The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-08-01
REMARKS OF MR.. RATHBUN,
OF NEW YORK,

IN the House Of Representatives, b',s lo46-on the
bill providing for the more equal distribution OF
the Offices in the several departments in the city
of Washington among the several States and Ter
ritories and the District OF Columbia, mainly IN
reply to Mr.. DOUGLASS, OF Illinois.
The House being in Committee of the Whole on
the state of the Union
M RATHBUN spoke as follows:
Mr. CHAIRMAN; The genileman from Illinois, VINO
has just resumed his sea- r ~ ,hs otcss If
M required for the performance OF the
wy ~; ,.as.. in This city. The BILL he tells US,
"hs,,rd and ridiculous; It's provisions cannot be
80 o1,, ,h. committee who reported II, and the
nerson Who drew il, must be aware Of u. our ue
bill was drawn and reported IN con,V ~ ~ aa,,oo
oIution Of this House IL , me Nv o,hsr fronn m
and not of the committee. Inc n Nv" 80, ri.
Iino;s knows' or ought TO know, inns laet. nls
ridcule APPLIES to the dongs Of TINS popy ahI "oS
10 the committee But, sir, do hvt eo mp IN; T.
The criticisms and sneers Of the meuloeI ho"
nois am aware that there are cer'an, 49, .snrn,
tslleei - MINATED, so ethereal, ocen,,y posi-
sieyaied. 80 far removed from the ul ts' ~
a. inary pursuits, feelings and eo ",loe =, r;di.
of common men that they can only s'o'P ;ad
rnIe their actions and opinions am no! ~, ~
that genius which towers so hgh, an or
sublime should be incompetent TO conn ;ns, and
IN sppreciate a subject 80 simple as ne JuSs a'a
equal distribution of seven hundred ofioes an'os
the people who pay for their services IL .rrs
member will psrdon those who plod upon w ~
6.ce Of mother earth TO whom II " nov go" -.
soar amidthe regions OF fancy, " they u, H.. b,I
him--if they can see that the provlslons OF iS,;oa
are based upon principles of equity and JitIi
The member from Illinois cannot see how tue ON
can be carried out. He cannot understand NJ" "a =,
officers are 70 be distributed am not surpr.seIi,
IL; il il a problem 10 be solved msthemapeIlty,
Daholl furnishes rule under what ne teIm, ,,ne
division. Seven hundred is TO be divided cy wv
hundred and twenty eight; the quotient ~ the num-
her N which eseh congressional district Is enueu'
Now sir, unless we can find some person sutnei.nS
lv skilled in mathematics to overcome this aar'h"s
diefepI,y we shall be constrained TO admit the III
falIiblity of the member from Illinois.
To be serious on the subject, there - no more
difficulty in distributing those seven hundred Offices
among the States and Territories than IN distributing
the representation upon this floor, or the cadets al
West Point, or the midshipmen in the navy. Those
officers labor for the whole people, and are paid by
the whole Why should not all parts OF the eoun-
try be permitted to participate in the enjoyment oil
the honors and emouments of ofhee emanaung
from their own government why conhne al me
patronage to particular section1 Why conhne all
knowledge OF public business, IN which all are
equally interested, to small part of the Union'
II taxes are 10 be paid armies TO be raised Il Is
very easy to find correct rule for distributing them
no State is overlooked forgotten-no precocious
proper that New York should contribute her money
and her five thousand men to carry on the wnr
against Mexico, but absurd and ridiculous to talk
Of her having any part OF the officers.
Mr. Chairman, believe that rotation IN office Is
necessary everywhere, and particularly In the de-
partnens in this city No man has, or ought to
have, life-estate In an Office. All should he made
to feel their responsibility to their employers Every
appointment should be made for stated period. IL
IL the only nnnds in which industry and huehty can
be secured. There some now in Office here
who were removed this city when the seat Of gov
eminent was removed from Philadelphia, more than
forty years since 1t was said yesterday, by gen
tlenaan from Ind}aha Mr.. KENNEDY, in reference
to another subject, that ia who had been in Of
fee about the Capitol eight years, and maintained
character for integrity, must be saint indeed"
hat must man be who has occupied the same Of
fee upward of forty years. do not wish to be un-
derstood as making any charges against them.
know of no ground of complaint against them per-
sonally; but there are, as understand, serious COM
plants of the system which has grown up under
the administration of their official duties. The sub
divisions of labor and multiplication Of oioessi-
necuresis the fruit of this absurd system Of con-
ferrng upon a man an Office for life, with remainder
his children 1t may be objected that if changes
are made, the public business will suffer. ] am
aware that too frequent changes would produce that
RESULT but to refuse any changes that account is
denying the propriety of changes in the Office Of
President and members Of the cabinet How much
important the for retaining the lat
ter in Office permanently than one of their subor-
dinates. No man who has been here any length
Of time could avoid seeing that there in the
employment Of the government who are utterly I'M
worthy of confidence. or the great mass Of Off
GERS have nothing to say. presume they
competent, honest, industrious, respectable men.
know nothing to the contrary. But there are men
equally competent honest, and Industrious, all over
the Union; equally deserving, and equally entitled
,k.rf
small matter; he ought TO be competent to judge
of small matters. But, sir, is it sof These officers
receive annually more than million of dollars.
In Pecuniary point Of view, then, it is not very
trhing affair. What reason has been, or can be,
assigned for allowing this District, and two or three
States ad acent to monopolze this enormous amount
of patronage' have heard none. There are many
reasons why they should not. Our government,
like all Others and sometimes am inclined to think
than any other, ia liable to be cheated and de-
frauded, and particularly by men intrus,ed with
places of trust and responsibility. Men are seldom
corrupt when first entering upon the performance of
public business; but long continuance in office. at
least, has tendency to make them so. And again,
IN addition TO the advantages resulting from changes
once in few years, the plan proposed would bring
together strangers from all parts of the country
which would act as check upon all. These stran
gers, representing different sections, entertaining
local prejudices, by association, would discover
their error, and discard those preudices. Thus
much Of that jealousy which is now ranking in
the breasts of good citizens, would be eradcated,
and "this little matter'' become the means of ce-
mentng, and perhaps of preserving the confederacy
1t would do more. 1t would disseminate informa-
ton in regard to the manner in which public busi-
ness is transactedi how frauds committed, and
by whom; how they can be detected, exposed, and
punished 1t would enable the country to
understand the thousand ways in which the
public money is squandered and it would
Ibrin mar of hara ,,loJ,r ~,
correct many enormous, but time honored abuses.
All this Is of course small matter TO a man who
looks and scars aoft above and beyond the reach
OF ordinary mortals; but to those who entertain a
moderate share of observation and common sense
It is most obvious that abuses exist in the several
departments, and that the infusion Of new men, as
proposed by the bill under discussion, is the best if
not the only remedy. Bring new men here, fresh
from the people, full of energy, ambitious to per-
form their whole duty, with knowledge that in a
few years they are to give place TO Others you may
rely upon 1t that the result would be beneficial in
every point view. desire the change shall be