Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/116

82 any other. To keep it in good repute and to manage its business successfully requires on the part of its head a thorough knowledge of its machinery, untiring work and sleepless vigilance. I shall never forget the trials I had to go through during the first period of my Administration, and the mistakes that were made before I had things well in hand. It is a constant fight with the sharks that surround the Indian bureau, the General Land Office, the Pension Office and the Patent Office, and a ceaseless struggle with perplexing questions and situations, especially in the Indian service. Unless the head of the Interior Department well understands and performs his full duty, your Administration will be in constant danger of disgrace. Of all men that I know there is not one as well fitted for that place as General Walker, the present head of the Census Office. He has been Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and understands that business thoroughly. You cannot find a man better equipped for it. He possesses large acquirements, great working capacity and extensive knowledge of general affairs, great energy and firmness, and at the same time an excellent temper. His character is of the highest. If he were placed at the head of the Interior Department, I should consider you out of danger at the most delicate point. I have heard it said that he does not represent any political force. If he did not, in the party sense, I should scarcely consider it an objection; for a successful conduct in that branch of the business would soon be felt in itself as a political force.

But he would represent in your Cabinet the liberal Republican element in its best features, and his appointment would, I have no doubt, be hailed by a very large number of Republicans, and just those whose approval a man like you would most keenly appreciate, as a thing of good omen. I earnestly commend this to your attention.

The estimation in which your Administration will be