The American patriot., 1855-08-11
Natives and Foreigners for Office.

is, that our p0Gtac0t tnSt1tutaonS are S4JeStsH
the hands Of those soho are born on the soil
that natives Of the land and notires only shall
be called to administer the functions Of oar
Government. '''7
Those who oppose this position base their
objection upon the false and rotten premise
that in thus excluding foreigners from par
ticipation in the honors and emoluments Of
our political stations, we take away from them
some rights which they legitimately possess.
This mode of reasoning is false and absurd.
We would take away from the foreigner no
vested right that he holds; but the right to ask
for and hold office, is not the one that is vest
ed There is no such right possessed by the
native-much less by the foreigner.
That all the political stations of honor and
emolument under our Government, are legiti-
mately the spoils Of the conquerers; and that
these should be distributed among the leaders
of the victorious party, in proportion to the &C
tivity of each in securing the common success
is an idea which is heretical to the best inter-
ests of the country it is one which has sprung
up in the corruption of the times, and is as
false as it is prevalent among the masses.
The anti-Americans certainly entertain
very indistinct or mistaken idea of the nature
and character of office, and the purpose for which
it was established. Their position leads them to
the absurdity that Office is nothing more or
less than something which the people hold the
gift Of and which is to be conferred as a re-
ward of partizan services ON the man whom
the majority may delight to honor. Office is
only convenient instrument in the hands of
society, for carrying out its purposes of go
vernment and protection to the members of
the same. As the microscope gathers and con-
centrates the rays Of light, and again diffuses
them over broader surface, so office is only
a political focus which gathers within itself
the united powers of men in society, and again
throws these powers as mantel about the
whole mass of the people for their common
protection and welfare. The offices of our 60
vernment then, are not established as instru-
ments Of rewards and punishments for party
services-they are not instituted for the benefit
Of any party or set of men, who, in the gen.
eral scramble, may be so fortunate as to get
possession Of them. But they are established
as instruments to minister solely to the well
being and happiness of men in society without
reference to creed or party. Any diversion of
their high powers from such noble purpose
| is to prostitute them to purposes for which
they never were designed, and the too common
practice of bestowing them, aoiM a rieo only
to the emoluments and honors they carry scith
them, as the rewards Of partizan services, is
alike disgraceful to their true character and in
furious to society. .,r=4
The ctscio1, then, is but an embodiment of
the concentrated powers Of the masses, and
these powers should be administered with a
rigorous regard for the interests of the people,
and should never be distorted to advancing
party or to building up the fortune Of him who
may happen to WELD them. The true design
which led to the establishment of Office is car
ried out in proportion to well or ill admins
tration Of its functions; and the masses, the
only proper recipients of it's benefits, are pro-
tected in the ratio of righteous exercise of
its powers. Then how important is it that
men should be called to fill all our public sta
tons of tried patriotism and integrity, and
who are far removed from any attempt to
render such powers subservient to ends incom-
patible-perhaps at war--with the true inter-
ests of our Government.
In view then, of the general principles set
forth above, which the anti-Americans can
neither gainsay nor refnte, there is no sound
ness in that idea which recognises that man
can place his party under obligation to confer
office upon him. No man, whatever may be
the extent Of his party services or the warmth
of his party devotion can lay claims to any
office-no man can say that he has been de-
privcd of any right when the people refuse to
give him an official position, and more particu-
larly no foreigner can say that his liberties
have been abridged when office is refused to
be given him. The people have right to say
who, and who shall not be their public func-
tionaries--the test Of qualification being that
standard which is fixed in the public mind-
and no one has any room to say that his rights
have been abridged, or that he has been in
any manner prescribed when he fails in his
designs at political promotion
We as Native Americans hold to the doctrine
that the superiority Of American character in
every point which constitutes official q,alii-
cations, should in all cases give the natives of
the country the preference over the foreigners
in our midst. The superiority of our own
home bred men is so very marked and promi-
nent, over the people Of all other nations, that
a man with but half an idea cannot fail to
see it,