[147] Before the second trial began, Arthur removed five federal office holders who were sympathetic with the defense, including a former senator.[148] The second trial began in December 1882 and lasted until July 1883 and, again, did not result in a guilty verdict.[148] Failure to obtain a conviction tarnished the administration's image, but Arthur did succeed in putting a stop to the fraud.[148]
Garfield's assassination by a deranged office seeker amplified the public demand for civil service reform.[149] Both Democratic and Republican leaders realized that they could attract the votes of reformers by turning against the spoils system and, by 1882, a bipartisan effort began in favor of reform.[149] In 1880, Democratic Senator George H. Pendleton of Ohio introduced legislation that required selection of civil servants based on merit as determined by an examination.[149] This legislation greatly expanded similar civil service reforms attempted by President Franklin Pierce 30 years earlier.  In his first annual presidential address to Congress in 1881, Arthur requested civil service reform legislation and Pendleton again introduced his bill, but Congress did not pass it.