nd
premeditated violation of the pledge given at the Sunday conference.
It was, however, only an instance of General Garfield's impulsive and
unreasoning submission to an expression of public opinion, without
waiting for evidence of the nature and value of that opinion. That
weakness had been observed by his associates in the House of
Representatives, and on that weakness his administration was wrecked.

Mr. Conkling was much misrepresented and of course he was much
misunderstood. As a Senator from New York he claimed a right to be
consulted in regard to the principal appointments in the State. His
recommendations were few and they were made with great care. He
confined himself to the chief appointments. It was quite difficult
to secure his name or his favorable word in behalf of applicants for
the subordinate places.

In my experience with him, which was considerable in the Internal
Revenue Office and in the Treasury, I found him ready to concede to
the opinions of the Executive Department. He was one of those who
held to the opinion that it was the duty of Representatives and Senators
to give advice in regard to appointments and to give it upon their
responsibility as members of the Government. Senators and
Representatives are not officers of the Government, they are members
of the Government, and the duty of giving aid to the administration
rests upon them.

When a man is chosen to represent a State or a district, a presumption
should arise that he will act for the good of the country to the best
of his ability. Advice in regard to appointments is a part of his
duty, and in the main the Senators and Representatives are worthy of
confidence. The present Civil Service system rests upon the theory that
they are not to be trusted and that three men without a constituency
are safer custodians of power.

Upon the death of Garfield and the accession of Arthur, Mr. Conkling
looked for one thing, and one thing only--the removal of Robertson.
When this was not done he separated from Arthur. I have no knowledge
of the reasons which governed the President, but I think his career
would have been more agreeable to himself if he had so far vindicated
his own course and the course of his friends as to have removed from
office the man who had contributed so largely to the defeat of the wing
of the Republican Party with which Mr. Arthur was identified.

When General Garfield died, the Republican Party was broken, and i