however, inevitable. His rigid
insistence upon the maintenance and the extension of the merit system
alone assured the discontent which precedes dislike," wrote another
observer. "The era of patronage mongering in the petty offices ceased
suddenly, and the spoilsmen had the right to say that in this respect
the policy of McKinley had not been followed." It was true. When
Roosevelt became President the civil service was thoroughly demoralized.
Senators and Congressmen, by tacit agreement with the executive, used
the appointing power for the payment of political debts, the reward of
party services, the strengthening of their personal "fences." But
within three months it was possible to say with absolute truth that "a
marvelous change has already been wrought in the morale of the civil
service." At the end of Roosevelt's first term an unusually acute and
informed foreign journalist was moved to write, "No President has so
persistently eliminated politics from his nominations, none has been
more unbending in making efficiency his sole test."

There was the kernel of the whole matter: the President's insistence
upon efficiency. Roosevelt, however, did not snatch rudely away from the
Congressmen and Senators the appointing power which his predecessors had
allowed them gradually to usurp. He continued to consult each member of
the Congress upon appointments in that member's State or district and
merely demanded that the men recommended for office should be honest,
capable, and fitted for the places they were to fill.

President Roosevelt was not only ready and glad to consult with Senators
but he sought and often took the advice of party leaders outside of
Congress, and even took into consideration the opinions of bosses. In
New York, for instance, the two Republican leaders, Governor Odell and
Senator Platt, were sometimes in accord and sometimes in disagreement,
but each was always desirous of being consulted. A letter written by
Roosevelt in the middle of his first term to a friendly Congressman well
illustrates his theory and practice in such cases:

"I want to work with Platt. I want to work with Odell. I want to support
both and take the advice of both. But, of course, ultimately I must be
the judge as to acting on the advice given. When, as in the case of the
judgeship, I am convinced that the advice of both is wrong, I shall act
as I did when I appointed Holt. When I can find a friend of Odell's
like Cooley, who is t