civil service.
We spare him any discussion Of the noted
civil service order which he quietly ADAM
dons in his Message by passing it in silence
as if he were ashamed of it. We leave him
to 'chew the cud of sweet and bitter fances"
ON that strange order which he discreetly
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