The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-02-05

the hands of othersf II he does he NAV
secure ''peaoe"--for himself, If not for the
country. II he does not, he may prepare for
a fight hotter and more embittered than any
he has yet encountered.
The power of thus making Executive ap-
pOihtments has come to be altogether the
most important ofthe functions of the average
Congressman. 1t makes him great creature
with his constituents. 1t makes him the
great local Mogul of his party the dispenser of
public pap to its hungry hangers-on. 1t
makes him at once, within his district, the
great being who can reward his friends and
punish his enemies; and this, with party poll
tioisDs, is the nearest approach to omnipo-
tence their imaginations can conceive. But
they do not always content themselves with
these shadowy glories that thus attend upon
the power they claim; it has for many
much more direct and tangible value. 1t is
capable of being coined into cash. Offices are
sought throughout the world, including the
United States, because they are worth some
thisg, because they bring. in revenue-sala-
ries, perquisites, Tickings, "chances;" and
for all these solid and substantial things he
must be very base-minded ofice-seeker who
is not willing to pay. There are members
of Congress who put cash value on the
places they procure for their friends, and who
demand its payment in acknowledgment of
their services for thus procuring them.
If General Grant or anybody else supposes
that a power of this sort-at once so pleasing
and so prohtabe-is to be surrendered without
a struggle, be mistakes the practical, pushing,
and pertinscious character of the American
Congressman.
Next comes the claim of papers-letters Of
recommendation signed by thousands of active
and influential members of "the party"-to
be deemed conclusive in matters of appoint
ment. All the departments at Washington,
all the custom houses, post offices, and other
public buildings of the land are crammea full
of them. The enterprising applicant usually
draws his letter up himself, has it legibly
copied, and hires as many persons as he can
afford to carry it around for signatures. 1t
! usually asserts that "we the Undersigned
have personally known the applicant for the
last FIVE, ten, or fifty years--are intimately
acquainted with his life, habits, character,
and devotion to the interests of the party,
etc. etc., and hearing that he is spoken of as
a candidate for such an office, respectfully but
urgently request that he may be appointed.
The chances are ten ts one that not one in
| ten of those who are asked to sign this letter
ever saw or heard of The applicant, or even
knew before that there was such a person in
existence; yet every one is expected to sign it
as matter OF course, aud as Il general thing
| they do. They have not the inde pendence to
refuse nor the time to explain, and the favor
is but small one, such papers having no
| weight; so their names go on and the thing is
ended. This is the way in which such letters
of recommendation are usually procured
| They say but little and that little is usually
false. II does not need much reflection to
| show that, as proof of fitness Tor Office, they
are absolutely worthless. Yet appointments
are constantly made on the strength of them,
and the appointing power uses them to excuse
what may prove to be very bad appointment
ON his part.
The weakness of the whole thing is appa
rent, and it ought not to be ditcult to uprooi
a practice that has so little TO recommend it
Yet it is oery difficult. A great deal is said tC
excuse it. 1t is said to be the only way il
which the merits of the application and the
wishes of the party can be made known to the
appointing power, who naturally must fee
grateful for information which he needs 81
much.
What this mode of making appointment
has done for our civil service, we know to ou
cost. Whether it can be reformed and i'm
proved we are yet to learn. 1t is quite Ger
tain that the attempt to change it, in an,
essential respect, will be fercely and strenu
ously resisted by the combined interests whicl
thrive and profit by it. Aud this is but on,
of the many ways in whi ch the country vii
be brought to decisive test of the question
whether it is governed by the will and for tn
welfare of the great body of the people, or TO
the profit and at the pleasure of special clique
and combinations.