The New York herald., 1878-10-08
\ Southern Critic OF Presidents
Hayes.

| the weight of their influence In 1875 In
favor of a psaceable and constitutional set
tlement of the Presidential dispute. He
supported the Electoral Commission, OF
which Senator Conkling was the author;
and, having given his consent to its forma-
ton, he maintained that its decision, what
ever it might be, must be accepted, and
that to filibuster with the view of carrying
the count over the 4th of March, or in any
other way to obstruct or prevent legal
conclusion being reached, was unpatriotic
and wrong We believe we do not misrep-
resent him when we add that he was well
pleased with the policy announced by Mr..
Hayes in his inaugural Message and was one
of large number of honest and patriotic
democrats who determined to give the new
President an independent support in the
efforts he had promised to make to carry
out needed reforms.
We recall these facts because they make
more pointed letter from Senator Hill,
which we print elsewhere, in which he
sharply, but as it seems to Us justly, criti-
cises the course of Mr. Hayes, and compares
his abundant and excellent promises with
his lamentable lack of performance. He re-
marks, rightly, that the Southern policy of
the President was inevitable. Even General
Grant saw in the last days of his nd
ministration that the army could no
longer be used as part of the par
,isan political machinery in the Southern
States, and he refused to recognize or
support Mr.. Packard in Louisiana. But
Mr.. Hill desired to see the civil service of
the country reformed, especially, as he
says, in the Southern States, and he ap-
pears to have been gratifed by the Presi-
dents unequivocal declaration of a deter
mination to undertake this work. Mr.
Hayes, he writes. ''has failed because he
has shown himself utterly unequal to his
opportunity because he has utterly failed
to realize that the Chief Magistrate of
great country has no personal friends, no
personal enemies, and owes no personal
obligations, but is under obligations only
to his country. He has thrown away the
grandest opportunity ever given to man.
only that he might give offices and rewards
to as worthless set Of rapscallions as ever
disgraced humanity; set Of men" he
adds, 'who were the guilty concoctors of
the frauds in the South, by the help of
which Mr.. Hayes reached the White
House."
Mr.. Hills indictment of the President is
good as far as it goes. It is too true that
Mr.. Hayes has been weak enough to ap-
point to Office, so far as is known, every
man Of all the disreputable crowd which
in Louisiana and Florida manipulated the
election returns in 1876. Black or white,
obscure or prominent, vigilant search has
failed to discover single man who had to
do with this disgraceful work who has not
been given some Office, large or small, in
his own State, or oftener in Washington or
in some distant locality. They tell story
in Florida that among the hungry politi-
cal small fry there it became SO well known
that connection with election affairs in
1876 would bring Office in 1877 that
some ingenious scamps confessed falsely
to misconduct, were promptly .'taken
care Of" as the saying is, but were as
promptly dismissed when later it was dis
covered that their confessions were un-
founded. There is no doubt that Mr..
Hayes alienated from himself great num-
Der Of honorable men by his course in this
matter. which has long been public
scandal, and it is an open secret that in
weakly making or consenting to such ap-
pointments he acted contrary to the advice
which was given him by such republicans
as Charles Foster, General j. d. Cox,
Wayne Macveagh and others of equal prom
inence and high character, who urged upon
him that such men as Madison Wells, An
derson, Stearns and persons of similar ante
cedents and character could not properly
be recognized by him, and lacked the prln-
cipal qualifications which he had declared
necessary in public officer.
When, therefore, Senator Hill severely
arraigns the President for the gross misuse
of patronage it 10 impossible for Mr.. Hayes
best friends to defend him. He is guilty,
and he has sacrificed his own character and
reputation in q way which has surprised
and grieved oil who placed confidence in
his early promises. But after all, it strikes
us that Mr.. Hill, in his zeal for civil service
reform and his indignation at disreputable
appointments, deals only with an incident,
and leaves untouched the main body of the
Presidents shortcoming. That we con-
ceive to be that he has belittled his high
Office, and shown himself regardless of the
public interests intrusted to his care. He
has not acted the part of Chief Magistrate
of the country, but of petty pedler of
small offices. He has neglected the most
vital public interests and spent his time
in useless and fruitless quarrels with the
leaders Of his party. He has totally failed
to grasp the situation of the country or its
necessities and has seemed not even to see
the opportunity which lay before him to