lding control invited a severe contest,
and success depended upon the courage and conviction of the
Administration itself. For firmness, however, Hayes substituted
hesitation, compromise, and in some instances surrender. Numerous
cases were cited in proof of this criticism, notably the reappointment
of Chauncey I. Filley, postmaster at St. Louis, whom George William
Curtis pronounced the most conspicuous office-holder in the country
for his active manipulation of politics. "He is a shining example of
'the thing to be reformed.'"[1630]

[Footnote 1630: _Harper's Weekly_, December 8, 1877.]

The President's removal of Arthur and Cornell, it was argued, was no
less irrational. In failing to charge them with inefficiency he
subjected himself to the graver charge of inconsistency, since his
letter of acceptance and inaugural address declared in substance that
efficient officers would be retained. The President meant, his friends
assumed, that political activity nullified efficiency, to which
opponents replied that the President, after inviting Arthur to carry
out the recommendations of the Jay Commission, had condoned the
collector's wrong-doing if any existed, making him an agent for
reform, and that his subsequent removal was simply in the interest of
faction. Cornell's case likewise presented a peg upon which to hang
severe criticism, since the Administration, when asked for the reason
of his removal, dodged the decisive one. Such inconsistency showed
timidity and confusion instead of courage and conviction,
disappointing to friends and ridiculous to opponents.

Conkling made use of these and other points. Indeed, for more than six
weeks after Congress convened he bent all his energies and diplomacy
to defeat the confirmation of Roosevelt and Prince. That a Republican
senator might be substituted for a Democrat on the commerce committee,
of which he was chairman and to which the nominations were referred,
he delayed action until a reorganisation of the Senate. Finally, in a
forceful and pathetic speech, regarded by colleagues as his most
impressive address,[1631] he illuminated what he deemed an act of
injustice to Arthur and Cornell. It was less bitter perhaps than that
in the contest with Fenton over the confirmation of Thomas Murphy, but
no less carefully worked up and quite as successful. To the
consternation of the Administration, which relied upon a solid
Democratic party, the Senator won by a decisive vote, havi