in great numbers by the State Committee in every village of the Commonwealth.
And now he has just laid aside the duties of a high public trust, in which he has proven a capacity for administration equal to that which he had already shown in the discussion of public questions. He has presided over that department of the National Government which, though attracting less than those of finance and foreign affairs the popular interest and imagination, exacts greater labor, embraces more miscellaneous duties and requires the application of more various powers than any other,—covering agriculture, patents, the census, public lands, national education, and the Indian tribes. In all this he has done well. He has been so clear in his office that intemperate criticism has been unable to impeach his integrity and honor. He leaves behind no acts to be investigated. He has deserved well of the Republic by his persistence and success in purging the Indian service of the scandals and abuses which have been traditional with it. He has uniformly applied to his department the same system of admissions and promotions which prevails in all well-conducted commercial business, and which ought to prevail without favoritism in the business of government. He has done for the civilization of the Indian what no predecessor has done, testing his fidelity in responsible trusts and his capacity for higher education, promoting as never before his individual ownership of the soil, and thus preparing the
