The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-06-09
THE PR FS s.
Thursday Morning, June 9, 1870
Rotation of Office.

By strange perversien of the democratic
principle, which epjoins equal and exact JUS
tice to all, it has come to be regarded that Of
fetal honors and emoluments are luXuries for
the benefit not of the people but of polti-
clans, and should therefore be distributed like
sugar plums, SO that as many as possible may
have share. That the business of govern
ing should be confined exclusively to pir'ie-
ular ring would indeed be great MISFORTUNE
as it would limit practical acquaintance VIZ"
politics to a comparatively snla'i h''iiiooi' anu
defeat what &c one of the browning benefits
of free institutions-the political educatioh Oh
the ,,,ossas Judcious changes must and
should he made as occasions for them arise,
and ANYTHING that binders these is mischiev
ous. But rotation in office means something
more than this. 1t means that offices mustbe
vacated at certain regular intervals in order to
give places to other political asprants, wheth-
er the public good requires it or not. It is
against this that we wish to protest
1t is founded on the false and vicious thee
ry that the people were created for the bene-
ct of the fice-holders,-the worst heresy of
despotism,-instead of the office-hoders for
the benefit Of the people. "Whosoever will
be chief among you, let him be your servant"
It seems to be entirely forgotten that officials
desire their only true dignity from their ca
pacity to serve the people. Within certain
limits varying in different cases the longer
man serves the more efficient and valuable do
his services become. There never was a
time when the services of our Representative,
Mr.. hynch, were so valuable to his constitu-
ency as at the present time, and should he
serve three terms more, it is safe to predict
that he will exhibit the same steady growth
in practical craftsmanship which has marked
his career hitherto. These frequent changes,
particularly In the higher positions of public
trust which require special training and expe-
rience, give the supremacy to mediocrity and
keep the public business in the hands of nov
Ices who, while doing nothing themselves ex-
cept in crude and unsatisfactory way, are
all the time dead weight upon those who
are both able and willing to accomplish some
thing.
This whole system of rotation in Office as
commonly prdctice0 Is q ueVlct run III Ille III
terazs of political managers and acquiesced in
by lazy constituencies to save themselves the
trouble Of using their judgment. 1t lis so much
easier blindly to follow an infexible rule than
to maintain that wakeful vigilence which
alone can make it safe to adopt flexible poll
cy governed by the exigencies of the occasion
that the undaserved popularity of the ro
tation system is not strange. But if the peo-
pie propose to decide hAw their affairs shall
be managed, they must wake up 1ro-..this
sleepy adherence to routine, and maintain al
active supervision in these matters. Those
who desire to be useful aud honored need moi
wait to be gratihed till they can get into Office
The honor, power and usefulness of the unit
tied aristocracy composed of those, always
the majority, who never seek and rarely hold
Office, though moderated by superficial observ.
ers, is real and substantial, and brings with il
no vile servitude to mean men. There il
nothing therefore in the claims of political as
pirants or the needs of the public, which re
quires servile adherence to the principle O
rotation. When good man gets into offic,
let him stay there till the demands of the pub
ic service require change.