The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-10-14
PuBLIC OFFICE ~ AMERICA rItE
NEW STATE Oh TuINgS.

n From ~ TftnC'.
The excellent letter rom General Dix vbcl
VIC published on Monday, contains some admire.
ble remarks on the CGgot upon Que political cju-
ditlon, evoked by the practice In which all public
parties have indug d, for the last fory yesrs, Of
considering nothing but "aylilaJilitS" in the
choice Of candidates fort presideucy. Gsn raj
DIX A'crbes, and with great reason, most OF the
tells which nov beset us TO this most uufortuuate
tendency. ConFpcuous ability, and experience
IN tho conduct OF public Affairs, were 'or q long
time previous to- the war alulo, Jmpete irriers
70 political advancement
A man no sooner made his mark In Congress.
or in otace, than he lost oil chance Of reaching
the highest political prize. Tue great thing Witt
n &conN entious was 70 find men FOR their noiniua-
Tttons who had no bitter enCmy,--nJt because
Uthey were general tavorites, bat because nobody
HknCw enough OF them eithor 10 like or dislike
.them. This WIS, however, not 30 much the fadlt
Nof the conventions sfter all as of the genera
NpOpulsr contempt for all training and experience
- contempt bred in q great measure by the
4circumstauCes IN which the couutry was place
During our long struggle With the physical
Ndfcu ties of our condition, IL has been imppssiIe
70 effect thorough division Of labor Zach IN an
hat had 10 do little Of everything. The farmer
hhas bad to do little Of tho lawyer, and Little
kof the soldier, and little Of the politician and
gttle OF the trader, aud 30 on until Americans
Mbecame famed all over the world as ',jscks Of all
1ades." Now, this was all very we'll &C the out
a
Hquantity was OF more importance than quality,
Eand when our political path was 80 smooth that
p child could walk over il.
X But the times have changed aud we have
eehAnged with them. We have grown into a vast
Hhnd complicated body, with Thousand delicate
E,roblems in government to solve, with a thou
+Snd conflicting interests 10 reconcile; and a. this
Enoment, added TO the ordinary dill mites Of our
tuhtion, We have the extraordinary one Of
Htruggl which, we venture TO say has more In
~ TO Perplex the soul Of soldier aud statesman
han any in which any nation ever before found
#tself ems aged.
n Tho trouble now is that many OF US have come
No this work under the influence Of the traditions
banded down by the previous state of things.
Mhe country was SO long accustomed TO plain
Mailing, In which neither training nor experience
vas really of any great value, that II had
Wctuhly got to consider them Of no great value
Inder any circumstances. SO we entered on the
Par with an ill-concealed contempt for West
Point, and an undisguised reliance on numbers
Rntbustasm, and native sagacity. During the
Mrst year of the war, we could With difficulty
Uivest ourselves OF the notion that largo army
Ess simply large number of men with muskets.
, Pc have got over the military part Of the delu.
non but the political part OF it hangs round a
&oOd many of us still.
& The old worship Of "availRbility" showed itself
hst summer in tho hostility felt TO Mr.. Lincoln
ny good many well-meaning men, because ho
Dad good many enemies. Tue fact that he had
pr four years administered the Government
#nTinB crisis OF unparalleled difficulty, with a
success which, IL not complete, had excited tho
&stonishment of all foreign critics. and falsided
pc predictions of domestic traitors, counted for
Nothing There were plenty Of good UnioniS's
8ady TO oust him. change the whole machinery
R Government, and spread confusion through
Every department of IL, put in his place new and
8ntried, and probably obscure man foe the sim
3e reason that he had not managed TO do his
FORK without exciting deep haired on tho part OF
Heoplc whom he had inconyenienced or disap-
&ointed, or from whom he differed.
How little used the public was to seelng the
8hip OF State being worked In heavy sea, aud
low totally incompetent portion OF It WAS to
@iticize statesman dealing With such problems,
las well illustrated by some of tho faults found
th him. Some 70 ks we're evidently of opinion
pat good navigator ought TO keep ship from
Per laboring or shipping seas, or even listing in
Nc iesst TO ecward. There was hardly anybody
Tho could not tell you Of something thar Mr
hncoln ought " have done differently aud then
Holyed out OF the depths of his Imagination
Mng list ofGlorious consequences that would nave
nloWed IL lac had. That he should have com
Htted any errors was declared to be dRmuing,
Hhd when 81 this il was added that he had many
rec opponents, thousands were ready to throE
IN overheard, and look for some honest boats
ain, who, having had no responsibility hHd
ven no oifense, without ever nquiring into his
her qualifcationsfor the post
M Another section OF the public l. Just now labor
rs under this hallucinatOn about President
Taking, but IN more aggravated form. Ther
WOrshi Of General Mcclellan Is almost altogether
VIC 10 his popularity or ia other words sup posed
availability" OF his fitness they know abso-
tely nothing. lie has never filed any civil
lice, or been placed in any potiol in winch he
nld give the least evidence that he had either
mental or moral qualifications for tho ru'e OF
NCoustitulional State. The stuff viii h il written
talked abou! his Craftsmanship" is the
addlo OF people who do not know what the
*DTd meAns.
8Whether he has or has not any Of Il In his
Imposition is matter of as pure specul4t on az
eKisteLce Of an'mlls In the sun, or the con-
HtiOn Of the centre OF the earth His views upon
10 question Of emancipation, as promulgated In
No letter from Hprrison's Landing, are an
IausiDgly slender basis for the reputation tn &C s
S,imcd for him. They were firmly hold, aud
Fstinctly enunciated, in nearly every grog shop
New York before ho had even landed on the
Eninsula.