Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/505

Rh to an end. I laid before him my statement which was substantially to this effect: “Dissatisfaction exists among our friends who feel that at the rate at which removals are being made there will scarcely be any Republican left in office at the expiration of Mr. Cleveland's term, and we shall have a condition of things no better than under previous Administrations. The ‘clean sweep’ would be complete though it would be gradually accomplished.” I also said that there was much criticism of the Maryland and Indiana appointments and, generally, I said explicitly what I told you I should say. The President heard me with the greatest patience and attention, and when I had done he said in substance that our friends ought to be quite sure that they understand exactly what his pledges were, and that to his knowledge he had violated none. All that he had said in his letter to Curtis (and it was more than he need to have said) was that officials, not in the classified service, who were competent, and not offensive partisans,—might expect to retain their places and would not be turned out to reward party workers. “He had never said that they might expect reappointment at the end of their terms of office. He claimed that all the removals that had been made were, so far as he had been able to control them, for what were believed to be good reasons. Not that mistakes had not been made, not that instances could not be found where good officials had been removed and bad ones put in their places, not that some of his own appointees had not disregarded the principles upon which he himself acted.”—All this was said in answer to the suggestion of unfaithfulness to his pledges. He said, besides, that he had already been considering whether a farther step in advance could not soon be taken. He stated that the pressure upon him to make removals merely to give places to Democrats was at an end. So much at least had been gained. Whether it were best to make an announcement, that—now that the offices were reasonably fairly divided between the parties—appointments in the Post-Office Department, at least, should be made wholly from considerations of fitness without regard to politics, was something he was considering.