The tribute which Secretary Schurz at the outset thus paid to the practical efficiency of his predecessor merely expressed the public verdict which greeted the close of Mr. Chandler's term. Examination did not compel any modifying of this praise, and after Mr. Chandler's death his successor in the Interior Department--a man very exacting in judgment and one with whom his political differences had been numerous--again said: "In the course of the last two years I have frequently discovered in the transaction of public business traces of his good judgment and his energetic determination to do what was right." FOOTNOTES: [36] This massive edifice is popularly known as "The Patent Office," because its main halls are occupied by the magnificent model rooms of the Bureau of Patents. [37] Much of Secretary Chandler's confidence arises from the well-known integrity and personal reliability of the several gentlemen sustaining the nearest official relation to him, all of whom were selected by his own free choice, and from his own personal knowledge of these essential characteristics. General Gorham did not seek the office of Assistant Secretary; the office sought him, and Mr. Chandler himself would take no denial. So, also, of Mr. Gaylord, his able and untiring Assistant Attorney-General for the department. And the same is true of Mr. Partridge, his discreet and trusted private secretary. Surrounded by such aids he well knows that no material interest can suffer by any temporary contingency, such as the one which now occurs.--_Washington dispatch to the Philadelphia "City Item" of Oct. 20, 1875_ (_referring to Mr. Chandler's temporary absence_). [38] No appointment was ever more thoroughly justified by the result than Mr. Chandler's. It gave him a new field for his energy and his masterly executive ability, and it is conceded that he made the best Secretary of the Interior that the nation has had in our day. He made no boasts of what he intended to accomplish, but instituted reforms and uprooted abuses. He hated dishonest men, and they feared him.--_Gen. J. R. Hawley, in the "Hartford Courant."_ On no occasion was Mr. Chandler known to use his official position for his own pecuniary gain--directly or indirectly. His death has ended a long career of public service in executive and legislative capacities, and throughout his hands were ever clean of unjust or illegitimate gain--nor did his bitterest political foe (and no man evoked stronger personal criticism) ever charge, or ever suspect him, with making personal profit out of his political station and opportunities.--_T. F. Bayard in the Senate, Jan. 28, 1880._ CHAPTER XX. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876--AT HOME--THE MARSH FARM NEAR LANSING.