, 1869-04-22

Senators are etfectually disgusted with the
maids they are expected to urge upon The
President and Cabinet. We are not Bit
prised that Senator Trumbr1ll should give
notice Of a bill making it penal offence
for Senator to seek the appointment Of
my person to Office under tho government.
The Senator or Representative is not allowed
to use his discretion. Applicants for Office
: rush 10 Washington by thousands and insist
upon being appointed. Single Congressional
| districts sometimes furnish number Of up
T! plicants equal to the whole clerical force Of
! the government. Moreover, tho demand is
| no longer confined to men. Women have
| entered the liats, and are more pertinncious
even than their male rirals. Each man
and woman insists that his or her
representative must get linn or her an office,
or be treated thereafter, forever, rs his or
!, her personal enemy. No wonder that Senn-
! tors have grown 1estive under these impor-
inmate demands for i1npossibilities.
Senator Pomeroy told the truth when be
said thnt he wanted I'LL the men from Kan-
sas holding Office in Washington turned ont,
because it would he positive benefit to the
men. Holding Office Mt Washington in, rs
a rule, the last thing thnt any man, having
! my self-rcspect, and able to make living
by any other kind of labor, ought to
| think ni,out- Those departments are fit
asylums for the lazy OF for those who have
not the brains or the physical capacity to
earn living otherwise. For soldiers who
have been physically disabled, and for in
dnstrions women who are crowded out Of
other employment, there is IN excuse for
seeking these places; but no nble-bodied
nan under fifty years of age should nsk foz
such III Office.
| No man who can hold p1ow, drive
team, baw wood, teach school, or use the
spade, should he permitted to tnkc clerk
ship at Washington. 1t il u clear
caRe Of mental dcluslon, or Of
chronic laziness. In the hrst place,
il III confession Of inferiority. Any man
rcnlly cnraale Of the mental labor required
Of clerk in Washington can find situation
iu other business ut hotter snlary than tho
government pnyH him, +" npply for gov
cr,l1llcnt cerkship is, therefore, m admis-
sion TINT he cannot compete successfully
with tlnme employed for like business in
l,rivnte lif.. Tho government cio1k is M
ucnr IN nlproncl. To n rerssmcd l"afcr nH
cn1l ho f"nnl ntyuheze. To tho
grcnt nlnjority "f them nh appointment IN
equivalent to totnl .le.n"rnlixnsinn.
! Tuc.furth, thoy nro unit fnr nny either
business, ntnl becolno halituM dependents
e getting their t1niiy rnti.nH Of mrnt nnt
:, drink. sinking lnwcr nnd lowm uvory lny it
" their "wn estimation. md Incoming NOR
:, n,ld 1nnrn helpless to e1tricAta themselves
:. s1~ ....-.. -cnt !" Washington Il. hull ,
n. clrrknlip Wlio ever lnatlu moro thnn hnr,
living md he must indeed hn helpless If Ii,
could not Anre done Ms well aA that n
u lcmc. 1t would be m act of humanity fo
i, Senators nld Representatives to oppose tn
J. appointment Of any able-bodie.
g 1nnn from their States to an,
c1erkship at Washington. Bette
: ly far send them home, there to labor q
+ any industry, than to perch them at
clerks desk, to be forever thereafter dc
J pendent upon official favor for the b1ea
u they eat. To man having
> family .nch sn appointment is even
!; greater evil 1t destroys forever all ide
, that he or any Of his is to mako living i
II my other way than by holding Office IN
e On his salary he cannot keep, clothe an
8. educate his family with anything lilo th
80 comfort and respectability that he could
l. at home on farm, or in Workshop, or i
!. store. Senator Pomeroy is right in say
q ing that these applicants would be muc
{. better off at home, engaged in any kind o
labor, than to be loadng round Washington
l. On small salaries, learning to despisc indus
u try, and liable to be Kicked out without
~ moments s notice.
10 This whole business Of change Of sui
ordinates every few years is vicious. It.
= corrupting to The outs, and destroys th
!" efficiency of the ins. Men ought to be OF
u pointed to subordinate places for their con
l. potency and integrity, and not for the
= p,lities; and, once in, ought to be retaine
= SO long only as they are comp
Il tent nnd honest Had We such system "
y should hare no further exhibition Of this r
Fe lentless md iniiiscrimiuate rush Of men III
le women for Offices for which the majority
~ them are incompetent. md to nccept whic
, means their decentralization and ruin.