Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1839-04-17

his appointment, and enters upon the dis
charge Of his duties.
Other instances, (for they are numer-
ous) might be referred TO, fit were not
desirable to consult brevity in this Address
in which the Secretary Of the Treasury,
in some cases evidently with the knowl.
edge Of the President himself, has winked
at fagrantly corrupt NAL practice Of pub
lie officers, particularly of the receivers
OF land Offices in the South and West
not unfrequsntly re.appointing and re.
tanning defaulters in Office, especially
when they we're supposed to be men OF
extensive popularity and influence, know.
ing them to be defaulters when they were
so r~e.appointed or retained |! The public
treasury has been thus exposed to plumber,
and has in truth been subjected to heavy
losses /; and a widespread scene OF official
delinquency and corruption has been cul.
pably connived at, and corruption sane
toned by those who should have been
prompt TO detect and to punish its earliest
developments.
In the course Of the Investigations growing ot oil
the defalcation Of Mr.. S%wartwout, another abuse oil
great magnitude and importance has been brought
TO light. Ii WAS ssc.rtaiped, by the testimony,
under oath, of officers in the Custom House, that
an annual tax is levied upon them, propor,ionsd TO
the amount Of their respective salaries, in order to
raise an elsctioneering fund, to be expended in aus
tanning the candidates nominated for Municipal,
State and Federal offices, by the Administration
party. To the amount OF this tax, deducted from
the oaice-holder's salaries, there is therefore, prac-
tcally, an annual appropriation OF money from the
public treasury, to be employed in achieving party
%triumphs! True, no appropriation bill is introduced
into Congress, and passed through oil its stages
That would arouse the Indignation Of the country,
and would overwhelm any party which re.erted to
this means Of eotruptlng and controlling public
opinion. beneath an avalanche Of popular displsa.
sure. But what is the essential difference, when,
from the salaries OF the public officers, drawn from
the treasury, q certain per centum ia deducted, TO
be applied to the corrupt purpose OF maintaining 10
power te men upon whom those officers arc de-
pendant, perhaps, for their bfeadi lftheir salaries
are too high, they should be reduced, and The ex-
cess should remain in the treasury. But if they be
not more than an adequate compensation for their
services, thenit is UNJUST TO them, ~ we'll as q fraud
upon the country, 10 require that they shall pay
that per ccn.um for the purpose Of sustaining an
Administration to which they are indebted for their
commissions.
IL might here be asked, too, If this odious and
corrupt practice of taxing the oficc-holde,s, does
NOT lead inevitably TO the inference, that their per-
sonal exertions are called into requisition ns we'll as
their purses, with the express design Of "bIinging
the patronage of the Federal Government into con-
dict with tho freedom OF elections1" MIR. Jefferson
declared that Federal officers, who intc,fersd in cleo
tions whether Of the State or General Governments,
should be removed; because, The sadly the con.ti-
tionai remedy, by the elective principle, becomes
nothing, 1t 1t may be smothered by tho enoI nous
patronage Of the General Government" And Mr..
Jefferson enforced this doctrine efficiently, by issu.
Ing a circular to the holders Of office, under his Ad
ministration, by which their interference with cleo
tions was forbidden in the most u5equivocal terms.
When Gen, Jackson was inaugurated, he likewise
declared that the intci ference of Federal officers,
with 1.-THE freedom of elections, was ono of the
crying abuses which 1t was u part OF his delegated
mission to reform. What "A broad contrast does the
practice OF this Administrator present to these pro-
LESSONS and promises! 1t openly justiies and en-
courages the ,ery abuse, which, assuming the fact
OF its previous existence, 1t voluntarily pledged it.
ssif, when II came into power, To reform; and IL
oven denounces, as a new edition of Inc Sed,tion law
an act modelled upon the principles, and in the pro.
visions Of which it wa, proposed to incorporate the
very language Of Mr.. Jef-rson's Circular Facts
like these illustrate the striking difference between
the pledges and The practices OF the party in power,
aud demonstrate withhow little Justice or propriety
they claim to be the inheritors and OK positors Of tho
principles of the Republican party.
Not less sbhorrent to the genius Of true Rcpubli.
ean'sin, is that proscriptive spirit which seems to
have boon recently ,e-awakened, like a giant from
his SAUNDERS. While we deprecate the "intcr-
ference OF Federal officers with elections. in
such a manner as to bring The patronage Of the
government into conflict with the independent exer-
cise OF the right OF suffrage, we equally deprecate
those UNJUST restraints upon tho ofiics-holders them
seiVes, which denies To them the free exercise of
that ihestimable privilege. Freedom OF opinion "a
one OF the dearest blrth-rishs OF an American citi.
zen, OF which he cannot be deprived, as a condi-
none Aold,ng Office, without the most fragrant sx-
hi6iuon OF despotic power. Yet the President ha,
Recently removed from Office individuals, synins,
whom, he admits, there are no imputanons of per.
sonsl dlshonor or OF Official delinquency-And when
respectfully ipterrogated as to the reason of thar
removal, the reply was. that " it i. paIt Of a system.
ID which they are not the only victims" Upon
"nai principle this system is passed, the public are
not apprized but referring to those 10 whom il ha.
been thus Tar applied, it rests upon the arbitrary
,u'e Oh hon-eontormity OF opinion, on the part of the
dismissed officers. with the official standard And
II Is worthy of special remark, that some of the
most prominent OF the officers recently prescribed
have been, until within a very brief period, ardent
friends OF the Administrations, and now differ from
IL only as to the expedlency of adopting its new
system OF finance. which, although il 10 said to be
Of subordinate character, is clearly made a test OF
orthodoxy, and will, undoubtedly, govern the AID.
ministration in its future appointments.
o"e feature OF this newly-revived proscr,ptive
Pohcyis well calculated to excite the apprehension,
o, the sober and rejecting portion Of the cemmu.
MY, by Its striking resemblance to the course pur.
sued during the reign of blood and terror in France
when the government OF tina, country wa. a mere
instrument in the hands Of the Jacobin Clubs. whose
DEGREES ct vengeance against obnoxious individuals
It had neither tbs courage nor the power, if il bud
tne VIII to resist. a deputation from a Political
Club. organized in Baltimore, lately waited on the
President. TO demand the removal IL Mr.. Skinner.
Inc POSTMASTER OF that City, and the appointment Of
mr.. Joshua Vansant to the vacated office md The
reason assigned ia, not that Mr.. Skinner has no,
,ailniuiy performed his duties as a public servant,
but that he is tainted with Conversation. and viii
nor pledge himself to h" sink or swim" with Mr.
van buren,! If this attempt 20 c, outrol Executive
action by organized clubs shall succeed, and become