Smyrna times., 1859-03-24
Political Corruption.

cad and fearful corruption prevails Throughout
,ha country, in our law-maklng and law-con
,,oll,nr bodies The Congressional select com
muees, Legislative investigating committees
misJemeanors of city police, and the very gen.
oral malfeasance in Offices of trust and profit
orove that everywhere there exists spirit oi
;,bbery and peculatiol which dlsgraces every
department. of government. The MORALS who
can sonrn large bribe seem like angel-vlsltS,
- few and far between" Some one has SAID
that " patriotism was the last refuge OF scoun-
drel" and it would really seem as though the
unmber of these refugees increased with every
wear of our political existence. AT Ioast, such
i the case in our little State. In fact, the
H,oI.cates Of corruption seem to have been
bojsled upon Delaware, and we have been over
wbelmed-de!uged with the fearful, dcmoraliz-
ing tide Against the moral wishes OF nearly
every oae, our Legislature passed an Act which
completely throws the control of the State in
the hands Of one or two men, who for twenty
wears will govern our legislation with the des-
uotism of an Autocrat. How much money it
took to accomplish this work, of course, is not
known, but there are reasons TO believe that it
took upwards OF hundred thousand dollars
Every man of political influence, who could be
influenced, has accepted bribe--In some cases,
paid in yearly instalments in good round sums
for twenty years, to look after the interests of
this monstrOuS iniquty. Heretofore we could
trust our political and other men Of influence
(exceplng little political jugglcry set down
10 their shrewdness), but now, who can we
trust! Certainly no man for whom regular
bill of sale Goal and body) has passed, deliver
ing them over TO the interest of gamblcrs.--
They are no longer A, B and C-they have lost
their identy-their manhood and certainly
cannot but be looked upon as traitors to the
Commonwealth. We sigh in vain for the goud
old days when the " Diamond State" was the |
very embodiment Of all that was noble and
honorable.
The late Congressional select committees
show an astonishing amount Of political cOrrup-
ton in the Federal capital. In the singl le mat
ter of printing postage blanks in one session,
nearly forty five thousand dollars of the public
money have gone 10 fill the pockets of lobby
members and mIddIe-mcn. The examination
of the books of the late Superintendent of
Public Printing, Mr.. Seamans, gives evidence
OF the greatest fraud. In the New York State
Assembly 1t is not even permitted to sift out
the truth aad the nvestigatiUn into the con-
dIlon of the Metropolitan Police Of New York
city, shows that they are not only the aiders
and abetters of The . big and little rogues," buI
actually themselves the worst kind of rogues,
engaged in aud encouraging the most revolving
forms of vice. These facts are matters OF
public notOrlety, belong to no particular party,
and as conseryators OF the public morals, we
have right to inquire into their history
Why do these things exist! 1t certainly is
not because the American people are more de-
moralized than others. Taken as communities
the Sta'es Of this Union will be found TO pre-
sent higher average of morality and intelli-
gence than any people in any quarter of the
world. Bat how, then, are we to account for
this extensive system of official plumber and
peculaton! p! The Constellation thus sums up
this subject: "Tnere are two reasons quite
sufficient to cover the whole ground. The first
Is, that there is an insane monomania among US
in regard to public offices and II desire to fill
them. An American will never work with his
hands if he sees any chance to live by his wits,
aud the multiplicity Of public offices encour-
ages this feeling. Though reams of paper
have been written against this tendency; tho
it has been shown, over and over again, that
the politician by trade is of all pursuits the
most unremunerative in the long run-that the
anxeties, the expenses, and usually the bad
habits induced-the Mcawber-like instinct
which becomes chronic and incurable in the
professional politician, all conduce 10 make a
final wreck of the mau and his fortunes-yet
the disease of place-hunting seems ineradica-
ble, and the inevitable consequence is, that off.
cial positions of every grade are filled from the
ranks of those who clamor loudest, rather than
from among the most competent and trustwOr-
thy, who woald have to be sought for.
IS But the most immediate and active cause is
inherent in our political system. which must
therefore, produce the same results, as long as
1T remains unmodifed-we mean the system Of
rewarding active political partisans with Offices
and. consequent upon this, the doctrine of rota.
tlon IN ohce. AS the spoils are usually div
ded' he who has done Che most dirty work fol
the successful party gets tb e most Influential OIL
lucrative appointment, without regard to hll
capacity for his position, or the personal integ
: rity OF his character. Is it strange that he wbt
has sOiled his hands with party drudgery, sboulc
thrust them still deeper in the mire for his owl
position. high or low, without respect to hi
ability to perform its duties, should spend his tim,
iafealhering bisewn nest. rather than in learnin!
them-especiaily when the berth itself does no
depend on oood behayio hut on tho continoan