The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-04-11
IN. Y. Tribuue.I
Gall Hamilton Again.
Mr. Eaion's Path OF Glory in the Febru-
AIRY Auantic-The Truth of Words.

tne otner direction and make their bed in hell
for the sake of getting any sort of candidate
who would let them in on the winning side.
They went into convention with a candidate
who did for them represent reform. They
could not elect him, and they dropped him for
man who had scarcely been heard of BY ths
country at large, but of whose Reform traits
the Boston Daily Advertiser had advised very
select circle of us, along Beverly shore and
Ipswich beach, in telling US that his nomination
for Governor of Ohio against Judge Taft In
1875 was unquestionably the work of ''ths
small managers Of local political rings, act
ing in conjunction with the men of better char
acter but no more tact, who insist that q caudi-
date shall be of their opinion or of no opinion
concerning the merits of their private and par
| ticular hobby-horses;' that while Judge Taft
was man of conspicuous ability and various
accomplishments, he was mot politician"
and the "Ben Eggleston Ring of Cincinnati Il
do not know anything about "Ben Eggleston"
or bis "ring" except this, its sudden and soli-
tary appearance in the Boston Advertiser. but
If he is now in training as the Reform candi-
date for the Presidency at some future moment
hereby give him notice that by consulting the
Boston Advertiser he may hear of something
very much to his advantage was dreadfully
afraid OF him, not without reason. Hayes they
knew. He had been Governor two terms, and
there never was any danger that he would iu-
stitute any reforms to hurt. (He
possesses all the cardinal virtues, bat counts
for nothing). Before Judge Taft's name was
brought forward. General Hayes had publicly
ard as positively as possible declined to be q
candidate. The day before the convention ,ythe
Cincinnati Gazette published an extract from
letter written by General Hayes, In which he
said, L wish you and my friends to know that
will not, under any circumstances, be can
didate against Judge Taft for Governor New
ertheess, when the convention met, he was
candidate, it is understood with his consent, ard
at all events he Immediately telegraphed his
acceptance OF the nomination" And
he was nominated on platform which the
Advertiser pronounced 'erafty rather than
bold, equivocal rather than plain"
do not affirm that ths Reformers were M
wise or untrue in nominating such man, with
such aid as they could secure; but do affirm
that they shall not call it the triumph of prin-
ciple, of purity, of the higher element in pol.
itics. 1t was twice and thrice as much the tri-
umph Of every faction, aud every measure,
and every element which the Rsformers had
been for months denouncing as corrupt and
shameless and fatal, as was the triumph Of
Reform. But having made this stand for the
facts, relinquish permanently and entirely
all its advantages and make over to Mr.. Eaton.
his comrades, their heirs and assigns forever.
all right and title to the honor accruing from
the Cincinnati Convention. Indeed, L do not
think go very far wrong in assuming that
may speak for the whole Republican party. I
believe that even the ''sagacious party man
agers," Mr.. Conkling, Mr.. Cameron and their
allies would vie with me in generosity and
gladly transfer to Mr.. Dorman b Eaton and
his "true statesmen" all their credit for the iu-
PRODUCTION of "the higher element in politics
which the nomination of Mr.. Hayes has
brought about.
Mr. Dorman B. Eaton announces himself
satisfied and by SO doing becomes to us-if he
will pardon the alluson-like the shadow of a
great rock In weary. land. He declares thse
it is enough. ''It is enough for our purpose
that, while it fell upon one in every vay so
worthy to fill the first office, it also fell upon
one who, more emphatcslly than any other
person ever before proposed for that high sta
ton, had pledged himself to the reform Of tho
the Civil Service. The President has Justly in
terpreted the pledges given according to their
spirit and to their acceptance by the people,"
MIR. Eaton's courageous spirit" certainly
mounts to hardihood in this assertion. The air
is thick with jeer and scoff and scorp, with
intrigue and fasehood and broken faith and
mad folly and cowardice and hypocrisy, which
make the sturdy and stubborn vices of the past
assume the semblance of virtue, and Mr.. Eaton
stands staring right on with calm and eternal
eyes, and calls it Reform, and vows he likes it,
One knows not how to approach such a man.
it would be time lost to approach him at all
Dut Tor the value given to his opinion by its ex-
preston in monthly magazine of respectable
character and circulation; aud by the fact tha
he was a member of the Civil Service Reform
Commission, and thereby one of the chief ex-
ponents of Reform. Let us, therefore, piece
by piece, compare words with facts. But first,
because Mr.. Eaton is not to be trusted, let us
compare words with words. What were the
"pledgesY' In slight sketch of the history
and progress of his Reform, Mr. Eaton says,
shat in 1872 the Republican National Con-
ventioD, the Liberal Convention, and the DEM
ocratic Convention, each passed resolutions
declaring the need of great reform that should
abolish patronage and advance merit. The
two latter conventions proclaimed the reform to
be one OF the most pressing needs of the hour
and the Republicans declared that 80 give
offices as a reward for party zeal is fatally de-
moralizing.'"
With the Liberal and Democratic Conyen-
tions have nothing to do, bat Mr.. DOrman b.
Eaton, appointed commissioner to reform our
Civil Service, and in moral attitude higher by
the breadth of my nail than any of his con-
temporaries, has deliberately, through manu-
script and proof-shset garbled the record Of
the Republican Convention of 1872, has made
it promise what it did not promise, and state
principles which it did not state, and so has
borne also witness against the politicians
whose moral tone" is so offensive to his snow
white purity.
The Republican platform of 1872 says:
Any system Of the Civil Service, under which the
subordinate positions Of the Government consid-
izng, and we therefore favor reform of the system
by laws which shall abolish the evils of patronage
tal qualifications for public Positions without prae-
tically creating ife-tenure of office.
This is right and proper 1t is adopted and
believed by every honest Republican in the
country. 1t is, think, the first appearance of
"Civil Service Reform" strictly so called, In
the platforms, yet it delineates with correctness
the true path, and gives scope for all the re-
form which the Civil Service needs But it was
not strong enough to snit MIR. Eaton. so he took
hold aud tinkered 1t a little on his own account.
The convention, speaking the words of truth
and soberness, declares itself to "favor o reform
which shall abolish the evils of patronage
How does Mr.. Eaton justify himself for thus
bearing false witness against his neighhors?
How much higher up on the zig-zag path to
Heaven is falstier of records than "parti-
san schemer?' How much of the "higher ele-
ment" must be injected into our politics before
2 sagacious party manager, can be converted
who changes figure in the custom house at
"the lowest point Of the downward plane OF
the zig-zag of progress" while the man who
changes a word in the contract Of a great party
with great nation is at the ''height then
reached by the ascending zg-zag of progress?'
Does Mr.. Eaton think the chsnges unim-
portaut? Then why did he make them? Is
the platform of party-a platform which is to
be presented for approval to a nation of 40, ,0OO,-
900 subsequently, dashed off in heat like
letter TO friend? Does not Mr.. Eaton know
that words are of the utmost importance, are
selected with the greatest care, subjected to pro-
longed elaboration and confined strictly to
their meanings? Does Mr.. Eaton think that
to abolish the evils of family life is the same
thing as to abolish family life? Does he think
that party zeal, combined with honesty, eff
cheney, and fidelity, is the same thing as mere
party zeal without those essential qualifications
Tor Office? The Republican convention de-
signed to abolish the evils of patronage by not
bestowing it upon men who had no other quali-
fcations than party zeal, but to make honesty,
efficiency and fidelity essential This is right
and wise, practicable, desirable, even impera-
tive. Mr. Eaton makes the convention say In
effect that patronage should be abolished aud
party zeal ignored-which is not only untrue
on the part of Mr.. Eaton, but is to make the
convention speak as fool. The Ounces aad
Common politicians who composed that con-