Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-04-13

stood arrangement, is equally distributed be-
tween them Thus, Fix hundred men are
said To belong to one Membcr-six hundred
To another-and So ON through the list
And, in truth, these men do belong to these
Members. They attend and vote for their
patrons al primary elections, at nominating
conventions. and at the polls, In consldera-
ton Of an easy berth in the Navy lard-where
they do nothing and are we'll paid for do
ing it-they become the friends Of the diff
terent members of Congress, and when the
election comes Oh generally carry them TIL
umphly through the contest
Ofcourse, no man of any sef-respect would
thus self himself, body and soul, TO another
mainland the consequence Is, the Yard Is
filled with worthless, idle and dissolute and
drunken characters of every description, who
are well paid, om Tie Treasury, for very
little vork, but great deal of rote. IL some
of the Master workmen threaten to turn out,
or actually turn out, one OF these worthless
fellows, what is the consequence? The man
complains to the member of Congress, the
member of Congress complains to the De-
partment and the master workman, unless
he renstate the man, is himself turned ont.
Thus master workman is punished for be-
ing honest. and rewarded for being dishon-
est-but it is all done, let it be recolected. in
the interest of the great, the glorious, the I'M
maculate and the heayen-descended Dem
ocratic party Of the country.
Generally, however, the Master Workmen
are no better than the men. They are all
tarred with the same stick. They are all
appointed Oh political grounds alone, and
kept in the Navy Yards SO as to do as much
voting as possible when the day OF election
comes.
Two of the Democratic members from New
York having opposed the Administrator on
the Lecompton question, the Master Work
men, whose appointment they had procured,
were discharged from employment.
One Member-Ilon. John CUchrane-
thought there was not sufficient number of
his friends" employed, and he wrote to the
Master Workmen these words 81 "W have
my proportion of men under You. If you do
not give them, mW IoIye charges agai"&t
yyu" Here was case where Master
Wurkma was threatened with dismissal for
not employing such men as Cochrane chose
to designate. The Master Workman was not
allowed to choose good workmen; but only
such idle yagabonds as Mr.. Cochrane recon-
mendcd, and who could be made useful in
elections.
Observe, also, that Mr.. Cochrane threaten
ed to lodge charges Now, il there were
any well-toundcd charges it was Mr. Coch-
rane's duty to lodge them anyway, or else
compound swindlc upon the Government.
If there were none. then it was threat to
turn out an honest man for doing his duty,
and protecting the interests and the Treasury
Of the Government
In the report Of the Committee Is publish
ed letter from the Secretary of the Navy to
the Commander Of the Navy Yard, (Commo-
dore Kearny) requesting him to pursue
fair and liberal course" towards the differ
ent members Of Congressional is distribute
the appointments equally among them
Think of a member of the Cabinet descend
ing to such dirty work rs this. Think of de-
failing all officer of the highest rank i'll the
United States Navy. to see to II that the
common laborers in the Yard were all of the
right politics, and were all equally ''distri-
buted" among the different members OF Con
gress.
As matter Of course, the workmen en-
ploved were worthless and inefficient. Good
workmcn, and men Of pride and sensibility,
would not 60 into the Yards to betong TO
members of Congress, and do their political
bidding. The meanest kind of workmen
were employed, and their work was shame
fully neglected The evidence shows that
one man, who was appointed in the Yard,
continued to carry on his business Of tin-smith
in New York city, and freely acknowledge
that he did not attend at the Yard more than
about ''t'ro hours every day.
just before every election, the number of
men in the Yard was largely increased
In the report Of the Committee, the following
statement is made: "a short time before the
election Mr.. Soaring Ia memberOt Congress
applied TO Commander Rootes to employ two
or three men. He replied that he could not
do 1.-THE orders were against it-but the
Masters had that privilege. Mr.. Turner, the
Master Painter, was present, and he SAID
that it was all-important to have these men
in the Yard, that they could carry great
number of rotes, and it was necessary for the
remominGtion Of NJ. Searing.'
4 table IL published by the Committee,
showing the exact number Of men employed
in the different Navy Yards at different pc
rlDiiS Oh the wear. on tie lTSt vi
1853, there were in the New York Yard four
teen hundred and twenty-six men. On the
first Of November there were tcenty. Jour hun
dred and eighty-eight-an increase Of over
thousand. Does anybody want to know the
reason Of this? The Congressional elections
took place in New York on the fourth Of Nc
yember, and these one thousand additional
men were put there to control the election.
That this was not al accidental circum-
stance is proved by reference to the Phlla-
delphia Navy Yard. On the lst Of Janu-
airy, 1858, there were in that Yard five hun
dred and seventy-four men. The Phlladel-
phia elections, let the reader bear in mind,
take place in the month of October Now,
on the lst of October, there were in that
same Yard S,rtecn hundSsd and s'ghty.fre
men, Put there to secure the return to
Congress of pop-shop Democratic politician
by the name of Florence
From the table that is published by the
Committee it appears that in the month Of
October last there were upwards Of ten thou
sand men employed in the different Navy
Yards Of the country. Estimating their
average wages at two dollars day, and We
have twenty thousand dollars day for labor
Glonc in our Navy Yards. At this rate, 1t
would cost US, for the single item Of labor
over six millions Of dollars per annum? Is
it any wonder that the Treasury is empty:
notwithstanding the smalness Of our
l. I'D