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Democrat was certain to remain. As a consequence of this policy, I suppose it is not too much to say that one-fourth, if not more, of the officers of the government in Washington are Democrats. Some of the best men in the service are Democrats. They were never disturbed. I never removed men because they were Democrats, if they were otherwise fit. I never thought of such a thing, nor does Mr. Hayes. This shows that civil service reform is growing in America, in the only way it can grow naturally-through time, through the long continuance of one party in power, and the sequent educa

con

tion of an experienced class of public servants. That is the only way. As for censuring a President because there is no civil service reform written

in rules and books, it is absurd, for, as I have said, the President, whoever he is, is the one man in the country most anxious for the reform. Notwithstanding all that is said by the newspapers, I am convinced that our civil service, take it all and all throughout the country, is in as high a state. of efficiency, and, I think, higher than that of any other nation in the world."

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Out of this arose a question as to the abuse which had crept into our elections, the abuse of assessing public officials 'I see," said the General," in for funds to carry on elections. some of the newspapers, that under Mr. Hayes it is a subject for congratulation that office-holders are no longer removed because they will not pay assessments for political campaigns. never removed a man for such a refusal, never knew one of my Cabinet to do so, and if I had ever known it, I would have disStatements missed the officer who had made such removals. like this belong to the cant of the civil service discussion, and throw doubt upon the sincerity of those who advocate the reBut form. I can see where our service can be amended. every day the Republican party remains in power amends it. As to competitive examinations, they are of questionable utility. One of the most brilliant candidates before the civil service board was in jail very soon after his appointment, for robbery. The way to achieve the best civil service is, first to influence Congressmen, and induce them to refrain from pressure upon the Executive; then pass laws giving each office a special tenure; then keep the Republican party in power until the process of education is complete. As it is now, the only danger I see to civil service reform is in the triumph of the Democratic party. As it is, if our friends at home would only be candid and see it, civil service reform has been going on ever since 1861, with the exception of the end of Johnson's term. During those years there has grown up an educated, tried, and trusty body of public servants. They cannot be displaced without injury. There are black sheep now and then, failures from time to time. But the great body of the public service could not be improved.

"There is nothing I have longed for so much," said the General, "as a period of repose in our politics, that would make it a matter of indifference to patriotic men which party I am accused, I see, as having a is in power. I long for that. special aversion to democracy. People used to remind me that I voted for Buchanan, and call me a renegade. The reason I voted for Buchanan was that I knew Fremont.

That

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If I had ever had any political

was the only vote I ever cast. sympathies they would have been with the Whigs. I was raised in that school. I have no objection to the Democratic party as it existed before the war. I hope again to see the time when I will have no objection to it. Before the war, whether a man was Whig or Democrat, he was always for the country. Since

A CHINESE FARM-HOUSE.

the war, the Democratic party has always

been against the country. That is the fatal defect in the Democratic organization, and why I would see with alarm its advent to power. There are men in that organization, men like Bayard, McClellan, Hancock, and others whom I know. They are as loyal and patriotic as any men. Bayard, for instance, would make a splendid President. I would not be afraid of the others in that office; but, behind the President thus elected, what would you have? The first

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element would be the solid South, a South only solid through the disfranchisement of the negroes. The second would be the foreign element in the North, an element which has not been long enough with us to acquire the education or experiNeither of these elements ence necessary to true citizenship. love for the Union. The first made war to destroy has any it, the second has not learned what the Union is. These elements constitute the Democratic party, and once they gain power I should be concerned for the welfare of the country. They would sway their President, no matter how able or patriotic. My fear of this result has always made me wish that some issue would arise at home that would divide parties. I hoped that would upon some other question than the war. be one of the results of the Greenback agitation. The triumph of a Democratic party as it was before the war, of an opposition party to the Republicans as patriotic as the Democratic party before the war, would be a matter to be viewed with indifference so far as the country is concerned. The triumph of the Democratic party as now organized I would regard as a I hope every year to see calamity. I wish it were otherwise. it otherwise. But as yet I am disappointed. I am a Republican because I am an American, and because I believe the first duty of an American-the paramount duty-is to save the results of the war, and save our credit."

mature.

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I remember hearing the General describe the inside history of the Electoral Commission, and of his own part in that movement. Many of the things he said belong to the history which one day may be written. To write them now would be preNothing," said the General, "could have been wiser than the Electoral Commission, and nothing could be more unpatriotic than the attempt to impair the title of Mr. Hayes as fraudulent. There was a good deal of cowardice and knavery Mr. Hayes is just as much President as any of in that effort. his predecessors. The country cannot too highly honor the men who devised and carried through the Electoral Commission. Mr. Conkling, especially, did grand service in that. He showed himself brave enough to rise above party. The crisis was a

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serious one, and for me one of peculiar annoyance. There is something radically wrong about our manner of attaining and declaring the results of a presidential election which I am surprised has not been amended. It used to worry Morton a great deal, and on previous occasions we had trouble about it. The simple duty of declaring who has the largest number of votes should be easily done. We should never go through another Electoral Commission excitement. This is a ques

tion which should be decided free from politics, and yet it is delayed and paralyzed from purely political considerations. History, however, will

justify the Electoral Commission as a fine bit of self-government on the part of the people. I say this without regard to its deci sion. I would have thought the same if Tilden had been elected."

A question was asked as to whether the General had any fear of an outbreak as

the result of the Com

mission. 66

That was

the least of my fears," said the General. "I never believed there would be a blow, but I had so many warnings that I made all my preparations. I knew all about the rifle clubs of South Carolina, for instance, the extent of whose organization has never been made known. I was quite prepared for any contingency. Any outbreak would have been suddenly and summarily stopped. So far as that was concerned my course was clear, and my mind was made up. I did not intend to have two governments, nor any South American pronunciamentos. did not intend to receive commissioners from sovereign States'

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