elonging to his office, he was still
left in a deplorable state of servitude through the operation of old
laws based upon the principle of rotation in office. The Acts of 1820
and 1836, limiting commissions to the term of four years, forced him
to make numerous appointments which provoked controversy and made
large demands upon his time and thought. In the first year of his
administration, he sent about two thousand nominations to the Senate,
an average of over six a day, assuming that he was allowed to rest on
Sunday. His freedom of action was further curtailed by an Act of 1863,
prohibiting the payment of a salary to any person appointed to fill a
vacancy existing while the Senate was in session, until the appointment
had been confirmed by the Senate. The President was thus placed under a
strict compulsion to act as a party employment agent.

If it is the prime duty of a President to act in the spirit of a
reformer, Cleveland is entitled to high praise for the stanchness with
which he adhered to his principles under most trying circumstances. Upon
November 27, 1885, he approved rules confirming and extending the civil
service regulations. Charges that Collector Hedden of the New York
Customs House was violating the spirit of the Civil Service Act, and
was making a party machine of his office, caused the Civil Service
Commission to make an investigation which resulted in his resignation
in July, 1886. On the 10th of August, Daniel Magone of Ogdensburg, New
York, a widely known lawyer, was personally chosen by the President with
a view to enforcing the civil service law in the New York Customs House.
Before making this appointment, President Cleveland issued an order to
all heads of departments warning all officeholders against the use of
their positions to control political movements in their localities.
"Officeholders," he declared, "are the agents of the people, not their
masters. They have no right, as officeholders, to dictate the political
action of their associates, or to throttle freedom of action within
party lines by methods and practices which prevent every useful and
justifiable purpose of party organization." In August, President
Cleveland gave signal evidence of his devotion to civil service reform
by appointing a Republican, because of his special qualifications, to be
chief examiner for the Civil Service Commission.

Democratic party workers were so angered and disgusted by the
President's policy that a