Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1871-11-08
Cbe fteeman.
MONTPELIER, VT,
WEDNESDAY, NOV. s, 1871.
The Danger OF Party Patronage.

tuleNee IN We" 1orK, IS as yet, at least, IN
certain. Perhaps the suit against them may
recover for the use of the city some of the
stolen millions, and there Is a bare possibility
that some Of the robbers may be punished
crimiHally. 1t Is also possible that the next
legislature Of New York will be composed Of
men who will legislate for the good Of the
people, although this is by no means certain.
IL Is a hopeful sign to see politics 50 far
ignored as to allow Republicans to 70 re for
such men as Horatio Seymour, Samuel j. Til
den and Daniel F. Tieman, prominent and
really honest Democrats, but the hopefulness
Of this sign Is not increased when il is known
that these Republican votes will be thus
given because no Republican could, in any
event, hope 70 be elected, even against the
ring thieves, in the districts in which these
gentlemen are running as anti-Iammany
candidates. To get Irish Democrats to vote
against Tweed it has seemed necessary to
nominate O'Donovan Rosa, who is little bet
ter than a Fenian refugee IN this country,
who cannot be identified in any way with
the real business interests of New York, and
who would at any moment, if he had the
power, bring about a war between this coun-
try and Great Britain. In districts where
there has seened some chance Of electing
Republican, the Fenton and Conklng wings
Of the party have been bitterly at feud among
themselves and have each accused the other
Of being tools of Tammany. In short, from
first to last, there has seemed to be really no
Z II
movement could be made to contribute to the
advantage Of some party or some faction Of
81 party The Democratic party, as such,
stood by Tammany until the popular indig-
nation became so great as to compel the lead
ers of that party to lead the fight against the
thieves in order to save themselves, and it
even required the lessons of the fall elections
to induce the World to join the campaign
against those who have almost openly stolen
millions from the tax payers Of New York
city. The Times has denounced Tammany
Hall with scarcely more ferceness of epithet
than the adiectives it has hurled at the
Greeley and Fenton Republicans in short 1t
calls such Republicans tools Of Tammany
and thus turns upon them all the guns 1t
opens on the thieves The Tribune rcioins
that Murphy and Conkling are no better
than Tweed and Hall, and that the Times
cares less about destroying Tammany than it
does about the overthrow Of the Fenton Re
publicans.
It's IN this spirit that the campaign against
Tammany has been carried on, and it is
,H1So hot ~ }, r.r
faction among those who call themselves 1e-
formers will be but small relief to the people
The strife for place, for personal advantage,
for the spoils, would still 90 on, and to this
strife the public good would be still subordi-
mated. Before the New York election, cards
were published in the city papers, saying
that Gen. SigeI, caodid4te for register in the
reform ticket, would divide his patr mage
equally between the Americans, Irish and
Germans and of course these nationalities
were urged to vote for him on the ground
that they would thus stand an equal chance
at the spoils. This is corruption Just a.
much as though these voters were promised
money for their votes and it is this policy OF
distributing patronage party
or personal friends, as a reward for party or
personal services. that, carried to its logical
conclusion, has made Tammany Hall thieves
possible. Tweed has made himself rich and
his friends rich by patronage; Sigel proposes
to make his friends of all nationaliries com
Portable by giving them each an equal chance
at the patronage.
Il hot
in the hunger of politicians for patronage,
and in their peremptOry requirement that
they shall have their share of it for their
party or their faction their nationality
lies the great peril to our institutions? And
it is this that makes civil service reform
everywhere one of the most vital questions.
if not the most vital question, of our times
1t is question not to be sneered at or put
aside by the men who pay political debts or
punish political enemies by the use of patron
age; not TO be supported in platforms and
ignored in practice as is too frequently done
by politicians not to be recommended in
messages and trodden under foot in reality
as has been done by those who, as our
laws now are, have alone power to inaugu-
rate the reform not to be kept as the
word of promise to the ear and broken to
the hope as has been the bitter experience in
the history of parties and administr tions
Official patronage is the vice of our system,
and since this army of Office holders which
the war has made, or seemed to make, nee
essary, has vastly increased this patron ge,
> has Of ba
elements in the administration Of government
as well as in the conduct Of parties. Tweed
has kept himself in power by the use of the
patronage and the money which his official
position has made him master Of and, by
measures similar in kind, although less
monstrous in degree, many men have kept
and still bope to keep themselves in political
power. In fact, as we have shown, even
war upon such villains as these New York
thieves cannot proceed until the parties to it
have made stipulations how they, if victori-
Gus, are to divide the plumber that falls into
their hands
These are very serious subjects for the
people to consider. Some remedy will have
to be resorted to or the disease will become
desperate. In New York they wv even talk
of lamp posts and lynch law. But there
ought to be a remedy short of that Can
there be any better one than TO take out of
the hands of any one man or one set of men,
great powers of any kind, whether it be the
use of money or the use of patronage The
concentration of any power in a few hands
is dangerous and the power of appointing
vast army of Office holders is one of the