r and not upon a strong public conviction,
they are seeds that have no depth of soil. A vital and enduring
reform in administrative methods, although it be but a return to the
constitutional intention, can be accomplished only by the commanding
impulse of public opinion. Permanence is secured by law, not by
individual pleasure. But in this country law is only formulated public
opinion. Reform of the Civil Service does not contemplate an invasion of
the constitutional prerogative of the President and the Senate, nor does
it propose to change the Constitution by statute. The whole system
of the Civil Service proceeds, as I said, from the President, and the
object of the reform movement is to enable him to fulfil the intention
of the Constitution by revealing to him the desire of the country
through the action of its authorized representatives. When the
ground-swell of public opinion lifts Congress from the rocks, the
President will gladly float with it into the deep water of wise and
patriotic action. The President, indeed, has never been the chief
sinner in the Spoils System, although he has been the chief agent.
Even President Jackson yielded to party pressure as much as to his own
convictions. President Harrison sincerely wished to stay the flood, but
it swept him away. President Grant doubtfully and with good intentions
tested the pressure before yielding. President Hayes, with sturdy
independence, adhered inflexibly to a few points, but his party chiefs
cursed and derided him. President Garfield,--God bless and restore
him!--frankly declares permanent and effective reform to be impossible
without the consent of Congress. When, therefore, Congress obeys a
commanding public opinion, and reflects it in legislation, it will
restore to the President the untrammelled exercise of his ample
constitutional powers according to the constitutional intention; and the
practical question of reform is, How shall this be brought about?

Now, it is easy to kill weeds if we can destroy their roots, and it
is not difficult to determine what the principle of reform legislation
should be if we can agree upon the source of the abuses to be reformed.
May they not have a common origin? In fact, are they not all bound
together as parts of one system? The Representative in Congress, for
instance, does not ask whether the interests of the public service
require this removal or that appointment, but whether, directly or
indirectly, either will b