New-York tribune., 1878-03-30
GAIL HAMILTON-D. B. EATON.
MIR. EATONS PATH OF GLORY IN THE FEB
RUARY ATLANTIC.

VENTI0N
"Tho other party" says Mr. Eaton cheerfully, as
il he had been speaking with unmstakabe dlrect-
ness of one party instead of beating about blindiy
with "both parties" aud "no party" and ga party"
and either party" until he thus bounces in upon
"the Other party" with the confident air OF man
who knows where he is at last. But he gives no
clew to his readers. Whether hc means one OF the
nares into which the country is divided, or one OF
the parties into which the Republican party was
divided on the question of q candidate, 1t Is InlpoS-
sible to tell. What he says is: The other parry
secured candidate who had presented some ap-
pearance at least, of being reioImer, anu nc was
accepted by those Of his faith, as favorng relorn
He NAV mean MIR. Tilden or he may mean Mr.. Hayes;
hut neither "dunce" nor ga common politician
can determine the point, and even after a year oil
Administrative Reform it would be difficult to de-
eide which is the more enthusiastic deVotee
of Mr. Eaton's reform, Mr.. Hayes or Mr. iliden
What is clear beyond question, Mr.. Eaton ailfs' Is
that eff either of the Republican party leaaeiS
could have been presented as identhed Win such "
polioy~ he would have been nominated. Mr.. Eaton
does not mean-what his words indicate-that the
Republican party had only two leaders. 1hat Is
only one Of those little mystifcations when per-
con Of intelligence may allow himself. assuming
that the Ounces" will find out what he means III
sptc of his words. There several party leaders
tentions to extraordinary goodness, and the
fact that none of them did bow down themselves III
the house OF this Civil Service Reform Rimmon,
although Mr. Eaton assures us that this one sign OF
submission would have secured them the prize, Is
very encouraging. BY the platform which they
adopted, and OH which they were glad 10 stlid'
they showed their adherence to real reform; but
they refused to identify themselves, even at the
risk of defeat with a party winch traded upon
virtue systematized sham, aud iiOurished only 10y
sander. trust the Republican party leaders may
have grace givoD them from above always 10 choose
defeat rather than " Identification with such
policy " as Mr.. Dorman B. EatOns Civil Service
Reform policy has showed itself to be.
Mr.. Eaton says There was suoh public senti-
ment in its favor 1.-THE Reform pocyl that the peO-
pie were ready to lift an untried man into the Presi-
dental chair, over the heads Of the most distin-
euishcd public men, merely because he had showed
honesty and courage fer the punishment of the cor
rupt persons upon whom n Republican Admlnistra-
tion had bestowed Offices" If the people were
ready, why did they not do it1 The Presidential
chair was ready; the untried man was ready. Mr
Eaton says the people were ready. And yet 1t was
not done. The fact is that in the course OF human
events, Mr.. Eaton has trotted around to Tooley-st
again. and is Haunting bis "we, the people from
the Fifth Avenue Hotel windows. To relieve his
iect his "people" to their former extraordinary
shrinkage We must first eliminate all q mere poll
ticians in the land" and too many of the friends
of good government" Then we must dispense with
the majority" and bring d" the people" down Z" to
great body of the best and most influential cit-
zens y; and having thus reduced it to manageable
SIZE We are entirely willing to admit that the Fifth
Avenue Conference and the party which, at its
summons came close up 10 the door of creation and
then thought better of it and turned back, was
quite ready TO lift Mr. EatOns candidate into tie
Presidential chair. But the real people, using that
word in other than the EatOnian sense, were any
thing bat ready. BaIkis was wIllin' but Peggotty
wasn't!
But an unborn party will never long lack candi-
date for want of untried men. Mr. Eaton's serenity
is IN no wise disturbed He not to suspect the
least inconsequence in having made ready his Prcsl-
Dental chair. aud ranged the heads of his dstin-
gushed men carefully around it, and brought up bis
untried man to be lifted into it, and stationed his
"people" with their coats off prepared for the job
and leaving them there! He raises the curtain in
the very next paragraph. and, behold! another king
has arisen that knew not Joseph, and that Joseph
never knew, and the " heads" and the "pecple"
and the "untrled man" have all disappeared from
the stage and Mr.. Eaton goes glibly as if this
was the very sight lie had promised US. Not in the
least discOmfitted by his utter breakdown, not ap-
parently i'll the least aware that he has had break
down, he proceeds jauntily to claim the award of
victory. at is enough for orr purpose that, while
it the nomination. fell upon one $50 it seems that
the programme was varied not only by the peoples
not lifting Mr. EatoI'S man into the Presidential
char, but by their dropping the chair on
another man, II fell upon one) i'll every way so
worthy TO fill the first Office, it also fell upon one
who, more emphaticaLy than any other person ever
before proposed for that high station, had pledged
himself TO the reform of the Civil service. Thus for
The second time the great question Of eevating the
Civil Service was brought into the foreground of
National politics; and this time not by com,nand of
the President bnt by command of the people. How
ever specous some Of the promises of Reform may
have been, they none the less prove the recognized
strength Of the sentiment demanding it,"
If this means anything it means that there a
great popular Civil Service Reform sentiment Or
ganizing the Cincinnati Convention, pushing that
Reform into the foreground of great National ques-
tons, and demanding and securing the election of
MIR. Hayes desire always to speak Of Mr.. Eatoms
meaning with the greatest timidity bat he is either
trying to create this impression on the pub
lie mind, or he is cropping around blindy
. in the dark. i confirmed in my sus-
picon of his meaning by the fact that Is iii unison
with the statements of the Reform party generally.
more shapely writer than Mr. Eaton, the chief
priest of the Tabernacle of reform has put forth the
same claims in the columns Of HarpeI's Foekly. Its
Editor and the Editors of other Reform journals
have in all forms of assertion and implication
steadfastly endeavored to impress the public mind
With the belief that a certain purified, raried ele
vated and consecrated host OF delegates in the Gin
cinnati Convention were firmly and finally moulded
together by reason Of a common irrepressble, un-
quenchabe ardor for reform, and that the outgrowt
of this seln-chemical union was the nomination o1
Mr.. Hayes.