appointment, they had "never even expressed an opinion to the
President in any case unless questioned in regard to it." Along
with this statement the New York Senators transmitted their
resignations, saying "we hold it respectful and becoming to make
room for those who may correct all the errors we have made, and
interpret aright all the duties we have misconceived."

The New York Legislature was then in session. Conkling and Platt
offered themselves as candidates for reelection, and a protracted
factional struggle ensued; in the course of which, the nation was
shocked by the news that President Garfield had been assassinated
by a disappointed once seeker in a Washington railway station on
July 2, 1881. The President died from the effects of the wound on
the 19th of September. Meanwhile, the contest in the New York
Legislature continued until the 22d of July when the deadlock was
broken by the election of Warner Miller and Elbridge G. Lapham to
fill the vacancies.

The deep disgust with which the nation regarded this factional
war, and the horror inspired by the assassination of President
Garfield, produced a revulsion of public opinion in favor of
civil service reform so energetic as to overcome congressional
antipathy. Senator Pendleton's bill to introduce the merit
system, which had been pending for nearly two years, was passed
by the Senate on December 27, 1882, and by the House on January
4, 1883. The importance of the act lay in its recognition of the
principles of the reform and in its provision of means by which
the President could apply those principles. A Civil Service
Commission was created, and the President was authorized to
classify the Civil Service and to provide selection by