New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-12-24
OWE THLNG LII 4 TINE.

ONE THING At Il IIHf.
Our dispatches from Washington on Satur-
day indicated the certainty that the Bland bill
will pass the Senate, and the danger that 1t
nav pass again over the Presidents veto. In
its present form the Bland bill means
utter Observation-Disclosures in prices, damage
to business, and indefinite posiponement
of resumption. What is the Admins
tration doing to strengthen itself III the
Senate at such a crisis Can il afford
to ALLEVIATE strength by contests over any
smaller ssuesl Granting all that Is sald
against the present conduct of or Civil Ser
vice. and all that used to be claimed for the
Administration in the efforts to reform it
which Is the more dangerous, that a certain
amount of leakage and waste should occur in
the collection OF the revenues, or that all the
revenues and all the money of the country
should be dcbascd7
President Hayes cannot afford to he
dreamer. He must he an EXecutive-a man
who gets things dOne-or he fails. The country
wants leader, and one who can lead to good
ends. But what general has ever won who had
not the art of concentrating force on the vital
uont? Mr.. Hayes has tried to do right by the
South, to better the Civil Service, and to de-
fond public honor, all at once; and the time
has come for him TO ask whether now, with 'ho
hostiilirs he has aroused, and TIE complied
tiAns with which he has embarrassed himself,
he can do we'll more thaa one thing ut q
time. The pressing and vital issue, TO which
al else must yield, touches the public faith.
IF he wins in al else, but fails there, he viii
be known in history as ruler of great trusts
and rare opportunities who missed his chief
duty, because he saved at the spigot but
wasted at the bung. His great trust he lost,
for he was busy saving smaller THINGS. This
ought not to be the record Of Mr.. Hayes. But
what force has he gained in The great fight fOT
the public faith!
One part of lis friends he has made angry
by his deeds at the South Thi, was night.
No other thing then so much needed action.
Bit what has ne done next The Civil Ser
vice was to be reformed. Dii he reform il
Let Simmons and Thomas and the grotesque
record in the Ncw-Iork Custom House answer.
In March last, Mr.. Hayes might have done
what he pleased with the Civil Service. Even
as late as jane or July he could have
done everything that WAS needed. But
the Administration hcsitatcd when it
should have acted II made appointments
in defiance Of Civil Service Reform to
please this or that friend, and it mean
time preached Civil Service reform so
Justify, while practiciHg il so poorly, as to an
ger everybody else. As the Washington cor
respondent OF Yhe Ncr York HHGH terscly
put H. the Administration wanted everybody
10 favor Civil Service Reform excepting itself.
Can the Administration regain its lost ground
Can it 20 bacl, and gather up tho milk that
was spilled last March7 Can it pluck now
last Springs flowers? Having given away lis
case. having bound itself hand and foot by
letters and ccmmittals and appointments in
vital conflict with its own professions and
having thus placed itself at the mercy of the
Senate, can it now wisely challenge the Sen
ate further to mortal combat!
\ fight now with the Senate on the question
Of turning ont certain officers, whom three
months ago the Administration itself was eager
to praise and reward, implies that the favor of
the Senate is not needed on any greater issue.
But the Senate is needed for defence of the
public faith What has this Administration
done to make Republican Senate more safe
to stand by veto Of Bands bill than n
Democratic Housci One thing at time Mr..
Hayes! The country needs, iiist of all, every
power that You can bring to bear, to save it
from financial dishonor Can you rightly waste
that power in wrotchcd fight with the Sen
ate, - to patronage, on ground where, by the
acts of your own Administration, you have al
ready been given awayi
We do not wish to see just reforms made
hopeless Some must stand and wait. The
country must be served, rather than wishes Of
impatient asprants for the Presidency. i
good thing to do is not always the right thing
to do now, and when Collectors at Boston and
Philadelphia are called good for the sake of
Republican harmony and greater ends, Is good
a Collector at New-YoIk cannot well be called
bad for the sake of any private pique. Let
there be peace and patience, rs far Is can be,
until the public faith has been put beyond the
reach of attack. Shall there not be rs earnest
a use Of ali power TO defend the Union from
dishonor rs there was to save il from diSmem-
berment? What a power for good the Presi
dent throws away, when he strikes at nearly
every Senator who means to guard the public
faith, and pleascs scarcely one save those who
are ready to vote for bill like BANDS. Such
q contest, at such time-is that good SENSE
or wise use OF a great trust!
---------------------
SENATOR GORDONS WIP.