The New York herald., 1862-04-18
Our soldiers and Politicians.

"'oieoho wuich enIOWe up iIOui SihSio oH"sot
two great streams of water, the one boiling hot,
the other icy cold. Such phenomenon is no
lnapt simile of our civil war, which has de-
veloped simultaneously the most strongly con-
trasted instances of devoted patriotism and
noble heroism among our soldiers, and con-
summate treason and unrivalled roguery
among our politicians.
There was period in the history Of this
country when politics was the science of good
government. and politicians of all shades Of
opinion, labored earnestly for the prosperity
Of the nation, differing often in regard to the
means to be used, but never in regard to the
end to be achieved. In these times, when poll
tics is synonymous with party sorambles for
place and plunder, and when the title Of poll
tician has lost its nobler signifcation, and be-
come equivalent to that Of rogue, rascal and
swindler, it is hard to believe that we have de-
generated 80 far within period Of less than
half century, and the student of our political
history is almost compelled to doubt the acou-
racy of dates and TO set down sober facts
a. outrageous falsehoods Still. this present
war is at once the natural result and the con-
vincing proof of our political degeneracy. For
over thirty years our politics and politicians
have been growing corrupt and the result is
that we have been transformed from peaceful,
prosperous and powerful people to nation
convulsed by the painful thrses of civil war.
When all our public officers became politicians,
and all our politicians became rogues; when
our Legislators thought more of party than of
principle, and more of their salaries than Of
their duties; when our Judicial officers made
Justice blind to everything but gold, decreed
poverty as the only crime to be punished, filled
their pockets by emptying our prisons, and
transformed laws into devices for the protec-
ton of criminals and the oppression of honest
men; when our executive officers, from the
highest to the lowest, connived with knavery
and shared its profits, extended their hands not
to arrest criminals but to receive bribes, and
used their powers to defend vice and assail
virtue; when the people, demoralized by bad
laws badly administered and worse executed,
came to regard popular elections as means to
relieve one gang Of rogues of the trouble of
holding Office to make room for fresh gang
equally corrupt, then the ruin of the country
became an almost inevitable consequence, to
be averted only by some signal crisis which
would sweep away all political scoundrels as
efiectually as the Deluge cleanssd the world of
vice, even if it left us only . desolate country
to rcgenerate.
The progress of this rapid and terrible cor
ruption is distinctly traceabls in our political
history. During the administration of John Quin-
cy Adams deficit of about four thousand three
hundred dollars was discovered in the accounts
of Tobias Watkins, one Of the auditors Of the
national treasury. So great was the indigna-
ton excited throughout the country by this
discovery that Watkins was incarcerated at
Washington for some time, and, though it could
not be proven that he had embezzled the money,
he was afterwards stunned like a leper as he
walked, the streets, and the opponents of the
administration used his case as potential ar
gumsnt in favor of Jacksons election. With
Van Buren's administration the maxim "To the
victors belong the spoils' was fully recognized,
and fidelity to q party, and not mental or mo-
raj qualifications, became the recommendation
to Office. Proaigacy, swindling and embezzle
ment ensued, and the people, not yet aocus-
toned to official corruption, and irritated by q
thousand evils arising from partisan legislation,
swept Van Buren, out of power and Harrison
into the Presidents chair as with q whirlwind.
Harrison was killed by the incessant impOrtu
mites of Office seekers; for the opportunity to
live upon the public money had already as
sumed the place of the welfare of the country,
as the object and reward Of political success.
Tyler succeeded Harrison, and devoted his
whole term to displays of partisan spite and
malice. With temporary checks, but with
ever increasing power, the tide Of cor
ruption has rolled on from that day
to this, and during the last administra-
ton it may almost be said that, from
q postmaster to Cabinet officer, there was not
one honest public servant in the country. A
reaction was natural. Regardless of every
other consideration, the people rallied around
and elected candidate only strong in having
the word Honest prefxed to his name. South
ern politicians foreseeing this result, and their
consequent loss OF place and profit, determined
to retain power over at least one-half of the
country, and seized upon the abolition agitation
as pretext to delude their constituents into
secession. Civil war ensued; but even that
catastrophe, which appalled, the world, has
failed to appal the politicians. On the con-
trary, the war seems only to have fully de.
veloped corruption, as night makes miasmas
more perceptible. Official knavery, like
snake cut in two, lives in both sections of this
divided nation. The old political swindlers
rob the seeded South, while fresh gang Of
experts drain the life blood Of the North.
Instead Of being incarcerated and shun-
ned, as was poor Watkins, our pub
lie rogues are entrusted with govern
ment contracts, and, when detected in frauds,
are transferred to foreign missions or assigned
to new commands No one doubts the honesty
OF the President but his subordinates take ad-