The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1839-07-30

19Fis il aa anv Thing else than of tho splendid
hImbugs which have been made 70 DANCE III SUI
cession for the last ten years, peiore t"o eJ'0 VI
the American People!
Sir every body now knows that all ils Pro,es-
sions and promises have been who'iy u'Srosoiuea'
tbnt they were dircgardod, in fact, immediately al
TOR thew were made DO you not, sir, remember
how Aagrany the President, within two weeks
nller the inaugural was pronounced, set at naugh
the tho instruction and aid" which he proiossed
10 "hopc 70, from tho co.ordiatG branches Of the !
Government" by dsmissing the Senate from their
special session, with n message informing them
that he had more business to tdy before Men ana
then Immediately proceeding to remove collectors,
comptrollers, auditors, marsals, district attorneys,
land registers and and ministers in foreign
countries, and supplying their places by his own
body but his interruptions and irresponsible part-
advisers DO you not remember that among
these examples Of reform was the removal oil the
collector Of the port of New York, for no cause
but that of political nonconlormity, and the APP
pontment in his place of Samuel Swarwout, who
has recently run away with Il million and quarter
of the Peoples money? DO you not remember
the whole of tho recess between the dismissal OF
the Senate in March, 1929, and lis assembling IN
December following And with what .nnsparIng
severity ii has been carried on from mat lime 10
this And is thore that hears inc who VIII
assert that it has not been carried on, from hst To
last, with the most inscriptions devotion TO mere
marty interests Is there one who docs not Know
that thousands of removals and thousands OF APP
appointments have been made for the very purpose
professedy deprecated in tho naugnral-that oil
bringing tho patronage of tho Government into
conflict with the freedom of clectons? Has not
the promise TO make diligence, talents, integrity,
and zeal the test OF qualification for Office been
hagrantly violated Have any qualifications been
able to stand the competition Bipartisan diligence
partisan talents, and partisan zeal
1t has, however, been said, and recently SAID on
this floor by member from ONO, (Mr Duncan
that there are a great many Wings lett IN ONCE
and he has undertaken to prove 1t, by processing l"
give the number of Wings and Administration
men now in Office in the varl ous Departments IN
this CITY Sir, do not deny that there are wings
left in Office here. | know some OF them anu
know them to be among the most capable and ellie
lent officers of the Government. But, SIR, know,
too, tho reason WHY they hnvo escaped tho Dcsoin
of tho reform. They would, probably, all have
been removed when it swept through the public Of
fees here in 1880, but for convection that
tho public business could not BIO carried on with
out Them The names of many, and believe, of
most of Them were what was called the 'bjack
llst'---a list Of candidates for prescription, made
out under the direction of the celebrated central
Committeeman it was well understood that Gen.
Jackson was urged 10 remove them, and that 1t,
would have been dono but for the remonstrancc OF
some of tho heads Of the Departments, who driv.
en- by necessity to appreciate the value OF old and
eyperenced clerks, insisted that the public busi
ness must snflor unless the work of reform was
arrested The project Of full and entire sweep
syas thereupon abandoned. 1t is thus that these
wings have been spared Necessity, not hbcrali
~, has dictated 1t. go
But sir, there was the less inducement to fill
ohCC nero with Il uCVOlcu pce'ioo
tho clerks in this city are in condition TO exer'
very little political influence, and can mingie IN no
elections affecting the general politics OF tho coun
try. 1t is not 50, however. elsewhere ana fence
we find q general sweep Of collectors, surveyors OF
ports naval officers all the subordinate oihcers o
the customs, marshais, district attorneys land reg
listers and receivers, and pnsmasters: Wherever
political influence has been wanteds thero mas thf
Administration been ready TO cut down political
opponents, and supply their places with The men
who had done the most party service ana VINO
In hn Drn
Der of miles, and proclaim with the loudest volco
the purity and consistency and Proeminon1rl nemoc
racy of tho reforming Administrator "c, o Is
not State nor a Congressional district, nor
county in this whole Union where evidence Oh ''o
truth OF this assertion may not be ionad xs ~,
where he! 'as uas'Ifanss sought TO sustain and por
ptfuate its power ~
And what an uncomfortable amount of power
may be welded by single hand, when that hand
holds the millions of patronage at tho Executive
dis posal and is guided by will unreguIaed and
uncontrolled by any principle that Of self and
party aggrandizement Establish the principle that
every office in the gift of the Executive is held for
disposal of the highest bidder--to the man who
can pay the most in partisan services-and thoro is
carried, with electric rapidly, throughout The land
an influence which pollutcs and corrupts evorythn
that 1t reaches The standard OF political moral.
ty becomes lowered and every man who has
single aspiration for Office is at once tempted to in
qulre, what will promote my interest rather than
WHAT'S right in principle, and best for the inter-
est of the country?
Fa.ftment Of prophecy
And, Mr.. Chairman, no men in this nation have
ever better understood tho weakness of human ma
ure in this respect, and the power which patronage
can exert upon IT., than those who have administer
cd the Government for the last ten years. Sir, it is
remarkable that the present President and Vice
PRESIDENT of the United States and tho sexpunging'
Senator from Missouri Mr. Benton) were leading
members of the Senate Committee on Executive |
patronage in 1926, whose repor-to which have
before adverted-drawn up by MIR Benton, contains
q most glowing description of tho danger of an !
abuse OF that patronage Suffer me to read a para |
graph from that report
the fountain of honor ; the President of the Unit
cd States is the source of patronage. He presdes
owe: over the entire system of Federal appointments,
JoDs' and contracts He has power over the sup
port of the individuals who administer the svstem
ne makes and unmakes them. He chooses from
dGe circle OF his friends and supporters and may
mem, and, upon all the principles of human