Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1849-04-30

- appointments ii sucn De thc case in ~
gna, what must il be in other States wbaro +
doctrine that to the victors belong The m ,., The
universally received and acted upon. f'''S'
We find the following il an article On ~,
Ject IN the Enquirer. II sets out by proca;rn ouo
the charge that the Democrats have been
scrPtivc, 70 be false" and this in the az
columns OF defence and eloquent advocacy &c ~ y
scHptIon, IN LoCofoco organs, las both inst and ~
pedlent In fact, until lately, we never hesrI
Il denied that prescription was fundamep.a,
doctrine OF the DemocIacy-but our obiect ~
giving this extract is to show its singular d;x;n.u
nuousness and reckIessness
at is not true that the)cmocra's have been procr;,
i Is false s those Of hg party who know any tbnr
know i y be 81 lne Wings have been the prosrrn,n,
ISIS for they are essentially venal. The Demncra, Kill
only prescribed prescription and the records If the n
Will show It. TIE first administration of the elder IA
ans set the example. al The offices Of trust and enn
ment were, by him, filled with old Federaissthe nrai
ecesSos of the present Wing party. Mr.. jefferson elect
ed by the Democracy prescribed this proscrptjon :, ,
equazed the Offices with the Democrats. 50 The Ill.,
remained under the two succeeding Democratic ,d;:s
trations of Madison and Munroe Then M J O
the head ufthe second Wing administration. rb,nN
the face and condition of things and when Ire bronl
PEELED him and his corrupiionss from power ws 50,
that of Two hundred and ninety six office holde :;
Washington only fifty SIX Democrats. Trio h..
dred and forty Wigs 10 fttY sir Democrats Now W.
the prescription here? -Four years Of WIZ
ministraton had expelled from office all bu, 6f,v 81
Democrats, leaving Of the Wing party; snugy fixed i
office, the moderate number of TWO hundred and forty
We need not remind the intelligent reado.
that the Wing party had its birth at a date snbyo
quent to the accession Of Mr. Adams-wr i,
! that pass, however. 1t is averred here that ~
der preceding Democratic Administrations n.
equilibrium was preserved in the public oH;coa
at Washington, and that it was not disturbed M
I'll Mr.. Adams came into power, and that "fonr
years of Wing Administration had eyneuaI
! from office all but fitty-SiX Democrats" jet No
treat this assertion automatically. The DEM
Gratis in office at Washington, when Mr. Ada0.
came into power being, by the proposition ! mo;a.
tv of the whole number of office holders arnn,,n,
ed 10 14S. IN four years all had been expelled H.,
56-that IS 9S Democrats were removed. Nov
will the Enquirer deliberately assert that hi.
number of removals was made durino tbe tour
years Of Mr.. Adams Administration VIII,
hazard ITS reputation for veracty, by SAVING tba,
one-halt, one-thrd, onc-fourth, or even one-fIth
Of this number Of Clerks, for any cause whatever
was turned out Of office BY Nj. Adams, W.
challenge it TO produce the evidence even fonn
dozen ofremovals with or without cause If
twelve removals had been made for opinion.
sake, the whole country would then have rnno
with the outrage. Let the Enquirer produce from
IFS files the names Of these martyrs 10 Wbo ~
tolerance. Let II show, in any manifesto of the
INSCRIPTIONS party organized TO oppose bis Ad-
mInstratlon, right or wrong, the mention Of pro
scrlphon for opinion sake, as one of the ground,
OF objection to Mr.. Adams. The CHARGE is with
! out foundation IN truth, and shows recklesSnes,
OF assertion or ignorance of the history Of that
day. OF all men Mr.. Adams was least disposed
to prescribe for opinions sake. He not oniy did
not turn out political opponents-he appointed
them to office. We have heard it seriously con-
tended that, in the bestowal of the patronage
{ which devolved upon him, he selected as lis re-
clplents as many opponents as friends He con-
i hnued IN office Cabinet Minister who, it was
. well known, was the supporter Of Gen. Jackson
one OF his competitors. He afterwards conferred
Cabinet appointment on another, who was at
the head Of the Crawford party in Virginia
a. we have said the Wing party did not exist
in 1925. The canvass ofthe preceding wear wa,
conducted upon personal grounds. All tie cand-
dates belonged to the Democratic party. as dishn-
guished from the old Federal party. Mr.. Craw-
ford was the first, and Mr.. Adams the second
choice Of Virginia. The Enquirer will not DENY
what ITS own columns at the time admitted. The
classification of the clerks as to their politics,
therefore, Is, we suspect, purely imaginary. No
clerk, so long as he attended to bis business had
any thing to fear from Mr.. Adams, because he
had preferred Gen. Jackson, Mr.. Calhoun, Mr..
T Crawford or Mr.. Clay, for the Presidency. If,
however, as the Enquirer AYERS there were, be-
fore the Administration Of Mr.. Adams closed, no
more than Do DemOCratS-that is, we presume,
opponents of Mr.. Adams's re-eection-in office,
we have shown that they were not reduced to
that number by prescription The alleged dis
proporhon-240 to 56--of men who were on the
spot and saw the working of the Government is,
in fact, high tribute to the Administration Of
Mr.. Adams
As pendant to these remarks we annex an ar
Il ticle from the n. Y. Evening Post, a Locofoco or.
gan:
.'Bu, supposng that the Washington Union was in q
position to complain Of prescription. it is efeciually de-
stcyng the force Of lis complaints by beginning before
there is ana thing 10 complain Of. Considering the le
gon Of offices which it is the duty of the President TO
fill his torbcarmce thus far has been conspicuous and,
whatever may be his hereafter, thus far the De
mocra'lc party have 10 complain of injustice
''He has made but few changes, and most Of those
hare been, in or judgment, decidedly advantageous TO
The pubic. w hen the public service is threatened, 1t
will be time enough for the Union begin the war; but,
then, would counsel that journal leave the
complaining to those who can do it with some show Of
consistency. and with pro pOrtlOnae effect.
6 1t would be little graceful, too. in paper
which has once been the official organ Of the Government
to sho,U trfe less of dnriey about The distribution Of
its offices and patronage and if the Union has fault
to fud with The principles Of government which the new
Administration has adopted, had better suspend any
further attacks until it has BY SO doing may be able,
when the occasion arrives TO influence against
them and Jthe proscrptire example ofhe late 4cms
israon should be adopted by General TAYLOR its
ments mis- ht receive some attention"
DFFAICATION