Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 3.djvu/351

Rh of Governor Hayes with my eyes open. I have certainly not forgotten or thought lightly of the duty I owe to the cause of reform which I have served so long; and thus, standing as I do here before you, mindful of my responsibility, I declare this to be my sincere conviction, and predict with as much assurance as things still to come can be predicted, that Governor Hayes, if elected to the Presidency, will employ every Constitutional power of that great office to its fullest extent to carry into practice his program of civil service reform to the very letter. He will organize his Administration with unswerving devotion to this great end. He will, whatever influences he may have to encounter, pursue with untiring watchfulness all officers of the Government who have betrayed official trust or failed to perform their duties according to the best standard of efficiency. He will keep faithful public servants in their offices, against all attempts to have them replaced by the political tools or the personal favorites of party leaders. He will tell those who claim office on the ground of mere party service that “honesty, competency and fidelity” will be regarded by him as the only decisive qualifications for public employment. He will tell Congressmen who attempt to dictate appointments that such interference with the appointing power is destructive of the independence of the separate departments of the Government, degrading the character of the service, and will no longer be permitted. He will make all Government officers understand that the civil service must cease to be a party machinery, that from them partisan service is “neither expected nor desired,” and that they will have to confine themselves to their official duties as servants of the Government and the people. He will establish well regulated and public methods, in every practicable way, to ascertain the fitness of candidates for places. He will employ every legitimate means in his power to