New-York tribune., 1878-01-22
GAIL HAMILTON AGAIN.
DIR EAT-GRANDFATHERS AND IHhlh
CIVIL SERVICE-A REVIEW IN FOUR
PARTS.

THE CIVIL SERVICE AFTER HIS GiEAA-u"AND
FATHER.
Mr.. Lodge inserts a letter from his great-gfahd-
father TO Washington, simply as an Illustration oi
the conception OF the Civil Service entertained p}
Senators in 1791 and also as showing the relation
TO the President which Senators thought they held'
with regard 10 such appointments also shall IN
sert the letter simply as All illustration of the pc
cuIiar optical Illusion which affects certain class
of polticians of to-day whenever they look AT our
Civil Service.
CABOT To WASHINGTON.
s,p. Mr. William Kirkpa trick q member OF the h0nse
~ o. r dg ervny the Tinted States IN character
OF Consul for that port. Should 1t he th0ugh
Ia institute such an Office. may be found That SIR kh
atr5ct,s stnatIon as well a. talents and disposition
peculiarly enable him TO MI WIN piUP'ths oraIifca
me therefore Sir to request that when the q'iECa-
tons of candidates under your exaninaloh "' "iSo
nS po Gy is necessary for this freedom hone 1t
may moi he deeed Insufficient that, having been ed oy
NV profession make frequent VISITS 10 SPad ~ t
commercial establishment 10 which dr. kirKpduIck pe
longs; that trose have d,sted my les G and
their friendship TO The people OF tlS country cons
me think well OF gehieil3. t,ey lTcoe h @ U' n l
to conde in iOr whose talthfuuess theY are WHITE
10 be responsible am, With the most profound respect
sr' your '"0'' '"'''''" ''''N GEORGE CABOT.
VIII Mr. Lodge have the goodness to tell us in
wha; consists the difference between the conception
of The Civl Service entertained by tine Senators OF
17o1 and of ST. between their relations regard
ing te President as revealed by this letter Senator
Cabot NOT only recommended his fellow-radesman to
ofIce bat strongly mnted that an Office should
be created for him TO fill. ] believe General Grant
did institute the Office of Inspector Of CoaSuates Tor
his friend DR.. Newman, but the ReforneH never
counted it unto him for Righteousness aud II cer-
tainly did not justify Mr. Cabot III creating Con-
sulate for his friend Kirkpatrick. believe also that
i y, Is,,,, IL Of orc sh.t1tf
ON the SPOT has been found to offer too great Temp
tation to dishonesty and local complications and
has been discontinued. That is, the Civil Service
notions of Mr.. Cabot have been reformed by mod
ern politi. But it remains that the fact
which Mr.. Lodge calls upon us to admire
in contrast with present ways, is that an
officer seeker connected by business with his great
grandfather desired that gentleman to say "A good
word for him. and that he did SO 10 the extent even
of suggesting that an office be created where none
existed DO our Senators need stimulus IN that
direction Ii is true that Mr.. kirkparicks " III
ness" is alleged, and that the letter is courteous
and not dicatorial But does Mr. Lodge suppose that
when Senator Conl,ling, for instance recommended
Mr. Arthur TO the CollectOrShip of NewlOrk, he sat
down and wrote:
DEAR ORD IYs-Ches Arthur is a scalawag, hut ne
wants the place and want Lis vote. so you Just shoNe
him III aud be quick about it, Yours forever ahd DAY
Roscoe CONKilSG.
For myself | do not doubt that the letters of all
Senators to all Presidents would, upon examination
prove to be- on the average. less proper in tone
and considerably less CLUMSY in style than the let
ter of Mr.. Cabot TO President Washington.
Another letter of Mr. Cabot TO President Wash
ington indicates beyond question that the doctrine
of Civil Service refoIm which was wildly and spas
modically proclaimed during the early weeks OF
Administration thar when the
President wanted the opinion OF members of Con-
gress he would ask for it, and that proer OF opinion
was impairment had 10 foothold among the fathers
Mr. Cabot Justly considered that The President was
but part OF the Government and that IT was the
right and the duty of Senators to charge themselves
with securing proper appointments TO Offices honor
and trust. Thus writes Mr.. Cabot unsolicited To
President Washington: Sir: The great Importance
of selecting persons speedily for the Offices created
by the British treaty, and the difficulty
of finding those who may be in all respects c0mpc-
tent 30 the duties required, have suggested the be-
lief that it mi g not be unacceptable to the Exec
utive to receive from various parts of the Union
the names of candidates who may be thought most
suitable" That President Washington did not lay
down as Civil Service rule the injunction that Sen
ators should speak only when they are spoken to
may be inferred from the fact that one of the men
SUGGESTED ~ Nj. tdDvt was "i''ANNi "i4"'i''''
Commissioner under the treaty.
Another bit of correspondence throws floods of
light unon the conception OF. the Civil Service
tertaned by the Administration OF Washington.
June II, 1896, Secretary Pickering writes to Mr..
Cabot that 4" The President has determined to make
a change in the Consulate at Hamburg" and, be-
heving that even ex-Senators nave something more
to do with the reasons of the Presidents action than
the Shah Of Persia, Colonel Pickering explains that
in spite of the lucrative legitimate fees of the office
and the great wealth OF tie incumbent Mr.. Parish,
merchant, which ought to make them of little con-
sequence 10 him, there are nevertheless repeated
complaints against him for taking eXOrbitant fees
dollars instead Of two for every certificate
"Of this" says Secretary Pickering, ian expana-
ton would have been asked, il other ofG poll
teal nature had not Influenced tie decision"
The italics are neither Secretary Pickering's nor
Mr.. Henry Cabot LODGES but my own That a
Cabinet officer under Washington and Adams should
have allowed political considerations not only to
influence n mans retention of Office, but prevent an
investigation into charges of malfeasance i'll Office,
au "illustration of the conception Of Civil Ser
vice in 1896" which seems wholly to have escaped
Mr.. Lodges attention.
II is worthy, also of notice. that Secretary Pick
erng gravely asks of ex-senator Cabot, " Do You
know Of any respectable American citizen, of mer-
camille character, who would be willing to accept
the appOin 1t has, take ii, been lucrative
place, even by the fees of office" And Mr. Cabot,
having taken candle and sought diligently, reports
dutifuliy and sOberly II have inquired diligently
for character TO supply the vacancy at Hamburg,
and all my friends unite IN the belief that Mr. SAM
uel Williams, of Salem, is a very suitable man
80. He is now IN England. Mr.. Samuel viii
hams," says Mr.. Lodge. in a foot note, was subse-
queutly appointed, and accepted the Office. At a
later day, Mr.. Williams the largest American
banker in London. He uos ncphGo Of Colonel
PiekGriRg.'
How lucky that Secretary Pickering happened TO