New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-16
the future political standing Of those who shall
be convicted of being responsible for 1t.
COMPROMISING INGENUITY.


The President ought to appoint himself
Civil Service Reform Commission OF one 10 SIT
upon the case Of his own First Asslotant Post
master General, Mr.. Hatton A thorough In
vestigation Of that remarkable funchonary's
operations would we are convinced, suggest 10
the President the necessity for sudden ard rad
ical reform in the Post Office Department. AS
Mr. Hatton is conducting himself to-day be Is
rapidly building up public scandal for the Ad-
ministration which holds him in office. lie is
apparently a man without any sense whatever
of the dignity which should belong to INN as
an officer of the Government Only few days
ago he was exposed as making scandaiOuS
effort to force pOstmasters to act as agents 1or
his newspaper, and he coolly retorted that lie
knew of no law fOrhidding such conduct. IL
he is unable to see that the higher law OF public
decency forbids such base use of power, the
President ought to call his attention to the fact,
especially as the newspaper in question is uni
yersally recognized as the organ OF the Admin
istratiOn.
AS the President may have been so much abb
sorbed in public duties for the past few months
that he was unable to keep close watch upon
his own organ and it's editor, his First Assist
crate few of the indiscretions which that
newspaper has been guilty of and which have
attracted the attention of the country In the
first place, this Administration organ was ana
still is the unblushing defender OF the otar
Route thieves and the bitter assailant OF every
effort to bring those thieves to justice. In the
second place. this Administration organ rldi-
culed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform bill
while it was pending in Congress- and after IT
had passed the Senate declared that the Com
missioners would levy 5000 upon each man
examined in order to increase their own saIa-
ries. GThe business will be DONE" said this or
gan, "without word passed between glver
gand taker Commissioners will sell appoint
@ments to teachers of Civil Service schools.
ANY man able to be Commissioner will not
@lf eek the ingenuity TO devise q hundred plans
"to effect this, and nobody will be the wiser. :"
In this interesting deliverance the Administra-
ton organ assumes that the President VIII PICK
out for Commissioners to help him carry out
the Pendleton bill three men so corrupt ana
yenal that their only object in accepting ONCE
will DO to make as much out OF 1t rs possible.
We submit to the President that he cannot
afford to have his own organ take so low vie"
of his own patriotism.
Passing now from the utterances OF the organ
10 the acts OF its editor, it becomes at once APP
parent that there is perfect harmony between
them We do not charge that Mr.. Hatton Is
| conducting his Office on the same plan Ill which
he declared that the Civil Service Commits
sioners would conduct theirs, but we must say
he acts very much as we should expect man
| 10 act who talks as he does. We have alluded
i hi hn HnH "A
TO increase his revenues as an editor and pub
Usher by bringing to bear upon the postmasters
of the country the full weight of his authority
| as First Assistant Postmaster General. That
certainly shows thrifty mind, or what he
would probably call the ingenuity OF man
able to hold his position. His conduct with
reference TO the commission of the postmaster
at Luwville, in this State, is familiar to every
| body, and was long ago admitted by nil to be
| indefensible. Yesterday two fresh perform
| ances came to light which were OF so extIaordi-
nary q character that public protests are loud
and emphatic. He has appointed as postmaster
at New London man who has been proved In
court to have falsGed his accounts $4,000 in
| order to swindle widow. He has appointed
| local politician postmaster Mt Camden IN place
of the present incumbent, who is wounded
soldier whose only of1ence is that he refused to
pay the Hubbel assessment on his salary.
| The citizens of Camden have protested in mass
meeting against this act as an unwarranted dis
regard of their wishes and violation OF Civil
| Service Reform principles.
We respectfully submit these facts to the
| President for consideration. His emphatic
words in favor of Civil Service Reform in his
message were SO directly antagonistc to the
teaching of his organ and the acts of its editor
| and his First Assistant Postmt ster- General
that we can only account for his inaction III
regard to them by the fact that he has been too
much occupied TO notice them. careful in-
vestigation cannot fail to show him that Dir.
Hatton's excessive "ingenuity" is dong his
| Administration serious harm.
| NOA-DERTDRNfkC