The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-03-05
FOURTH OF MARCH.

FOURTH Oh MAhSh.
u..,.,ect some of the Office seekers were
;..s.d pickle yesterday at Washington. om
ar.Il.s we're. no dosbt, in great demand ana
hosr.Aound candy will command pfeH'u"
for some weeks to come. They are an en'e'
prising race however. those ofhce nu"'''. I a"1
are no, apt to be put down by tfinss' my
NAV not be willing to go through n,e :" pun
.,i, ~ their object; but they certainly 90 not
.,ana h.ck FIR water. We never saw but one
;,.,a,,a,;on in our lives, and that was the in
.ru,,,.,;on of Mr.. Polk. 1t rained by pals
eli J,,ne the whole time, and for long time
.s., We recollect casting our eyes back
;,., &C we reached the capitol, over Pennsyl-
xspia Avenue. 1t was a perfect sea of UNI
hrellas. from Capitol Hill to the Presidents
grounds. Both the sidewalks and greater
portion OF the street, were crowded. We won
dered where upon earth all these umbrellas
could have come from. We suppose that the
whole would have been exhausted to supply
the show. But we had not seen half, when we
had only seen thus much. In front of the
Eastern door of the capitol, where stands the
statue of Columbus, we found several square
acres of the same description of wares. There
they stood, shoulder TO shoulder, amid the pelt
ing of the pitless storm, their eyes eagerly bent
tocatch the FIRST glimpse of the new luminary
which was to bre ak out, not from the East, but
from the West. There they stood, packed
like behring's in a barrel, wedged and dove
tailed together in solid mass, their combined
umbrellas forming canopy overhead. We
thought of the Prince in the fairy tale, who
had magical canopy that he could fold up
and put in his pocket, like handkerchief and
which, when expanded, could cover an army OF
an hundred thousand men.
Certainly public money (by whic h we mean
money paid out of the public cofers) is better
and sweeter than any other description of mo.
ney. If it be not, why are there so many Office
seekers? Why do men leave comfortable
business at home, and 60 through so many diff
fculties to obtain in 1t is very common for per-
sons, making on their farms comfortable live
lihood, to leave them, and remove their fami-
lies to Washington, there to starve or 60 in
debt upon the wages of clerk. In the mean
time, every thing at home wanting the super.
intending care of the master, goes rapidly to
ruin. The life of clerk, with large family
at Washington, is vivid representation of
" He'll upon earth" Yet there are hundreds
who are willing to undergo it for the dear--the
unaccountable-the indescribabe pleasure of
handling the public money-of being paid
their pittance by no meaner person than
Uncle Sam" himself Nor is this thirst for
public Offices confined to those who seek clerk.
ships in Washington. 1t seems TO us that the
majority Of people would, at any time, leave
business yielding fifteen hundred dollars, to
get public Office yielding thousand.
This thirst for office is not only disgra eefui
10 the age and country, but SO far as tue large
majority of individuals who are consumed by
itare concerned, it is the very height of IRA
tionality. Any man who is FIT to ell public
Office worth five hundred dollars, has qualif
cations which, if properly applied, will yield
aim the double of that sum. Besides, he is
liable to be thrown out every four years, and
then ne has to begin exactly where he left off four
years before. The loss of four years is no
small Eatter in the life of a man, and this is,
generally dead Toss, for few who are honest
layup any thing. Then, to say nothing of the
anxious, wretched hours that the Office holder
passes in expectation of being turned out, as
things are at present, he must make sacrifice
OF his independence, which must be source
OF constant unhapriness TO any ingenious
mind. -
There are persons who have been in office
SO long, that they are incapable of earning their
bread in any other way. These we hold to be
the most helpless, and the most rtiable objects
in the world Let all young men take warning
from such, and resolve to earn their bread by
the sweat of their own brows. In that way
only can he, who has no patrimony, become
truly independent. 1t is one of the many
thousand blessings of this happy land, that he
who wishes to earn livelihood, be his oceu.
patton what il may, can always do it.