Never  given  to  self-adulation  or  smug  complacency,
he  was  conscious  then,  as  he  was  made  more  conscious


FACING  THE  POLITICAL  BREAD-LINE  157

later,  that,  despite  his  best  efforts  to  lead  his  party  in  the
right  direction,  a  great  and  dangerous  political  machine
composed  of  Federal  office  holders  was  slowly  fastening
its  grip  upon  the  party,  with  the  purpose  of  perpetuating
Democratic  control,  and  that  David  B.  Hill  was  increas-
ingly regarded  as  a  coming  Moses,  fit  to  lead  them  out
of  the  wilderness  of  non-partisan  government  and  exas-
perating reform.  The  progress  of  the  new  year,  1886,
saw  this  tendency  steadily  increasing;  and  Hill's  refer-
ences in  his  inaugural  address  to  New  York  Governors
who  had  become  national  leaders,  indicated  the  workings
of  his  ambition.
In  view  of  this  fact,  and  in  view  of  the  lessons  of  his
Eaton  letter,  Mr.  Cleveland  might  have  been  pardoned,
had  he  maintained  a  discreet  silence  regarding  the  grow-
ing evil  of  official  interference  in  partisan  politics.  In-
deed, he  might  have  escaped  the  censure  of  others  had  he
set  his  mind  toward  the  building  of  a  personal  machine
of  office  holders.  Instead,  however,  he  astonished  the
machine  men,  delighted  the  reformers,  and  threw  con-
sternation into  the  ranks  of  his  closest  partisan  advisers
by  issuing  the  following  drastic  executive  order:

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,

July  14,  1886.
I  deem  this  a  proper  time  to  especially  warn  all  sub-
ordinates in  the  several  departments  and  all  office-holders
under  the  General  Government  against  the  use  of  their
official  positions  in  attempts  to  control  political  move-
ments in  their  localities.
