New Orleans Republican., 1868-08-02

7
feeling they slowly vacate in sorrowful dis
appointment the neighborhood oftheir days
| exulting hopes. The morrow's dawn, howeV-
| er, finds them with redewed energy still on
the tramp, and they studiously persevere
until some one of the crowd happens to read
In the papers that the vacancy exists no
| more, and that the appointment was proba-
| bly, made weeks before the discovery.
| The no vacancy having become settled
| fact they resume their places at the PIN
| pool tables, the free-lunch saloons, and those
| particular street corners where the best
part of their monotonous lives IL frttered
| away in the consumption OF t0otnplcks
| and reciprocal admiration.
| Our prominent business men and high
| officials are great sufferers during these
| changes. They are hourly called upon to
vouch for persons of whom they know
nothing, and who have not the slightest
claim upon them; neither the privacy Of
their own homes nor the publicity of the
streets saves them from the intrusive sup
| pliance of these Office hunters. The lady OF
| the house is not unfrequently astonished to
hear from her man servant that there ls
gentleman in the parlor requesting an in.
terview, even at the unreasonable hour of
Q A. NJ, not five minutes after the depart
ure of her liege loro. A hasty look in the
glass, ana bidding all the children be good
she descends to the presence Of the Onhce
hunter in the parlor. A bowing, scraping
form, bearing in one hand Black Crook
hat and in the other huge white envelope,
meets hcr eye as she enters the room. In
perfect maze of apologies protestattnns, and
beseechings, our office hunter shutttes him
self TO within few feet OF madame, but his
as urauce leaves him AS his eye takes in at
3 glance the beautiful living picture before
him of purity, freshness, and home
lovingness, In state OF confusion
he takes the seat to which he is
iuvi.ed, and with eyes cast down,
for he feels somewhat ashamed Of his in
! trusion, he stammers forth the purpose of
his visit, viz: To beg madame's influence in
obtaining for him the Endorsement OF her
husband to his application. The lady, with
true womanly tact, declines to undertake
what appears to her to be entirely and
solely matter of courtesy between men,
| and one in which no wife should allow her
| self to be drawn as tool. This determine
| tion is firmly and kindly expressed, and our
office hun er leaves the house with dimin-
ished feeling of even his own qualities, that
he should have the courage to invade the
| quiet of domestic family on such an err
| rand and then suffer defeat.
With one 1.-THE of the eXertiOn and perse-
verance exhibited by this class of individ-
| uals in search of office, each and every one
of them could in few years become indie
pendent, If they would only muster suffi
cient pluck to throw their energies in the
right direction.
Lying around us are thousands of acres
| of good land, ever willing to make boun-
tiful return for labor bestowed upon it,
within easy access of good markets, and to
be obtained by any one who Will enter a
claim, and 90 to work manfully, resolved
TO live by the sweat of his brow. And would
not this be preferable to living at the cost
| of health, strength, and reputatiOn; for
however neatly your square.toed boots may
fl, and the fashionable cut of your coat be
auntily displayed in the afternoon sun on
| Canal street, the parading is done by the
| sacrifice of reputation in the eyes of those
| whose honest exertions obtain for them an
honest livelihood, You may among your
selves admire your peacock suits, but the
| busy world looks with derision on the chat
tering jackdaws that swagger beneath them.
The fault of this universal office hunting
can not be taxed on the shoulders of any
one particular class of persons. It is a kind
of epidemic sprung from the annih1lation
of all business pursuits during the late war,
and the rowing, reckless habits contracted
in either camp. And yet there are thou
sands who never knew either the weight of
a musket or the peculiar feeling of waiting
in line of battle, who are just as great suffer
ers from this appointment fever as any
other. Theirs sprung from an inOrdinate
desire of making money in as short a time
as possible, in any branch Of the
civil service that held out the best
Inducements. Men have suddenly re-
linquished good paying business,
and one to which they were well fitted,
for the purpose Of receiving the street Com
missiOnershlp, or some other lucrative and
sweeping position, and become finally so
attached to the duties OF the office that
, nothing short of bayonets could oust them,
even when q successor presented himself
honestly elected by the voice of the people.
This is often the only redeeming point In
their official natures, their fondness for the
arduous duties undertaken solely for the
benefit of the masses. 1t is also a pretty
universal affection taking gradual but sure
root in the breasts of men of all parties. The
popularity of the disease is the obstinacy
with which it rejects all surgical or medicin-
al aid. Should violent sufferer be decapi-
tated only to-day, as it were, why tomorrow
he will spring up in some new locality hale
and sound, and the admired and courted of
some new clique of hangers,on. You can
not kill him politically speaking for the
very party that to-day unseats him will to-
morrow see the opposition put him up again
with enlarged powers, and a broader,
brighter wreath upon his unfiinehing brow.
He knows this, and he shapes his principles
accordingly.
He is sham. And what of that? Do we
not live in ali age of deception, where,
from politics to petticoats, few are what they
seem?
With no more piety than other people;
A davis not recko toned religious bird
Because it keeps on cawing from steeple
And so Is it with our office hunter. He
may cav until he breaks in the head of
your auricular drum, but there is neither
religion nor truth in his soul, saving his de-
termination to get into power. He will hang
to your buttonhole and follow at your heels
so long as there is possibility of your be
ing of service to him; he will occasionally
borrow all your small change; he will call
at your house precisely at the dinner hour
on Sundays with some Information that is
of no use to anybody but himself, as it was
only concocted for the purpose of getting a
meal; he will join in any procession that
promises supper, no matter what its OBJ
iect, and will at times ingratiate himself SO
far into the multifarious folds of chignon
as to accept of q seat in an open barouche,
the occupants of which are equally as
changeable on public topics as he is. In
short, he is a chameleon. and takes his color
from the foliage on which he happens to be
crawling. He thinks his mind is made up,
however, for the November election. He
was one of the latest transparencies, but
that makes no very material difference, for
there is many man besides himself who
can Seymour (more) by voting for Colfax
than would likely be Grant(ed) by run
ming for Blair, and he doesn't Intend to
hoist his colors until the day comes.
A leading Democrat of Port Jervis, New
York, in q note to the editor Of the Union,
says I" l can't go Secession and Copper
headism embodied in the nominations of the
Democrats. don't see it. / believe that
the best blood of this country was shed in
putting down the most wicked and internal