National Republican., 1880-02-20
THE pRoGuEss or REFORM.

The HAYT scandal has been condoned
in part by the assurances of the Secre-
tary of the Interior to the country that
since the Indian Office was established
nearly fifty years ago there have been
twenty Indian Commissioners, and that " a
majority of them went out of Office with
damaged regulations" This is unfortu.
nate, and does not represent the position as
one TO be coveted. 1t is environed with
too many perils, when more than half oI
those who have occupied the position
have been damaged by the contact. II
was fondly expected, when the present
Secretary entered upon his duty under
the broad-spread and richly emilia
zoned banner of reform in office, that nc
such calamity as had befallen the unfortu-
mates of the Indian Bureau would be re.
pcated in history under his administration
When he took charge of the Interior De.
partment Mr. JOHN @. SMITH was the In
dian Commissioner. He had been selected
for the position by the Hon. ZACHARIAH
CHANDLER, who was no doubt among the
very ablest incumbents who had ever been
placed i'll charge of that portfolio. No
doubt Mr.. SMITH was as capable and rs
honest as most of his predecessors, but Re.
form must have q victim, aud he was Sc
lcctcd to fill the bill. He was assniled and
n star chamber tribunal was instituted tc
hear and consider the allegations presented
without alfording the accused an opportu-
nifty to confront his accusers and defend
himself against their accusations To use d
commonplace expression, he was bounced
to give place to Mr. HAYT, who had been
selected as an exemplar in that temple oil
Reform He entered upon his duties, di-
viding his time between the responsibilities
of his position and his own private affairs
spending much of his time away from his
bureau and charging the Government for
all his time and much of the expenses o
his transportation back and forth. HAY1
had previously been member of the In
dian Peace Board, and had been removed
therefrom by President GRANT for cause
This appeared TO be his chief recommends.
ton for his late position, and for that
perhaps, he was installed as the head Of
the Indian Office, rs it would show Gen.
eral GRANT and his friends the supreme
contempt in which they were held by the
Secretary. At all events, HAYT was ap-
pointed, and the work of reform was car
ried on under his administration of Indian
affairs until it was run into the soil, carry
ing the engineer with it. He was found
guilty of practices inconsistent with strict
integrity Of conduct and purpose, and was
summariIy dismissed, for the reason thai
his evil practices could no longer be con.
cealed from public view. An attempt
has since been made to palliate hi.
oifenses by declaring that they were nC
greater, if as great, as those of some of hi.
predecessors. We refer to this matter now
to show that Reformers are as liable t.
make mistakes as men of less pretenson il
that line, aud to express the opinion thai
those who mount high upon the hobby.
horse of reform are quite rs likely to stun.
BILE and fall as those who do not sound q
trumpet before them, but move modestly
on, guided by the lights of common sense
and common honesty. Reform is good, but
to command respect it must be consistent
and successful. Otherwise it becomes Il by.
word and a reproach.