The result was, in effect, a defeat for the
Republican leaders, and they wisely decided to withdraw from the
position which they had been holding. Shortly after the passage
of the resolutions, the Senate confirmed the nomination over
which the contest started, and thereafter the right of the
President to make removals at his own discretion was not
questioned.
This retreat of the Republican leaders was accompanied, however,
by a new development in political tactics, which from the
standpoint of party advantage, was ingeniously conceived. It was
now held that, inasmuch as the President had avowed attachment to
the principle of tenure of office during good behavior, his
action in suspending officers therefore implied delinquency in
their character or conduct from which they should be exonerated
in case the removal was really on partisan grounds. In reporting
upon nominations, therefore, Senate committees adopted the
practice of noting that there were no charges of misconduct
against the previous incumbents and that the suspension was on
account of "political reasons." As these proceedings took place
in executive session, which is held behind closed doors, reports
of this character would not ordinarily reach the public, but the
Senate now voted to remove the injunction of secrecy, and the
reports were published. The manifest object of these maneuvers
was to exhibit the President as acting upon the "spoils system"
of distributing offices.
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