Man Abroad by Anonymous

The Constitutional amendment abolishing the United States Senate proved highly beneficial to the public service. The President was the kind of man to appreciate his increased responsibility for the moral tone and business efficiency of the Executive departments, and his freedom from Senatorial dictation concentrated upon him the potential criticism of watchful public opinion. But before the first new Congress had been in session many weeks it became evident that the House of Representatives felt its vote. The aggressiveness of a party caucus when it finds itself in the majority for the first time for many years was feeble compared to the evident purpose of the House, when it discovered its power to exercise that power without restraint.

Desiring to get as strong a grip on patronage as possible, the Representatives tried to establish an unwritten law compelling the President not only to consult them, but to defer entirely to them regarding appointments. The power of confirmation or rejection had, of course, been abolished with the Senate, but the Representatives depended on threats of the withdrawal of moral support, the passage of embarrassing statutes, and the refusal of legislation anxiously urged by the President, to bring him to terms, and every effort was made to deceive him regarding the character of persons recommended for appointment, in order to bring him into bad odor if he continued firm.