which removals and appointments had been made. The President refused to comply with this request, holding that such documents affected considerations private to himself. After some little delay the Senate found that its position was indefensible, and quietly receded from it, by confirming the men appointed to the offices in question.

On the whole, however, the people of the country sustained the President in his position. There was general recognition of the fact that many unfriendly incumbents of office had impeded the service in order to discredit the new Administration; that others had truckled to the new powers in the hope that their sudden zeal might hide their cowardice and inefficiency; and that still others had all of a sudden become great reformers when they could no longer prostitute the public service to party and selfish ends. The desire of the people to see fair play finally triumphed over the impatient friends of the President, his impràcticable supporters who had expected so much, and his unscrupulous enemies in the Senate and in the minor offices. It was then seen that the standard of public service fixed by the new Administration was such a lofty one that no scandal had come from the actions of any of the new officials, whether in the departments or in the subordinate offices; that the minor places in the departments at Washington and in the large customhouses and post-offices were filled strictly in obe

dience to the civil-service law; that there were no glaring instances in which officials had used their places to do political wrongs, and that, as a whole, the public service of the United States had never been in better condition. For the first time, a substantial advance had been made in genuine civil-service reform, and the President's victory was secured without the alienation of any influential element of his own party, and without violating any obligation, express or implied, which he took upon himself in becoming its candidate. In the years to follow, the wisdom of his policy was to be more fully tested and more emphatically approved.

In the death, on the 25th of November, 1885, of the honored statesman, Thomas A. Hendricks, VicePresident of the United States, the new Democratic circle was first broken. From his earliest manhood, even before he reached his majority, he had upheld the standard of his party, and inculcated such a lofty patriotism that he had never done aught which could be construed as inimical to the interests of his country. The highest honors were paid to his memory. The President, immediately upon the receipt of the sad tidings of his death, issued a proclamation to the country, recounting his services and directing that the various branches of the Government should pay the customary tributes of respect to his memory.

CHAPTER XI.

THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS.

MESSAGES TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE-TARIFF REVISION AND OTHER REFORMS.

N the first Monday in December, 1885, the Forty-ninth Congress met, and President Cleveland transmitted his first annual message. He adverted feelingly in its opening sentences to the death of Vice-President Hendricks, and paid a warm tribute to his memory. He discussed with much fullness all the leading questions which affected the country, and with general public acceptance. Among the issues which have since become of great importance were the enactment of laws to prevent the collection of a surplus revenue, the retention of the public lands for actual settlers, and the reform of the abuses which had crept into the civil service. On the reduction of taxation his views were so clear and conscientious upon the one issue, which he has since projected into importance, that his conclusions are given at length:

"The fact that our revenues are in excess of the actual needs of an economical administration of the Government, justifies a reduction in the

amount exacted from the people for its support. Our Government is but the means established by the will of a free people by which certain principles are applied which they have adopted for their benefit and protection; and it is never better administered and its true spirit is never better observed than when the people's taxation for its support is scrupulously limited to the actual necessity of expenditure, and distributed according to a just and equitable plan.

"The proposition with which we have to deal is the reduction of the revenue received by the Government, and indirectly paid by the people from customs duties. The question of free trade is not involved, nor is there now any occasion for the general discussion of the wisdom or expediency of a protective system. Justice and fairness dictate that in any modification of our present laws relating to revenue, the industries and interests which have been encouraged by such laws, and in which our citizens have large investments, should not be ruthlessly injured or destroyed. We should also deal with the subject in such a manner as to protect the interests of American labor, which is the capital of our workingmen; its stability and proper remuneration furnish the most justifiable pretext for a protective policy.

"Within these limitations a certain reduction should be made in our customs revenue. The amount of such reduction having been determined, the inquiry follows, where can it best be remitted and what articles can best be released from duty, in the interests of our citizens? I think the reduction should be made in the revenue derived from a tax upon the imported necessaries of life.

We thus directly lessen the cost of living in every family of the land, and release to the people in every humble home a larger measure of the rewards of frugal industry."

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM.

Having announced his devotion to a genuine reform of the civil-service abuses in his letter of acceptance, in various letters and speeches during the campaign, and in his first inaugural address, he took occasion to emphasize anew his position in the following language:

"I am inclined to think that there is no sentiment more general in the minds of the people of our country, than a conviction of the correctness of the principle upon which the law enforcing civilservice reform is based. * * Experience in its administration will probably suggest amendment of the methods of its execution, but I venture to hope that we shall never again be remitted to the system which distributes public positions purely as rewards for partisan service. Doubts may well be entertained whether our Government could survive the strain of a continuance of this system, which upon every change of Administration inspires an immense army of claimants for office to lay siege to the patronage of Government, engrossing the time of public officers with their importunities, spreading abroad the contagion of their disappointment, and filling the air with the tumult of their discontent.

"The allurements of an immense number of offices and places, exhibited to the voters of the