Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-07-14
HEMPEEBS APPEAL
:. .RETRENCEEMENT ARD REFORsz.'' .

the fiesh-pots. 1t rallies them agains
those in possession, when the CARCASS o
the State is to be fed uponi and the val
lures gather together to the feast.
, Permit US a DEPRESSION. We hav
} often seen the sworms of buzzards
which, through kind OF Egyptian rev
erence, it is unIawfuI to kill, snd which
do the duty Of seavengers around th'
market-houses Of Charleston. When i
was believed that the President woult
certainly be convicted, and Biasphemou
Wade wss prepared to sign the bond tbs
4 Devil demanded, snd vote for the con
vlction aud custer Of Andrew johnson,
II bis single vote wss necessary to con.
vlct, the obsesne brood of political hsT.
pies that Iit down upon and hoped
about Washington, reminded one Of
the buzzards of the Charleston mar
ket. A few Of the same genus
are fattening and growing tmpudent
at the public expense in Memphis,
where they assume theIordly airs Of con-
querors, and vituperats With the voluble
eloquence Of fish-women those who do
not live by plunderipg the public, who
remember with somewhat Of Indignation
that they were once frsemen in the land
of their fathers, and who ses set over
them, hoisted upon the shoulders Of ne
groes better than themselves, the pitiful
adventures that, Issuing from the teem-
ing Ioins Of "the higher civilization, ("
eat their way Ike loousts, and fatten on
1 the little remaining substance Of sn i'm
poverished land.
The delegates Of the disreputable fac
ton to which these men beIong,-dis-
reputable, because its creed and practices
are alike dishonest and shameless, hsve
had the singular audacity to proclaim
that Radicalism is in favor Of reform in
regard to the financial measures of the
Government, and OF retrenohment Of the
public expenditures. 1t is the thief, cry
ing stop thief" and endesvoring in the
confusion to escape from the police. It
is sheer hypoericy, the homage that vice
pays to virtue,-a bswd's profession of
virtue. Corruption is the very breath
of life," which the devil q breathed into
the nostrils of Jacoblnism, when he
created it to be the curse OF humanity
and the murderer Of millions. Without
the infected atmosphere in which it has
It's being, it would die Of inanitiOn. 1t
is the bond-slsve Of political jobbsrs, of
speculstors, whisky-thieves, sharpers
cheDaliefs ~ industrie and "rings :" and
to pay them it mast permit them to rob
the public Treasury and fleece the peo-
pie. The South is a wide field, but too
much impoverished TO be alluring. A
few only of the buzzards alight here the
main body prefer to remain in more in
viting fields Of action.
We need not lake the testimony Of
enemies of Radicalism, to proveits mon
strous sad almost incredible abuses
Itself furnishes the proof. The New
York Tines Of a late date says:
There is no work which the party in
power could more usefuily ast itself 20
peTform than the reform OF the civil
service Of the United States. The evils
Of the present system are manifold,
costly, and increasing. Dnder it the
public interests are pr0stiluted to per-
sOnal favoritism and partiZau zeal. Men
grossly incompetent, or Sill more gross
ly dishonest, get the offices, aud good and
capable and honest men are shut out.
The public business suffers from the ig-
nOTaDce, idleness, and general inca
pacity which prevail in too many public
stations The Treasury Department is
nOtoriOusly full of persons who work
less than six hours dag, and many OF
whom occupy a share Of even this Off
cisl and public time with newspapers,
gossip and private affairs. The custom
houses in the great cities are crammed
with pensioners upon the public, some Of
whom ara IN possession OF offices that are
known and acknowledged sinecures.
Here is what the Commissioner OF
Customs reported to the Secretary OF the
Treasury IL submitting plan for the
prevention OF smuggling
The Government has been vietimized
by another most reprehensible, not to
say fraudulent practice. 1t is known
that men have been appointed ss Gus
tomhouse inspectors at conpeDsatiOns
varying from one dollar and q half to
three dOllBrs day, aUh0 agere 7aeVer re-
qltired to perform q single days service,
and whose only attendance at the Gus
tomhouse was for the purpose OF Teeeiv-
ise and reeeiptiDg for their pay. such
appointments were made as rewards for
past or expected political labOrs or in
fiuenee, and we're so understood by the
sDp0intees, who felt under no obligation,
not even moral one, to render any ser
vice 10 the Government whose money
their eonscienees did not forbid them to
take. need not say that sach ideas
and practices are calculated to paralyBe
the public service and destroy its eti1-
cieBcy.H
To this officials statement of mon-
strous abuse may be added the still more
monstrous and sboninahle frauds which
have signalissd the administration of
the internal revenue system. To such
length have these abuses been carried,
ia that portion Of the service which ap-
pertains to the revenue on ardent spirits,
that it may be said TO be presided over
by two Generals Incompetence
and Gen. Grab. Whisky inspectors and
collectors have censpired with whiskydi
tiIlers to divide between them the prop
erty OF the Government, while the pa
tlent public looks on, with mingled
aNAaACH-c4tf NAN eAAAbH~lASAi - ~NO
swindle.
And Mr.. Scaenck, of Ohio, In his
speech on the Internal Revenue bill, re-
ported by him, showed, the Times says
That the great evil Of inefdcieney and
corruption among the agents OF the
Government is traeeable to a single
souree-wsnt Of responsibility ct WASH
ington. The Commissioner Of Internal
Revenue, the Secretary Of the Treasury,
the President and the Senate have eaeh
and all voice in determining the ap-
pointrnent and removal Of inspectors and
collectors, and this division Of power, IS
has been proven, makesit almost impos-
sible to effect the discharge OF punisa-
nent OF an Official, though kDo8n 70 be
a rascal and defrauder OF the Govern
ment.
~ cso1.o,, osys 4oo, a "a of that 4nf5c tho