The candidate was elected, as he deserved to be, and has made one of the best, many say the best, governor his state ever had. But he will have to admit that he cannot remove officials simply for inefficiency, and he cannot make appointments in the face of public opposition, however fit and worthy the applicant. In a thousand ways he cannot exercise the independent discretion which he would if president of a bank or the head of some industrial corporation. When I took charge of the Treasury Department I found an appraiser at one of the principal ports who had outlived his usefulness. He was not dishonest. Dishonesty is the least of all evils of government service. He was simply inefficient. He had a good army record, was a very reputable gentleman, highly esteemed, absolutely honest, and Mr. McKinley had made him appraiser. There were many evidences of inefficiency. Importers at far distant ports were entering their merchandise at this city and shipping them back home, manifestly for the purpose of evading the payment of appropriate duties. I have no doubt that the government was losing a million dollars or more a year through the inefficiency of this good man. President Roosevelt authorized a change. I informed the two senators from that state what had to be done, and asked them to select the best man they could find and I would arrange a vacancy to meet their convenience. President Lincoln is credited with saying that when he had twenty applicants for a position and appointed one, he made nineteen enemies and one ingrate. I wanted to protect these senators from nineteen enemies. They found an excellent man and I had the old appraiser come to Washington. He fully recognized his utter failure, and willingly resigned. We parted friends. The inexperienced will suppose that was the end of the incident. It was not. It was the beginning of it. The removal was declared to be purely a political deal. The President was criticized, I was abused and the two senators maligned. Every prominent Grand Army man in the country was asked to protest, and most of them did, until this dear old fellow was made to believe he had been imposed upon. He published his grievances in an extended interview and in about three months died of a broken heart. The people will not consent that public affairs shall be conducted as business is conducted. Had this man been in the employ of a business enterprise in any large city, his removal would not have elicited so much as a notice that he had resigned for the purpose of giving attention to his “long-neglected private affairs.”