New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1845-08-06
Prescription, Promises. &c. at Washington.
From our regular Correspondent.

From our regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON. August 4th 1915.
If the authentic " promises. the authentic de
clarations, and the authentic denials OF Mr.. Polk
be worthy Of illustration and commentary their VIC
laon. absurdity and Justification would be fertile
theme for the public s- long as his and acts
may be regarded capable Of either amusement or
interest. He may be termed very successful dealer
in words and if they do no, wear WELL IN this re-
spec they differ little from majority Of the fabrics
Of the age His promises are in general circulation,
but when their utility was tested they have been
found trashy, unsubsianial and worthless; yet they
were all genuine and "au,hentic" promises In
cumbens Of profitable Offices have endeavorel to
have the promise Of Mr. Polk yet there are some
Of this class who, alarmed by recent proofs of his
insinceriiy, begin to trembe ia their shoes and
to fear dismissal in every official packet transmit
ted from the head Of the Department. Poor Stephen
Pleasoni0n suffered from a severe agitation Of the
nervous system until BY dini Of toad isu and impor
tunty he got possession of one Of these promises
This quoted his fears for time. but the virtue OF
the thing seems to have oozed out and he isuOw as
idgety, rs ieverish, and a. unhappy a. ever. Ma0!
Nolan has the reputation Of being the owner Of
need Many others are in the same predicament
Some OF Mr.. Polk own friends have come to " ash
ngtOn for Office, produceda promise. and demanded
any thing from diplomatic appointment to porter
ship; and where one has found his promise good for
the nominal value, twenty have been Obliged TO &C
cept new promise in lieu Of the uncurren' or dis
hOnorcd one liza vOluminous record OF broken pro-
misses could damn party President. the amount OF
execraiion which awaits Mr Polk is awful 10 antic
pate.
There are also authentic" declarations travel
ING about The last Of these is that the removals
from Office which daily made entirely in op-
position 10 his wishes - Cred0t jHdt1uS How
does this declaration square with his promises
Has he no power toprevent these removals ? When
President John Il. Adams was pressed 10 remove
Jonathan Thompson from the COlcc,orship OF New.
York, because he was opposed 10 the Adminstra-
ton, the President coolly replied, Is he honest and
capable in his Office ?" Does he faithfully dis
charge his official trust p When these questions
were answered in the affirmative. "Then" said he.
" ! will not remove faithful officer for honest
difference in political opinion Could not Mr. Polk
adopt the same elevated policy Perhaps not His
mind may not be able 10 soar so high. II sincere in
his declaration. WHY not check the mischief and
misery his officers are spreading abroad Lacks he
energy to break the party letters which chain him
down to this groveng work Does he wish it to
be understood that he is the mere tool of his own
underlines Or, his craven spirit shrinking from
the responsibilities OF his station does he
the cloak Of the hypocriie to hide the hearcssness
of the dcspotl This is probably the true inference.
Cruelty and meanness usually herd together. Gen
eral Jackson was an exception. He was bold and
daring despot never shrinking from responsibility
Like the vulrurc, he openly descended on his prey
reptile like Mr.. Polk crawls to his victim insinu
aies the poison, and gldes into the hcket for con
ccalmcnt If the spurious Democracy of the day
were capable OF shame it would blush for its Presi
dent
Ofihe authentic" denials the editor of the Gov
crnmcnt organ is liberal purvcyOr to the public
But the most amusing one which he has supplied is
the authentic - denial OF the suggestion that Mr.
Polk will be presented candidate for reelection.
Mr. Richie is an old actor. and understands his cue.
The part prescribed to him in the first act is to voci
terate this denia-this authentic" denial The
ieelers of the public pulse are differently cast, and
are playing their parts Just as diligently az he is
playing his As the plot is developed. the language
Of the actors will adapt Itself 10 the change and the
fndle will exhibit an harmonious chorus Of all the
dramafis person@ There are bat two contngen-
ces which can prevent Mr. Polk from being put for
ward again as "A candidate-his death, or such an
universal conviction of his incapacity will compel
even his partsans TO select some less hopeless name
10 rally under. Mr. Polk may and will play the CO.
queuc-he may alice, to be shocked that he should
be suspected OF design TO violate the authentic
promise he has given not to be a candidate and Mr.
Richie, until another cue Is given Will persist in his
authentic ~ denials; but the partsans will insist
that the good OF the cOunry-ihc welfare OF our Re
publican institutions requires that he should carry
ont his policy H. fiji the pockets of his friends
and Mr. Polk will be brought, slowly and reluctant
" of course TO Weld the voice of The people thus
expressed, and 10 resign himself to this cruel
lyrdom, rather than that ruin should fall these
United States. Those amongst US, therefore, who
siolid enough to believe that our country would
have got along Just as well-perhaps a very little
lo,,o NJ laI Lob \ .r,,,
his small office in Columbia, and in whom the spice
we have had of his quality has wrought no change
Of opinion in this respect Will do well 10 make up
our minds TO this infection. unless we can find
Wing candidate worthy to enter the lists against this
champion of democracy. | trust that we may find
such an one, and that Judge Mclean might be in
duced 10 try the peril of the encounter for 10 hun.
think public opinion seems 10 be already pointing as
our next President.
In the meantime if Mr. Polk would direct his az
icnion for a while from turning out pubic officers
TO reforming such abuses may have crepl into the
departments. he would be establishing some claim
TO grateful consideration. Let him search the Con
sular files in the State Department and devise sys
TEN by which the mass OF commercial information
which there lies buried may be extracted. syslema
tiscd, and given to the public. Let him caution Mr.
Cave Johnson TO make more contracts for print
ing blanks enough TO supply the wants of the de
partment for seven years ahead done by a
predecessor and for which the department had to
pay thousands every quarter unnecessarily. Let
him examine the prices paid TO Loco Foco printers
in this way-such as Miller Moelier. and Graham
and probably 10 Isaac Hill Economy and prodi.
eaity ought not to be playing DO peep with each
other
|, is not possible for any one, not admitted into
Cabinet secrets las the correspondent of the Herald
affects to be- to keep pace with the changes in Of
fee actual or proposed. As 10 the adoption of the
twelve years rule, by vote of 10 IN the Csbi-
net" every one here deems the man somewhat YER
dant who set the rumor afoat. Does any sup
pose that dec, sons in the Cabinet accessible to
the public Very few of the removals bear out the
assertion. For one that has becn twelve years in
Office a score who have been employed since 1888,
have been removed. suppose the number dedi-
Gated during the last week must have been 40 or so
but do not hear that any of the ancient mcum
bents are in the list am glad to hear that there
is a hope that Mr. Hebbe will be reinstated. How Is
this Can Mr. Bancroft reent or has he been over
ruled Has the current of indignation set so strong
~ and decidedly against him, that he has been COM
PEELED to yieldio it
The last news from Mexico has somewhat shaken
the opinion of the Cabinet that the idea of War Is
an absuriity General Almonte is hostiely disposed
opf his In h. Secretary OF