Year: 1875

the exposures of the HERALD correspondents


those of Professor Marsh and the letters of
Dlr. Welsh, it is an uncomfortable affair. 1t
is by no means the only disgrace Of his ad-
ministration, unfortunately; but it comes at
an awkward time 1t is not worse than the
Jayne-Sanborn swindle; but its exposure
comes at election time, and involves Cabi-
net officer who lives in Ohio and is a distant
relative of the President. 1t is an embar-
rassing affair


1t ought to be said for the President that
when he entered the White House he pro-
posed and attempted to carry out thorough
and sensible reform in the management of
the Indians. He wished to hand them over
to the War Department, to be controlled by
army officers, West Point men. Had he sue
ceeded we should have been spared the
shame Of the corruption which is now getting
slowly exposed. Unfortunately the repub-
hcan Congress would not let the President
have his way. 1t objected, and his wise plan
| failed.


But there was still hope Of good manage
ment for the Indians. When General Grant
entered the White House he brought with
him large bundle of good resolutions,
among them one to reform the civil service.
He sincerely intended to see to it that the
government should be faithfully and hon
estly served; and having got the permission
Of Congress he formed Civil Service Com
mission, placed at its head Mr.. George Will
lam Curtis, one of the foremost advocates of
this reform; and having thus set ON foot a
theoretical reform he began Immediately to
distribute the Offices among his relations
and personal friends.


That is to say, he had excellent intentions,
but he did not take the trouble to carry them
out. He kept Mr.. Curtis as long as he could
as fgurehead. but he went on appointing
worse and worse men to high and response
bic offices until Mr.. Curtis resigned in disgust
and so we have to-day civil service which, it
Is not extravagant to say, is on the whole
the worst, the least efficient, the most easily
corrupted, the least hopeful of any we have
had for great many years. The most i'm
portant officers of the government have to-
day but one quality in perfection-they are
devoted partisans. From Packard in Louis
lana to the lowest tidewaiter in Maine, they
are friends of the administration. But
they are not always friends of the people.
The President has been so eager to provide
for his personal followers, for defeated parti-
sans for men ''sound on the goose" as it
used to be said, that the people have ceased
to expect from him the selection of the fttest
men. And yet no one was so conspicuous
during the war as he for the skill with which
he selected the right man for the right place.


If the Delano scandal troubles the Presi-
dents mind, therefore, he should be con-
scious that he has brought this worry upon
himself He had the best opportunity pos
sessed by any President in modern days to
carry out genuine reform of the civil service.
The people expected it of him and he was
| independent of the politicians to degree
unknown to his predecessors for fifty years
past. He had uncommon natural skill in
| the selection of men and in detecting their
| qualities. He knew, by his army service,
the value and importance of faithful
subordinates; and he comprehended per-
fectly the necessity in this country of
elevating the public service, of opening
an honorable career in it to young men of
education, of fortune and talent Army life
had taught him the importance in such
matter of rewarding merit and efficiency; Of
promoting the best and wedding out the
worst None of his predecessors SO thor
oughly understood the need and the posi-
bility Of this great reform, and, alas by
none was it so utterly neglected


1t may justly be said of him that he could
have made our civil service honest and eff
cient, and in doing SO purified our politics,
economical in the cost of the administration
| prevented corruption in the Indian and in
all other departments, and set in motion
reform which no successor of his would have
dared to break down or tamper with, and
which would have immensely increased the
happiness and prosperity of the country.
Had he had resolution enough to carry out
| his earlier good intentions, had he sur
rounded himself with advisers who would
have helped him in the work. he could not
have failed to make an administration which
would have been renowned for its excel
lence, and he would have been spared the
| bitter modification which he must suffer
when he thinks of the Jayne-Sanborn job, of
the Delano scandal and of half a hundred
other disgraceful incidents of his adminis-
tration, Of which he has been the direct and
responsible author


The time was never 50 ripe for a reform of
the civil service as when General Grant
became President. The circumstances of the
country had greatly changed the govern
ment, once simple and requiring few officers,
was now burdened with many and compli-
Gated duties, and it needed servants Of first
rate ability. The large pecuniary interests
involved, the immense sums collected and
disbursed, exposed public servants to un-
common foundations and mnde nncessarv n arr