New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-06-22

was to be carried on, Sir, unless the younger
sons and poor relations of the great governing
families could be provided for; how the lndis-
pensable adhesion Of the Duke OF Ihis
and my Lord That was to be secured
without n malicious distribution of places
among the friends and dependents for whom
those nilars of the State felt bound to pro-
vide. were problems which the Sir Leicester
Dedlocks of the Wing quite as well as the
Tory party felt themselves utterly unable 10
solve. How was man to get into Parliament
If he couId not reward those who were most
active in utting him therei How were
ministers to command a majority in the House
if they had no patronage wherewlth 10 pay
for votes Mr. Gladstone has cut the Gordlan
knot of these difficulties at one blow. lie
he's DESTROYED the Irish Church Establishment
He has about destroyed the IRISH Lana
system. He has extended the suffrage ana
half promised the ballot. Now he mas de-
stroyed patronage. And still the British en-
pire standsl The Foreign Office, to be sure
is left, last refuge for aristocratic good-for-
nothngs, dumping ground, so to speak, for
the nobility, bearing sign to the eiiect tha1
Rubbish may be shot here" and there are
certain Offices also filed directly by tho crown
to which the competitive system does not APP
ply: but these exceptions are too few to affect
the general result, and may perhaps heTeaf-
ter be brought under the general rule.
II is very true that formal examination Isl
not always the best gauge of ability. A raan'
of nervous or excitable temperament is apt to-
blunder through confusion, and man with
more than his fair share of assurance is plaeedf
ut an unjust advantage. Still, if the examl1a-
ton is properly conducted it will hardly fail'
to detect either fool or man of exceptional
ability, and in any case the new mode OF choice
must be great improvement upon the present,
in which fitness is not considered at all.
sensible competitive examination, followed by
the practical test of a six mon tbs probation,
ought to insure the Government able, diligent,
and well conducted servants. The chief OF a
department will always have the power to
discharge those who, after all the previous
tests, are still found incomplete mt or idle; and
az his own comfort will depend upon good
administration of his Office, he may be trusted
to exercise that power when ever 1t becomes
necessary On the other hand he has not Hle
power of appointment, AMI therefore Will
seldom be tempted to remove without cause,
in order 20 make room for, his own friends
Thus, as man by the process of natural sclec-
ton is supposed to have been developed from
the monkey, 50 the breed of oilise-hOlders may
be indefinitely improved by similar opera
ton of what Mr.. Darwin calls the struggle
I" for existence and survival of the fittest."
We are not sanguine of the immediate adop-
ton of any such reform in the United States
/ principally for the reason that we are so
very much in want of it. The incOmpetency
of Government officials is a comparatively
triling evil in this country, but the patronage
system has become such tremendous weapon
| of corruption that few politicians are willing
to give it up, and few party leaders have the
courage to pledge a hearty support to the
movement for reforming it out OF existence.
While Office is bartered and sold as it is now,
and votes are given not for political principles
| but for a petty cust0m-house clerkshp, 1t Is
| only by rare and fortunate accident that
| we can get the best men into positions
of trust and power, or secure majority
| i'm Congress with the nerve and discrimina-
| ton to apply the remedy to this threatening
| disorder of our political system. Congressman
have come to look upon ofice-brokerage as
one of the chief of their legitimate duties.
| Candidates have learned 10 buy their elections,
not indeed by the petty bribery of individual
voters, but by an explicit or implied promise
of Office to influential wire-pullers, stump
speakers, and local politicaus-in other words,
by buying extensive vote-dealerS at wholesale.
And it is an evidence of the injurious effect
of this corrupt system upon the whole tone of
public life that so many of our respectable
statesmen do not see or will not acknowledge
that the bribery of patronage, whether for per-
sOnal aims or "the good of the party" is a
dangerous assault upon the fundamental theory
of the Republic, namely, that free expression
of the popular will should dictate the policy
OF the state,
| CIVILLZING THE INDIANS.