Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/150

 118 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS inaugural address, delivered on January 10, 1870, he expressed himself earnestly against the use of public offices as party spoils, and suggested that the constitution of the state be so amended as to secure the introduction of a system making quali fication, and not political services and influence, the chief test in determining appointments, and giving subordinates in the civil service the same perma nence of place that is enjoyed by officers of the army and navy. He also advocated the appoint ment of judges, by the executive, for long terms, with adequate salaries, as best calculated to afford to the citizen the amplest possible security that im partial justice will be administered by an independ ent judiciary.&quot; In his correspondence with mem bers of congress, he urged a monthly reduction of the national debt as more important than a reduc tion of taxation, the abolition of the franking privi lege, and the passage of a civil-service-reform law. In his message addressed to the legislature on January 3, 1871, he recommended that the policy embodied in that provision of the state constitution which prohibited the state from creating any debt, save in a few exceptional cases, be extended to the creation of public debts by county, city, and other local authorities, and further that for the remunera tion of public officers a system of fixed salaries, without fees and perquisites, be adopted. Com plaint having been made by the state commissioner