Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-01-25
From the n. Y. Times.
THE PRESIDENTS MISTAKE.

alton of President Hayes we repeat
edly pointed out that, if any effective
work were to be done in the way of
reforming the civil service, it was in
dispsnsable that some general plan of
procedure should be at once agreed
upon and impartially enforced in all
cases. We endeavored to show that
if any considerable number of ap-
pOintments should be made before
the adoption of such a plan, the diff
Guilty of finally putting it in force
would be greatly increased. Vacan
cies would occur which must be filled
in some way or other, and if no plan
of impartial selection should be in
force, the only alternative would be
to fill them in the old hap-hazard
way. Better judgment might be
used and better selections made, but
the method of selection would be
substantially the same as before, and
would be open to the same objections:
In the absence of any impartial
method of determining the merits of
candidates, the President,or the head
of the department exercising the ap-
pointing power, could rely only on
his individual judgment or the state
ments of interested parties, and mis-
takes would necessarily be made.
And, worse than all, the Administra-
ton, having proceeded for a while
according to these bad old methods,
would become in some degree COM
mitted and reconciled to them, and
possibly less earnest in It's desire to
change them.
More than tel months have passed
since the Inauguration without the
adoption of any comprehensive meas
ure of civil service reform, and the
results which we predicted would fol-
low such failure have become un-
pleasantly conspicuous. No one will
refuse to accord to the President high
motives and sincerity of purpose.
There has been no such sweeping
change of public officers and no such
swine-like scrambling for place as
usually marks the advent of a new
Administration. Despite many un-
worthy and injudicious appoint
ments, the character and tone of CIV
il service have, on the whole, prObA-
bly, improved rather than deteriorat-
ed under his charge. And yet, while
all this is freely admitted, it cannot
be denied that the cause of civil ser
vice reform, as a permanent and sys-
tematic policy, has suffered much det-
riment, and that the friends of reform
are greatly disheartened.
The explanation of this seeming
paradox is simple enough. The Pres
ident has forgotten, or has not learn
ed, that the interference OF Congress
men iii appointments does not con
stitute the whole evil of the civil ser.
vice, but that all appointments fol
personal reasons are to be condemn
ed, whether the person gratified bt
Congressman, Cabinet officer, or even
President. The greatest defect Of
the Presidents position is that he
has endeavored in a spasmodic way
to prevent the interference of [ on
gressmen, while be has failed to sub
stitute anything for it, t,except his Owl
Judgment or whim, OF the recon
mendations of favored friends. The
result is, that he has alienated Con
gress and laid himself open to th'
charge of using the public service tC
reward his personal friends and ad
herents, without in any degree ad
vancing the cause of real reform. /
appointments are to be distributed
on personal grounds, we can see NJ
reason why congressman should no
claim their share. As a class, they
are doubtless able to give the Presi
dent much information aEout ap
pOintmenrs, while their local person
al interests will IN most instance
prevent them from recommending
absolutely unfit persons for the pub
lie service. Of course they will ia
vor only persons devoted to thei
own fortunes, or whose appointment
will advance their interests, but thi
in itself is no greater evil than the
appointments should be distributed
IN the interest of q coterie surround
ing the President, or even of th'
President himself. Already the com
plant is rife that the only difference
between the new order of things anC
the old is, that, whereas formerly the
appointments were bestowed upor
the friends of the President and Of
C1ngressmen, they are now bestow
ed on the friends of the President
alone. Unfortunately, there art
manv facts which support this view
but even if there were not, so long
as ths President Is unable to point tC
an impartial system of selection from
which his own personal wishes, al
distinguished from public considera
tions, are excluded as absolutely as
those of Congressman, he cannot pro
tect himself from such accusations
The. appointing power is not mere
personal perquisite, but sacred pub
lie trust, to be administered in the
interests of the whole people, and il
is as much perYersion of it to use it
to reward the friends of the Presi
dent as to reward the friends of Con.
gressmen. So far as the President
is concerned, civil service reform, like
charity must "begin at home" II
requires not only the destruction OF
Congressional dictation, but the self
abnegation of the President. 1t de.
mands that his own personal prefer
ence and desires shall be subordinat.
ed to the public good. 1t requires
him to protect the public service, not
only from the assaults of others, but
also from his own personal aims and
caprices. In short, like all noble
causes, it requires not only courage,
but the highest devotion to self-sac-
rifce. To secure this end, an impair
tial system of selection, which shall
regard only the fitness of the candi-
date for the place sought, is indis-
pensable. In the failure to adopt
such system lies the weakness of
the Presidents positions position
which we firmly believe might by
this time have been made impregna-
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