Volcano weekly ledger., 1855-12-15
ToadYism.


subject of "ToadJism in California;" and i
it shall be prcnounced "a right good leader,
our object will have been accomplished anG
we shall be satisfied. Comparisons are saij
10 he sometimes "odorous," but Mr.. Thacke
ray, (who of course reads the Volcano HeeI.
iy Ledger will please not consider this effort
Of ours in any such light We are confident
after reading his "book," that he is a man Of
altogether too generous nature to be guilty
of any such breach of etiquette.
California toadysm is manifested in vari-
ous ways, but most palpably in cane, watch
and plate presentations, and public or com
plimentary dinners On every such occasion
some veritable toady is toadied to his hearts
content; and the toadies who do the toady-
ing no doubt feel themselves properly toadied
by the toady distinction that attaches to them
in the operation. photographers, after de-
fning the word toady as applicable to base
sycophants, &c, stick in at the conclusion,
in brackets, the rather significant syllabes
"rulgar;" but Mr. Thackeray will please no.
tice that some photographers don't even make
mention of the existence Of such a word as
"snob" Got you there, Mr.. T. Now for
another start-Mr Thackeray being finally
disposed Of
There is an absolute mania in California
for presentations and public dinners. The
practice has been more essentially run into
the ground" than the peanut business ever
was; and inasmuch as it has been so deeply
imbedded in terra .frma, we do hope that the
good sense of the people will elbow il to stick
there. A well-trained mule-team, (they hav-
ing half horse sense, would no doubt, left
to their own estimation Of what is good sense
refuse to pull it out; and we respectfully sub
NIT that if the custom is ever again resurrec-
ted, genuine John-Donkeys will have to be
employed in the transaction
Run into the ground, did we say? Let us
see. The sea captain who happens to bring
steamer up from Panama or San Juan with
out serious accident, (appearing on deck
perhaps two or three times on the whole pas
sage,) must have a presentation OF public
dinner or card of thanks from the cabin
passengers-all because he popped" few
champagne bottles with the upper-tendom on
board And if an accident does happen,
while he was perhaps lounging on sofa, he
must have the presentation or dinner anyhow
all because the accident was no worse
The Judge or other public officer, even down
to township constable or city policeman, on
going out of ofiice-and especially if he is
going on "spurge" to the Atlantic States
must certainly be toadied. Manzanita has
been sought for over every hilltop, out of
which to manufacture canes for such charac-
tiers; and Tucker, Barrett & Sherwood, and
Others of San Francisco have made fortunes
in putting gold and gold-bearing quartz heads
OH them-to say nothing of the watches and
plate they have sold for such occasions The
politician generally manages to get himself
as handsomely toadied as anybody else, even
without holding an Office He carries both
cane and watch presented perhaps by "an as
sociation of particular friends"-for whom,
he had done dirty work, such as
or shooting, at elections-and
If he goes to the Atlantic States, he is sure
to have a dinner before he starts Woods |
and Haskell, of the renowned firm of Adj /.
ans a Co, were presented with valuable
plate, watches, &c, and gave and were the
recipients of public dinners; the whole firm,
in short, were toasted and toadied from
Dan to Bersheba," until they finally toadied
the people of California out of money enough
to build church and school house in every
township of the State. We cannot 90 thro
the list without sending for Mr. Thackeray to
Hold--it would be injustice not to add one
thing more. Who are so much toaded as
the toades or toadiers themselves? No one
we fancy. Why, the donee, Though the ar
ticle may have been purchased with his own
money! blows the donors to the skies and
altogether they have bean placed quite CON
spicuously and toadiously before the public
as important personages.
As yet but one feature in California toady-
ism has been presented The limit of this
article win not permit us to go into further