asked for the reasons for the suspensions made, and when the President, as I thought, had such a splendid opportunity to confirm the popular belief in his good faith by taking the people into his confidence. It is for this reason, too, that I am so anxious he should make a warning example of some one of his subordinates who in all sorts of ways try to circumvent the law, and thus trifle with the President's honor. If such an example were conspicuously made, it would prevent ever so much mischief, save the President a world of trouble and raise him higher than ever before in public estimation.
In this respect the participation of officeholders in party conventions to which the enclosed article of the Evening Post refers, deserves especial attention. The President has now an opportunity to nip that abuse in the bud by disciplining some of the offenders. If he does not, the evil will inevitably grow until it becomes unmanageable, and we shall have the scandals of an officeholders' party machine and of postmasters conventions again.
The President will inevitably discover, if he has not already done so, that the Congressmen who have been most pampered with patronage, remain the most persistent and insidious enemies of the reform policy; and that the districts in which the most appointments are made in accordance with the recommendations of such Congressmen will be the first to build up the old-fashioned officeholders party machine again.
It is quite evident that the President's fidelity to his pledges will be the principal point of attack on the part of the opposition. The movement in the Senate last winter and the resolutions of inquiry concerning the classified service recently introduced by Mr. Ingalls leave no doubt of this. That is the point, therefore, where the President should be strongest. He should be so unassailable that all fair-minded men even in the opposition must
