National Republican., 1878-04-04

atengue that has all the volatility Of bully
and none Of the responsibility"
Responsibility, eh2 How refreshing is
the sound that. high.toned word, synonym-
Gus with ChINalry, and suggestive as 1t is
Of those good old times when thorough
gentlemen like PRESTON s.. Brooks, OF
South Carolina, incapable Of rowdyism and
sturdily devoted TO all that Is aesthetic in
life, went around armed with big clubs
loaded canes, bludgeons knives, and pis-
tolls, with which to protect their always en-
dangercd "honah, sirw or to assault from
the rear some unsuspecting political oppo-
nent Verify, this kind Of defense from his
Southern friends and admirers must be en-
couraging to the President-provided, of
course, he forgets that in the opinion Of his
defenders he is "tarred with the same stick"
that his assailants are in other words, that
he is u Northern man. Wonder IL he ever
does forget that trifling factp
THE Ready Letter Writer does not en-
brace, we believe, in its numerous forms
one that would relieve fresh disciple Of
pure Civil-Service Reform from embarrass-
mont regarding the kind of phraseology
proper to he used in commencing fellow
partisan for an appointment to Office. OF
course concentrations for such purposes
are in plain violation of the spirit of said
Reform but ii the spirit should for the
nonce be forgotten and true Reformer
should he guilty Of attempting to reward q
| fcllow-partisan, the embarrassment we
speak Of would ordinarily amount to great
aftiiction. Luckily, however, this import
ant omission among letter-writing forms
has been supplied by the accidental dis
covery and publication of a letter from
President HAYES to the Hon. c. p. JAMES,
written in lS72 for the identical purpose
alluded to. Among the careful civil-service
reform and strictly non.partisan phrases
used in this letter are the following:
FORCE tells me that General Tom g. SMITH
wants paymastership. Surely, he ought to
have 1t. Ii anything | can say will help him
to it, | am ready to say ii in the strongest
way. He is possessed of every qualification, in.
tcgIity, industry, business capacity, good
sense, and fine record rs soldier, citizen
|
purpose, all this yOu may say to the President
and I'll enter into bonds that its So
To the intellect of the average machine
politician these sentences convey the idea
that the applicant indoIscd by them hat
actually earned something by his politica
services, and was deserving of political re
ward also. that il was. in those days com
pctent for au active politician to urge III,
President to make appointments on partisan
grounds; else, why allude to the fact tha
the applicant had fine record as q Repub
lican? But the average machine politician
is dull, stupid beast, incapable of apprc
ciating the fine distinction between twce
dledum and tweedledec He would proba
bly, write exactly such letter in behalf 0
one of his own kidney. without KNOWN
it was a Reform epistle; and, further h
would probably construe the following
closing paragraph OF the same letter rs a
indication that political trickery, maneuy
ering, ballot-box stuiiing, or something q
| that kind had been going on" in Cinciu
natl. from which place the letter was writ
ten, in 1872:
The Cincinnati Liberals were gobbled u
and done for in the handsOmeSt way imagin,
bic. Such a defeat never was seen befor
Sincerely, r. B. HAYES"
. "Gobbed up" it must now be undo
stood, is standard Civil-Scrvice Relorl
expression, while and done for " is mod
g phrase to indicate an unprecedented defe:
of the Liberals. We yearn to make pert
nent use Of both.