observer. "The era of patronage mongering in the petty offices
ceased suddenly, and the spoilsmen had the right to say that in
this respect the policy of McKinley had not been followed." It
was true. When Roosevelt became President the civil service was
thoroughly demoralized. Senators and Congressmen, by tacit
agreement with the executive, used the appointing power for the
payment of political debts, the reward of party services, the
strengthening of their personal "fences." But within three months
it was possible to say with absolute truth that "a marvelous
change has already been wrought in the morale of the civil
service." At the end of Roosevelt's first term an unusually acute
and informed foreign journalist was moved to write, "No President
has so persistently eliminated politics from his nominations,
none has been more unbending in making efficiency his sole test."

There was the kernel of the whole matter: the President's
insistence upon efficiency. Roosevelt, however, did not snatch
rudely away from the Congressmen and Senators the appointing
power which his predecessors had allowed them gradually to usurp.
He continued to consult each member of the Congress upon
appointments in that member's State or district and merely
demanded that the men recommended for office should be honest,
capable, and fitted for the places they were to fill.

President Roosevelt was not only ready and glad to consult with
Senators but he sought and often took the advice of party leaders
outside of Congress, and even took into consideration the
opinions of bosses. In New York, for instance, the two Republican
leaders, Governor Odell and Senator Platt, were sometimes in
accord and sometimes in disagreement, but each was always