The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-01-07
RifIln>ond nispatfh,
SATURDAY. Observation-Disclosures
,e+,e Civil Service.

a strong argument in support OF the fres'-
dents recommendations, in his two tnes.
sares. on reform In the service. IN MS i"'.
message. the President shows Huen @eA,
nm the subject, and declares that tine eie-
ovation and publication OF the c's,l sel1.se
/" Of the Government Will be haiiea WIN
"spproyal by the whole people OF the Uni
"ted States"
And vet. while the President entertains
,bese views and presses them upon Con-
eress, he failed to sustain Mr.. Cox in his
stand against allowing the clerks in his
Department to be assessed with tax to
support the canvass on the Republican
side. This it was that caused MIR. Cox to
retire from the Cabinet. Gen. GRANT In
that showed q want Of good faith to his own
avowed principles.
MIR. Cox recltes the evils Of the present
system with which we are all so familiar
that we learn nothing new from him, al
though he puts the case with energy and
clearness. We, however, quote para
graph or two. On the rush for offices when
new Administration comes in, he says
"On the advent of new Administration
we know that the capital swarms with
crowds Of of1ce-seekers applying for every
imaginable place, from a diplomatic posi-
ton at foreign court to messengershiI
In q department at home. They come armed
with recommendations and credentials
which experience has proven to be worth.
less as evidences Of character or capacity,
but which certify on their face that the
bearer is one Of the most capable and de-
serving of men, whose labors In the election
Of the incoming President were Of the most
signal and decisive value.'
OF the enormous burthen imposed upon
the Cabinet by these removals and appoint
ments, be says:
of month or two were all that is vast
ed In this employment, it would be bad
enough but the truth is that by far the
larger part of the time Of the President and
all the members of his Cabinet is occupied
by this worse than useless drudgery during
the whole term of his office, and it forms
literally and absolutely the staple OF their
work.
"The departments have been made the
asylum for the worthless and incompetent
dependents of persons OF influence VINO
have often received their pay WITHOUT giving
any return for it, because the head OF the
division or bureau could not entrust them
with the simplest clerical duty. This has
often extended to cases in which the gross
est and most offensive immoralities have
been shielded and protected by that per-
sonage so potential in Washington, the
member from his district"
To get rid Of these corruptions-thisd dead
weight upon the Government-thisa bomi-
nation of the country, Mr.. Cox fayors Mr..
% ha hot pi n
his bill to Congress-viz. the establishment
Of a system OF examination into the capa-
bility and character Of applicants, which
will place all men upon footing Of equali-
ty; those that pass to be appointed with a
tenure "during good behavior, with the
"hope of rising to the highest grades Of
"routine service by industry and strict de-
eviction to duty"
This is all well. The evil Of ofice-hunt-
ing-the dispensation of office as the re-
ward for party service-is the fountain of
corruption that has irrigated the whole
country. Every neighborhood has had its
aspirants for place, and they have their
families and friends, and thus the whole
people have been reached and brought di-
rectIy under the influence of the Govern
ment patronage.
1t has not only filled the public offices with
worthless men, but it has filled the land with
thriftless and shiGtless beings, who, hay
ing fixed their minds upon Government
sinecure, and abandoned all employment in
the hope of obtaining that, have become a
burthen to their friends and society. Again,
everywhere in the country there are men
who have been removed from office after
holding 1t just long enough to unlearn all
pursuits outside Of the office, and to cut loose
entirely from business relations In the re-
gion from which they came to live upon the
Federal Treasury. They return to their
old homes disqualified for all independent
enterprise, to begin life anew. Rare indeed
is it that they have the energy and tact to
succeed In spite Of the serious difficulties
time has heaped up before them, and they
often sink down In despair, abandon them
selves to dissipation, and die prematurely,
leaving dependent families behind, to crown
whose suferings want Of education Is added
to the want Of necessaries Of life.
A system which thus curses the land
ought to have been abolished long ago. But
will Congress abolish it?
congressman will be reluctant to give up
their electioneering material, and the party
not In power would be slow to pass law
which might fill all the Offices with the re.
tanners Of the ruling Administration, and
thus close the door against the other side
should it triumph at the next election,
These two parties will, we fear, be strong
enough to defeat any bill for the much.
needed reform.
And, after all, how men exaggerate the
power OF patronage. When the offices are
filed there is an end of it for the time, and
the disappointed often turn away enemies
of those from whom they expected fat and
comfortable offices. The dispensing power
is cursed with hundred expectants where
It has but one Office, and that agent which
the world considers all powerful comes tc
be. as an Cabinet officers confess, q source
of intense annoyance and misery. The
swarm that is driven off oft returns with
the army of the opposite side to turn out
the Gins" and seize the public plumber.
In the long run the system is hurtfui to
any party, while 1t carries throughout the
land Pandora's box Of evils. II ought to
be reformed, and that promptly, independ'
emit Of the apprehensions and seitshness Of
parties. ------
Coon LAws.-We do not know how often