a party point of view he is no good. In my opinion, there ought to be a
man in that office who will not only discharge his duties in a
creditable manner, but who will also be of some service to the party and
to the administration under which he serves. In the present postmaster
of the town of Summit we have not such a man, but we can and will have
one if you will appoint the one whose name I now present and for whom I
ask your favorable consideration. We had, as you know, a bitter and
desperate struggle. It was the very time that we stood sadly in need of
every man and of every vote. We lost the county that Summit is in by a
small majority. If an active and aggressive man, such as the one whose
name I now place before you, had been postmaster at Summit, the result
in that County might have been different. I therefore earnestly
recommend that Pursell be removed, and that Mr. Garland be appointed to
succeed him."

The President replied: "You have given good and sufficient reasons for a
change. Leave with me the name of the man you desire to have appointed,
and his name will be sent to the Senate as soon as Congress meets." I
cordially thanked the President, and assured him that he would have no
occasion to regret making the change. In explanation of his Civil
Service order the President remarked that quite a number of
office-holders had seemed to misunderstand it, although it was plainly
worded, and, as he thought, not difficult to understand. There had never
been any serious complaints growing out of active participation in
political campaigns on the part of office-holders, and that it was not,
and never had been, the purpose of the administration, by executive
order or otherwise, to limit or restrict any American citizen in the
discharge of his duties as a citizen, simply because he happened to be
an office-holder, provided that in so doing he did not neglect his
official duties. There had, however, been serious complaints from many
parts of the country about the use and abuse of Federal patronage in
efforts to manipulate party conventions, and to dictate and control
party nominations. To destroy this evil was the primary purpose of the
civil service order referred to.

I told the President that his explanation of the order was in harmony
with my own construction and interpretation of it. That is why I made
the recommendation for a change in the postmastership at Summit. The
change was promptly made. I then informed