The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-09-10
FR0M MASSACHUSETTS,
BosroN, Sept. 2, 10

| To me Editor Of the wo.KnssAss ADvOcArr.
To prove the spirit OF the frencn
republicanism, serd you trsns's'su
extract from the Bulletin fFO"'o'
Rsps6licaine de Lasgss Froncosss
SEC. II. THE PUBLIC cFFicEhs' r.ff
Which should be the duty and linnt
Of power Of public officer in socis.
founded on the principle of equslity y
conditions is the question when am
} going to treat in my article
One Of the first reforms TO comPieee
as quick as possible is to limit the iuno,
} tons Of public officers torthe usefueano
10 reject all occupations which serve 70
nothing else than to engross the PuDlc
} expense.
! As soon as labor shall be organized,
we will have less carpet baggers When
every service shall be paid by his value.
, Why is it that we see in the P!gsens
state Of society so many individuals
J living more luxuriously from dong
, pretty near nothing than others occu-
J pied in useful work? go.
I Because they do not make enough 70
: satisfy the neeessaries Of life Dy non
7 est labor, and therefore try to liVe Dy
the public favor, to make living more
. easy than az a workman.
When public officers win have no
more chance than every other WORK
man to get rich off the people, when
the right of labor is once under the
/ protection of the system OF equal con-
& ditions, then those sinecures will soon
cease to be hunted for at such great
expenses as it is done at present, and
/, offices will be filed with more honor
q able and more honest individuals.
e The evil tendency to make as much
9 money as possible out Of an ONCE pro- :
: duces the bad consequence that the
+ high officers are obliged to select their
s, interiors Of doubtful morality because
!, they need accomplices to elect them
: and to divide the spoil after their cleo
y ton. This ID the cause OF degree OF
n corruption among the public officers
m even in the Republic Of the nineteenth
y century, which is shame to humanity
Reform the law in a manner that no
1, officer can step over the limits OF his
h duties; define them precisely; this H.
{ the needed reform.
q Is it not a shame for us, in the nine-
Is teenth century. where we think our
I'd selves more enlightened than our lore
be fathers, TO see immense fortunes made
"a from Offices wherein hardly any work
u u is to do? We acknowledge the work
Ie ing people must be very ignorant not to
be change such a system How is it that
ad we see every day individuals who So
'e- licit our suffrage, spend twice as much
- money TO get an Office as its income re
Ias ally is that the people not ask If there
at is not any illegality about? lndlvid-
ne uals, having succeeded in getting an
~ Office which is known to bring not
cd more than 81 900 or $4,000 year, buy
he themselves houses from 500, 900 10 $780,
70 600, if not the first, the second year,
70 and the laborers do not see that they
=. are robbed by him? Then who else is
M it who pays the taxes, If it is not the
Of producer Of all values, and what could
ID such an officer steal which is not paid
I'ot in taxes by the laborer?
a. The reform Of the public offices is the
he greatest turn of the wheel of revOlu-
he tionary economy. Once having no
"a more idle nor stealing officers, the rev.
30. olution is pretty near accomplished
NM A great many of our friends say
ere we should reform first the morality,
to make man virtuous, then we would see
lly' better republic; but ! say il is good
~ deal easier to change the law and make
vi it impossible for man to steal az to wait
ed until the world becomes virtuous. /
leo have not the pretention to reform the
~ moralists Of society in few years, 50
me- me- that all corruption will disappear; surely
Ut not, but | say, if the producing people
Dill will effect the disappearance Of cor
ing ruption, it must cut out the cancer
= by the roots, it must change the laws
NE which give those chances TO such in
ed dividuals.
il If we would wait till the politicians
err would convert themselves, and set our
III hope for better state Of affairs on
y them, we would condemn ourselves TO
nst fall to such a low condition as it is
Ter impossible for a nation to fall, viz: tic
no unconsciousness Of our degradation.
to When the American people will have
D" abolished this second slavery, the yoke
Pc Of the politicians, only then can cali
ne America Model Republic.
a. Any officer shall be no more than .
%. servant Of the people who have elected
ry him to the office he shall be RESPONSE
- BILE for his actions and all times revoc-
able by the people for without this it
70 is impossible to control his doings. In
as fine, he shall have no other authority
40 to execute the law in a measure than he
\, has been elected for.
Of BY the principle Of equality Of con-
/ ditions the work of an officer, being
up considered as other labor, would regu-
,ci late itself by supply and demand.
in Then, offices with little work will be
d, not SO much hunted for, and perhaps
IRE be filled with invalids, when laborers
lot will occupy themselves with better
wv paying work. On the contrary, when
to-day a place is to be filed with little
work to do for big pay, we find it &C
us cupied by able bodied men instead Of
sc invalids.
RS | have said we should abolish al sin
"A ecures, and | don't know, fellow citi-
H. zens, if You have an idea what a large
ay number Of people we would retain for
IS productive industry and consequently
Is for the creation Of new national wealth.
as In simplifying our penal laws, be-
Ill cause we would not be obliged to pro-
70 tect those oilers any longer, by reduc-
e. ing our civil law to few articles il
~ we would have more simple laws, how
m many idlers would be forced into pro-
Ill ductive labor?
20 Yours respectfully,
AT PETERSON.
FROM LANG ISLAND.