New-York tribune., 1878-03-23
GAIT, HAMILTON-D. B. EATON.
MR. EATON's PATH OF GLORY IN THE FEB
RUARY ATLANTIC.
STONES OF STUMBLING.

"When preparatiOns for the last election opcheu,
moi merely true statesmen but sagacious party man
ayers says Mr. Dornan b. Eaton, forgetting again
what he had said about the identity OF true sta'es-
manship with sagacious party management, per
cs;ved that the rolling stone of reform, which the
officers at Washington had rejected ana sent back 10
the people. was by no means crushed. but would
crusb the builders if not put into the new edifce'
Both parties ' declared for the very policy SO
lately discarded 1t could be used to catch votes IL
not as foundation to build upon"
Tb,re is one true statesman who is very padIy
crushed by this remarkable stone.' but II he Will
lie still and not struggle think he can be GOT OUT
alive The stone altogether too big and heavy lor MN
tn handle is conglomerate from sacred ana prolahe
literature. 1t appears first as a rolling stone Du'
what do we know about rolling stone, except tha.
il gathers no moss rolling stone Is type OF aii
useless, ineffective things. among which MI Ea'oi
surelv does not wish to enroll his reform hazard
the coniecure that lie had III his mind an lndStihct
reminiscence of the rolling snow OF MS schoo
bov davs. which increases with every roll but
when he tapped on his brain. and asked Ior 'ha'
snow-bou IL gave him stone, and be did not per-
ceive the difference.
.Tbe rolling stone of reform which the officers at
Washington had rejected" Here Mr.. Eaton has
unwittngly slipped off his rollingstone and stepped
upop the soriptural stone which the builders re-
ieeed and which afterwards became the head OF the
corner But this is unfortunate because no one sup
noses that the stone which the builders rejected was
a railing stone If Mr.. Eaton and his associates on
the Civil Service Commission presented themselves
to the officers at Washington with rolling stone III
their hands as the cornerstone OF the new Duldhg,
the officers at Washington did very right III REJECT
ing it, Conceding Mr. Eaton's claims to true
craftsmanship greatly fear he could not pass
competitive examination on masonry. MY eooo
neichbor that staunch and stalwart old federallst.
Colonel "Tim" Pickering. was walking over his
pleasant Wenham farm one Summer morning re-
freshing himself after the fatigues and the ISLANDERS
ard the general abuse that beset member OF wash
ipgtOn's Cabinet when man came up ana ASKED iof
work. sWhat can YOU do on farm I" inquired
Colonel Pickering.
"All kinds of work. said the man. ot-hand.
"Do you know how to build q stone wall :"
"Oh yes: any fool knows that"
"Tell me how you do it, then"
"Well, nothin' mu'h to tell. You jest have to set
one stone on another"
"No you DON'T" thundered the irate Colonel; !;
"you have to set one stone two! You can go"
suspect that blr. Eaton was building better than
he knew or meant when he perched bis Reform
edifiee on rolling stones, and set 1t trundllng down
to what he euphuistcally calls 1.-The lowest point
of the downward plane of the zigzag of progress -
where at present it seems 10 stick fast III the mIie
And whc again. is it that Mr.. Eaton means by
the officers at Washington who rejected his roll
ing stonei Not the Civil Service officers, for it was
not presented to them. / greatly fear Inc that Mr.
Eaton is shpwreeked again on members of Congress
who are not officers at all. Since lie is so much en-
barrassed in his nomenclature, how would 1t do for
him to follow the example of the good wife who
tbac in fla
world and monopolizes for him the pronoun he ?
Rather than confuse his argument by applying to
Congressman an improper term, suppose Mr.. Eaton
arraign them for survey and sentence under
They
But now Mr. Eatons rolling stone gives another
lurch and always with a vicious certainty it lurches
over on him. Rejected as a building stone and very
properlr as we have seen, it was by no means
crushed lie SAYS but would crush the builders if not
put into the new ediice. Still, by sort of uncon-
seious cerebration. Mr.. Eaton is hammering away at
the scrpural stone in lobe of his statesmanlike
brain, while he is grinding to powder the sagaciouS
marty managers in the other. But the scripural
stone was never IN danger of being crushed. Who
soever should fall on it should be broken, and on
whomsoever it should fall it would grind him TO
powder. Let Mr. Eaton notice that the people
who were prodding and plolding around the
self. However. says Mr. Eaton, rushing on in
spite of warning it, that is, the policy.
that is the cornerstone that is, the rolling stone
"could be used to catch votes if not a foundation
to build upon." How, Mr. EatOnY If it were roll
ing stone IL must be round. If it round how
could it catch anything! 1t is difficult to see how
it could BE- used undorpinning it is impossible to
see how ii could be used for a catch-all. The best
thing for Mr.. Eaton is to let it roll out of sight, con-
fine himself henceforth to such mid missiles as
words and grass and not attempt TO try what vir-
tue there is in stones He will be surprised to find
how much can be done with words, if he but re-
spect their limitations and their meaning
When Mr.. Eaton is at length dragged out from
under his untimely carn, very much the worse for
wear and set upon his feet again, he shows that his
a6lcti0n has not been sanctlfied TO his spiritual
good. by saving: "There were before the country
men of eminence who had rendered great services
from among whom according to partisan theories
the new President must be selected" Certainly the
partisan theory does not show badly in tins 1t
would be difficult for true craftsmanship to find
a better theory than to select its Presidents from
men of eminence who are before the country and
who have rendered great services. If partsanship
were SO mere and so mercenary," so O. selfish"
and so corrupt as Mr. Eaton considers il, mar
vel that il was particular as TO insist that
President should be chosen from the ranks Of
eminent and patriotic men. wonder it
did not mouse about among the light
fingered gentry who could be depended
upon for steal" or search for some unknown man
whose public reputation would not be a guarantee
or whose love of country evnced by great services
rendered. would not he presumption against sub
sequent plunder and betrayal. But no; it was not
only the partisans who were seeking leader among
tl.a ak
the men without intelligence. cat the outset of
the campaign says Mr.. Eaton not politician in
FIVE hundred doubted that one of these great men
yuo,,ld Lo tho nnyf pre.idenf y So that Mr. Eaton