Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-01-18
DIR 9alIp spg,
MONDAY, JANUARY is. 1883.



doubt not that Mr.. Stevens is very excellent
man, and faithful officer, too, so far as the dis
charge Of the duties Of his Office are concerned;
but what Of that, so long as there are plenty Of
able, faithful, and efficient men in the State who
could as well perform all the functions Of the Ser
Reani, and who are at the same time fully in sym
patty with the party il power.
The ofee is OAe Of great influence. and its pat
ToDage is large. Why should that influence be
placed in position to be rendered available
sgainst the party which, after such long and
desperate struggle, has at last routed old fogyi'm
and hunkersm, in its strongest hold, and why
shoa,d that patronage be kestowed upon men who
hate and oAthe the principles and even the name
of the Republican party
It may be that our political perceptions are a
little obtuse but, for the life Of us, we cannot dis
sern why, when young America has taken the
helm of the ship of State, the venerable pet of old
ogyism, whose present aids and allies are those
bunker pro.savery organs the Boston Post and
the Boston Courier should be kept in power. Has
Il come to this that there is no other man in the
State WIN can make polite bow, and command
silence, when the House gets turbulent, but Mr..
Benjamin Stevens Is there no other man who
can do up the business of looking after the COM
fort Of the members and taking care of the State
House, but the present incumbentl If things
have cope to such psss,is it not time, seriously
60 consider, what would be done in case Mr.. Ste
VEINS should be called away from this world to
better, OF which he is doubt worthy. If, aftera
quarter of century of such service, it is deemed
impossible to find man to fill Mr.. Stevens's
place. would II not be the part Of wisdom, and a
matter Of wise Legislative caution. to select some
younger man to the office, from the ranks of the
Republican party, and put him in course Of
training for the performance of its duties, before
Mr. Stevens becomes too aged to furnish the ben
eft of his example 10 doing up such business in
the most approved style.
During the twenty-three years that Mr.. Ste
vens has held the Office which he now holds, the
administration of affairs has been in the hands of
different parties, but, amid all these changes, Mr.
Stevens has managed to retain his place, until he
has grown rich as well as gray in the service. In
the coalition" times, when division of the Of
fees was made by the Free Sellers and Demo-
Gratis. the Office Of Sergeant-at-Arms was appor-
toned to the Free Sellers. At that time, al
though Mr.. Stevens was Wing, and an "ultra
Wing" too, the House, after listening to an ear.
nest appeal to their magnanimity, generosity, &C..
from the eloquent lips Of Mr.. Keyes of Dedham,
voted to retain him in his office. Bat how did he
reward their "magn animity"i In that long and
doubtful struggle for the election Of United
States Senator, who should truly represent the
sentiments and feelings Of the people of the State
Mr.. Stevens was the faithful friend and ally OF
those men who so vehemently and bitterly oppos-
ed the election Of Hon. Charles Sumner; and no
one knows better than he does, how many times
his disciplined and faithful subordinates, of like
political sentiments and like old bunker proclivi-
ties, under his direction, summoned the train
bands Of the Boston Brigade to the rescue, from
their shops and Offices, and the truant Represent
atives nom their boarding houses, as the hour for
a new balloting approached, or any other politi-
cal vote was about to be taken. No man better
knows, than he does, how, under that smooth
exterior, he cherished at that time, and since that
time, those feelings of intense hostility to the
progressive anti.slaVery men Of the State; which
are still felt, and on all occasions manifested by
those organs Of slave.driving and negro-hunting,
who, through the columns Of the daily press Of
Boston, publish theg diatribes against the Re-
psblisaa PssT and iss principles. whils az the
sszAs time they urge che claims OF their stereo.
typed candidate for an Office, TO which larger
patronage attaches, SO far as its influence in leg.
islation is concerned, than does even to that of
the Governor himself.
If the Republican party is really to become, as
Koasuth expresses it, "a power upon EARTH"
whst@etter time than the present to lay the foun-
dstiOns Of such power, by bestowing the offices
Of honor, trust, emolument, and influence, upon
men who have been true to their conscientious
convictions Of political right and duty, in " the
day Of small things" and who have borne the
bruut Of the fight, when it required some sacri-
nee 20 take stand i'll defence of the principles
which now form the political creed of the great
body Of the people OF the State, and are substan-
italy incorporated into the platform OF the party
in poweri
We submit to the consideration Of our Repub.
liean friends in the House who have thus far vot-
ed again to place Mr. Stevens in Office, whether
they would, in the management of their own pri-
vzte affairs, act in accordance with that line of
conduct which has prompted them thus far to vote
fer the present Incumbent What would they
think Of the wisdom or policy Of their neighbor's
course, who, being in controversy with an oppo.
nent who wished to compass his destruction,
should place in his household, in his shop, man.
ufactory, or on his farm, prominent and inhuen.
tial friend of his adversary, and give to him the
power Of surrounding himself, at the expense Of
his employer, with the same class Of servants in.
imical to his views interests, and sentiments and
hopes, and desires Yet this is precisely the
course that the Republicans in the House are tax.
ing, in their efforts to secure the election of Ben.
jamin Stevens who is not with them or of them,
who has never manifested any sympathies for the
party or its principles, and who, at the last cleo.
ton, cast his vote in the way to render it the
most effective against the party whose support he
now Graves.
While it does not surprise us at all that some
two or three men, who claim to be Republicans.
have been first and foremost in these intrigues to
re.elect Stevens, by wire.pulling and log rolling
beforehand, for the purpose Of committing mem.
ber' 10 advance to the support of their plans and
purposes it does surprise US that a majority OF
such House can be influenced by .sushlmeans and
appliances.
It would mot, perhaps be surprising, to see
one, whose political principles set so loosely upon
him, that he throws them off at will like an old
coat, or changes them, as he does his clothing 10
adapt himself to the different seasons--it would
not be strange, we say, for such one while pro.
Tossing to be republican, to work for his polit.