National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1880-01-27

Among the most blatant advocates of civil
service reform are Senators Butler aud Hamp.
ton, of South Carolina. Indeed, by some very
peculiar freak of the Democratic Senate the
former has been made chairman of the Civil
Service Reform Committee Notwithstanding his
unsavory record in connection with tho Ham
burg massacre. One of the demands that those
Senators have made upon Secretary Schurz
has been that he appoint no radical partisans
as census supervisors in the South"
Yet theae Senators go against this
theory in at least ono conspicuous
instance They recommended and succeeded
in having Henry Hammond, of Beech Island
appointed as one of tho supervisors of that
State. True to his instincts and antecedents,
Mr. Schurz pigeon-holed the application of
some good Republican and conferred the an.
pOintmcnt upon Hammond. But when the
long-sutfering South Carolina Republicans saw
Hammond's appointment in tho papers, they
remembered him MS blatant, proscriptiye and
malignant Democratic politician, who had been
engaged in the Ellenton riot, and was then
under indictment in The United States court
therefor. Two wel-knOwn Charleston Rcpubl-
cans telegraphed these facts to the President,
who at once ordered the Secretary to with
draw Hammond's nomination, which IL Is
said, that official reluctantly did. While But
lor and Hampton and Senators of their ilS,
object to the appointment of Radical parti-
sans" they are ever ready to favor those of
their own party regardless Of their partisan-
ship, and they work with especial zeal for ono
who took part i'll massacre in which twenty
odd Radicals" were killed, rs did Hammond
He is the son of James ii. Hammond, who once
represented South Carolina in the United
States Senate and was the author of n work
called Cotton is King" one of the lovers EN-.
ployed by the States rights gentry to soduco
the South to engage in open rebellion against
the Government. Whether all of these facts
were known to tho Secretary of the Interior
Is of no consequence for he certainly was dere-
lct to party duty when he permitted a brace
of Senators of the antccedents of Hampton and
Butler 10 name man for appointment, when
there itfe 50 many worthy South Carolina Re-
publcans who arc cminenty fitted to dis.
charge the duties of the position. 1t Is TO be
hoped that the snuhbmg thus administered to
the South Carolina Senators may have a salu-
tary effect and that henceforth they will
exhibit at least sufficient mndesty to deter
them from attempting TO control appointments
under an Administration which one of them
at least made himself 50 notorious in at
tempting to defeat in the memorable and
bloody affair at Hamburg. A well-known
South Carolina lawyer now in this city states
that Hampton and Buffers object in endeaY.
oring to secure Hammond's appointment was
with II view TO covering up tho tissucballot
frauds in the late elections. The district in
which they hoped to have Hammond operate
comprises the counties of Edgeield, Barn
well, Aiken, Beaufort and ChurlestOn. 1t
was in those counties where the tissue
ballots were voted as plentiruly as
the leaves on tho trees, or, in the language of
Secretary sherman, "as many as there were
men, women, children, dogs and cats in the
State" IIammond's mission would have been
TO SO initiate the returns US to do away with
the discrepancy, and thus cover up tho pust
and open fresh avenues for similar frauds.