Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1845-10-15
FxECUTIyE PATRoNAGE.


view contains an able article on the enor
mousy increasing power and patronage O.
the General Government together with the
patronage of the State Governments. Ii
is sufficiently alarming to awaken public
attention and lead to the adoption Of mea.
sures which will limit The power of indiyi.
duals and transfer it 10 the people. tap
pears that the government al Washington
controls OF posimasters, deputies, mail con.
tractors and clerks, some thirty thousand
persons distributed throughout the Union.
OF Executive appointments connected with
The revenue, army, navy, land offices,
clerks, &c. &c. il is computed BY the wri
Ter, that with the addition Of State patron.
age no less than half million Of persons
atthe commencement of every new admit
nisiraion are looking with feversh aud
frigbtful anxiety for Executive favor. This
is an alarming power to be exercised by
the Executive OF any country or the 60
yernment Of any Slale---and il must con.
stilule full half Of the duties of the Presi-
dent, and those duties can never be salts
factorily discharged, for the simple rem
son that il is not possible that the appoint.
ing power can be familiar with the claims
aud character Of all the applicants. When
the trainers OF our constitution arrived at
the consideration Of the power and pa
ironage of the President, they shrunk from
il in dismay. Not from its extent at the
time, but what in alter years it might be-
come, and they did the best that checks
and balances could do, and even then they
surrendered il with painful antcipations
The crisis they unprecedented has arrived.
The interests of the country and its very
liberties are in measure jeopardized by |
the enormous power Of the Executive, and |
the time has arrived to apply the only cor.
receive presenting itself. which is 10 make
certain officers elective by the people, in
stead Of being chosen by the President.
Whether this would require amendments
TO the Constitution, we are not prepared at
present 10 say; but let us take the post.
Offices TO begin with. Suppose by an act
Of Congress, the electors Of each county
in every State should be required to elect
postmasers in such towns, in which they
are or may hereafter be appointed in each
county, once every four years, submitting
disputed elections to the decision of the
Postmaster General; we thus relieve the
government Of 10000 appointments, and
confer them upon the people. Once in
four years the people elect on one ticket
The posimasters in each county, and elect
them quietly and securely. Here is one
great item disposed of, one great engine
Of power taken from the Executive track.
Let us carry out the same experiment on
q broader scale. Let the people of each
collecting district or city throughout the
Union elect once in every four years a col
lector OF the port, naval officer, and sur
veyor, and in case of contested elections.
The President of the United States is to de.
eide upon the claims of candidates to the !
commission which is to issue from The Ge-
neral Government. Let all appointments !
and removals from office be made by the
collector, by and with the consent and ap- !,
probation of the Secretary of the Treasu. /
". Here are the two great objects and G
sources OF power and patronage, and the
fruitful cause of intrigue and manage
ment taken from the General Government
and given directly to the people. True. c
Il may be said that there will be still in. v
lrgue and trucking, possibly frauds and $
local quarIels; still it will be among the '
people, the righlful owners of these Offices (
and the source OF all power. Relieve the Il
government, we say, from the responsible |
W and trouble of the appointments, and Q
~ The people settle the points themselves.
rev at this moment can conceive how
SUCH course would discmbarrass the Gle !
neral Government, and how far the propo- r
a'lcn would 60 TO strengthen the Union
ana give stability 10 the general Admins q
nation. Let the experiment, properly \
guarded, be limited TO post Offices and re- :,
venue districts, and great, valuable, CON =
''erVaiive, and satisfactory measure will at q
once be adopted. =
The proposed reform is not a party ques. :,
uon. 1t has been advocated by all parties, :,
and again. The present Administration :,
declared IN favor Of it soon after the Pre- H.
s'aent came into Office, and we may there. :;
lo'e look for its accomplishment at The next r
session Of Congress. nv Y. Sun. n
owIng to the uninterrupted good health =, !,
W The civ md tho ,resno,t ~ ~ aon,; va