Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-08-13
LET THE BEST SERVE"

made by Pennsylvania journal, that it did not
expect any representative body, selected as polit
cal Conventions nowadays are, to nominate for
Office the ablest OF the most honest and courage
Gus man in the State" In the present condition
and relations of political affairs in the United
States the best man" added this frank observer,
is rarely the available man." because he scorns
the arts and lacks the subservency which have be-
come necessary to procure popularity. Conse-
quently, our organized politics, as controlled by
selfish and designing managers, have come to be
manipulated in the interest Of men who have
escaped observation by the obscurity of their po-
sition the mediocrty, not to say the inferiority
of their talents Individually shrewd in the ma
nagement of their private affairs, the American
people, by suffering the legitimate control Of their
political concerns to slip from their hands into
those of professional experts and demagogues, have
suffered maladministration Of their public affairs
which reflects but little credit on their collective
wisdom. In no country is there an equal amount
of individual intelligence. In no country is this
individual intelligence less capable of being col
lectively welded and wisely applied for the prac-
tical purposes of government. The evil is con-
fessed on all sides, and it is one which, by the per-
verted usages Of party has come to be inveterate.
We cited'a few days ago the testimony of the
Pittsburgh Gazette in attestaion to this deplorabe
fact In recent number Of the Boston Daily
Advertiser correspondent signalizes the same
lamentable deterioration of our politics in the fol-
lowing words:
"We people wonderfully endowed, mightier in
transformations than the Wizard of the North.
the material and that too, of the rawss-weak per-
haps and rotten wthat is all we ask Quick thought
by the magic of institutions, behold generals states
men, and foreign minister's And why mott For
whatever provided that this mode OF production proves
safe economical and expsdient provided that it gives
the results need and with which, in the present pos
ture of our affairs, we cannot well dirpense.
'0ur former copartner, foe, has long adopted
different system, the results of which have groaned
under for generation and fmore. This time for
cDging to theories Of government right wrong
We must look to practical Issues Democracy has played
her low cards long enough. She must play trumps
lose the game She wants men to represent her,
lead her. not Of inerwritbng to batten
her entras 1t sperous to deal in figures of speech
and would fan do honor to the ability the fidelity the
patriotism which of those in Offices Of trust have put
forth in this dire exgency There good coinage in the
public treasury but not enough of it, of the highest
alloy while the base and the counterfeit heaped there
by the cartosd.
Never since history recorded the life of nations was
such people led rather entangled in such po-
htical meshwork We have allusion this party or
that. Men and parties will change, but the same bad
system rules rampant all Still the whitening
machinery Of csucuses and conventions, the comb-
nations, wheel within wheel, of sdroit and seRsh
agers the organized scramble OF for petty
spos coegng the and outlets Of public opinion
jealousy vaant of the rostrum and the psess and limit
the votes OF acquescent people to such candidates
may suit not the national interests, but their As
eemen aud sovereigns go to the polls and cast
votes not after Judgment but at the dctaton cf
self constituted knots and combinations OF men whom
neither esteem nor trust, IL did otherwise,
vote would be thrown away. many headed desposm,
exercised the of the largest liberty If to de-
grade public morals sink the national reputation, weaken
the national counse root out the Of statsmen and
place plant ncompeteucy n control of our destinies-
If these tie ends of government, then is political
management masterpiece of human wit They know
better at the South Through all the llsons and fal.e-
hoods with which that fierce and selfish arstocracy has
ompassed tself rns vein Of sound political truth.
We may take lesson OF our enemy. live do not, he
may master u.s.
"Perbaps we have misunderstood the nature of a true
democracy 1t is thriftes household that chooses for
itself servants unaueht and unrusted yet far than
any household great and mighty nation has the necessity
aud the right of being well and truly served The wsest
aud the abe not too good for her, and her freedom
consists holding them under sharp ccountablty not
in degrading th m till they unfit to do her work.
Let the best rule is the maxim Of aristucrscy. Let
the best serve ia the of the only heahul aud per-
manent democracy.
Who the best7 They are gone their has died
ont Surely eff ct follows cause, for half century,
they have Withered and dwiBdled awey. The race,
mean Of legislators and statesmen, minds train to apply
great principles to practice to grappe with great affairs,
to guide the nation with wise and temperate ygor along
the gddy heights Of that grand stny whah awaited her.
and perhaps awaited her in vain. When will such
rsturp When deep ard abiding Of deep need
Of has seized and the national heart when
the aacics that have deuded long shall be thrown
from debasng and perlous Illusions and the national
mind rises to true conception Of republican freedom"
The writer is perhaps too trenchant and sweep
ing in his criticisms when he supposes that the
race of statesmen has died out" in this country
But it cannot be denied that organized politics
have repressed their growth, by excluding them
from the field in which they are nurtured, and by
Withholding from our most enlightened and expe-
ricnced statesmen the honors to which they were
entitled.
Nor is it true that "they know better at the
South" The present condition Of the Southern
people reflects but little hon,r on the collective
wisdom which has suffered itself to be deluded by
the promises and allured by the bats Of disunion
agitators. Nor are the comments of their candid
observers" much more Aattering than those of our
own The Georgia Constitutionalist, "Demo-
cratic paper, in commenting few days ago ON
the project Of establishing an Imperial ,vernment
in Mexico, held the following language:
oWifh our eYperisnce runnno tbrouob scarcav hree