Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-02-13

themselves, CT their reia,ions, Is TO ;,;s
eide, in opinion and vote. with the tsesu
i've. Ont ct the union Of these two ny;n
tiples, the love Of Office and the general in.
preston that coiscidenc. with The exeeu.
tive. is an esse initial condition for obain;n,
Office, grows that corruption of the y.tv
fountain of actiont the publication Of which
!. the aim of both the amendment and INV
,,ono.ition, under considerations. 1t q.
ISIS without pre- contract with the exeru.
tive. He knows our wants without any
formal speculation from us. And VIC know
hi. terms without any formal sprciGca,lca
from us. We know MS terms without any
,r.v;ou. statement from him. The par.,
proceed together mutually gratifying and
era,i6ed, as occasions oasr. and the har.
monies Of the happy part OF the Legislature
and of the executive are complete. And
were it no. that there is third party coa.
ceraed, called the people o. the U. States,
nothing would seem more pleasant or unex.
ceptionable. than this partnership in Official
felicity. Blu, so it is in truth. that the in.
,erests and liberties of the people, which
we are sent here to consult, will not only
he sometimes n, elected, but at others abso.
lutely sacrificed, while the constituted guar.
dams are gaping after Offices for ,hen'selv's
or hunting them up for thsir relations
The nature of ths corrup,ion is such, as not
oaly easily to be concealed rom the world,
but also in great measure from the indivi-
dual himself. And SO long as that free &C.
cess which is at present permitted by the
constitution is unrs strained, it will continue
& may eucrease. On every question which
arises and ha. relation to executive mea-
surss, in addition to ALT the other considers.
tons Of honor, policy, justice. propr'ety and
the like, this ago is prepared to be thrown
into the scale :jthat if man means to gain
Office, he must coincide with the execuHve.
1t is no, possible for any man to decide,
what degree If influence ,hs consldcratlcu
has upon anhther, aad it ia nearly, It n"s
quite, as difficult, for him TO decide what
degree ofjinausnes it may have upon him.
self For lee any man reflect upon ii:
springs Of any particular course OF action,
which various, concurrsnt, complex mo-
,ives have induced him to adopt, and he
will find it very d'fficult to apportioo to
each Of the concurrina motives the precise
degree Of influence which belongs TO it,
And he will also find, that If there be in
the group, one n,ativr base, and cons=.
quently bashful Of the light, it will shrink
away into the deepest rece IS OF the heart,
ADD there cover itself over with such an
accumulation Of plausible, specious. me.
tives. that i, is beyond the power Of poor
human nature, in the ordinary strength OF
its moral sense, always to discover it,
From the liability Of having the source Of
our public actions corrupted. BY the in!u.
sion of such faint, every homes, mind will
be solicitous 10 be- delivered For whether
the Office which alures our fancy BE- tor
ourselves, or for our relatives, the result is
the same. No man can stand up, WHOLLY
independent, to the hand by which he hops
to be fed, or which is ~ the act Of feeding
his children and relatives. Nor can anv
man, however honest, or scrupulous, placed
in such situation, he positively csrr.;a as to
his own motive, or know whether, in such
cases, his popularity with the executive be
the result of the intrinsic nature and reason
afthinss, or whether it be the effect of tn.
influence of those metallic strata. which
unite that executive with the centre OF hli
best affections.
With respect to the degree, in which tbs
corruption has, heretofore, or may hereafter
exist, it il impossible precisely to estimate
Because the Offices, in the gift of the ex'
ecu!ive, and the departments, are SO hume
rous, arc extended over so wide surface,
being for the whole United-States, and the
relations of members OF Congress are 50 ut
tie known to each other and the world, that
it is not to be expected that we, much less
that the people, should be able to trace this
influence, in all itsADamihcations. But one
thing is certain, that it exceeds popular es'
timation, as much as it evades Legislative
security. Why, sir. there is annually DIS
tributed from the great departments, an a.
mount not less than eve snd an halt mil
lions of dollars and from the post ota;e