Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-08-26
ron or11o1A1 DUTY.

Of them. This arose from the necessity
Of the case. But In those days public
duties were considerably less arduous
than they are now, because there were
fewer interests and persons to deal
with, and, consequently, there were
less heavy demands Oh a mans time,
Judgment and general knowledge.
Now, however, the case IL altered.
The population has become denser,
and Its wants have become more varied,
its interests more complicated, Its en-
terprise more extensive. Railways,
steamships and t~elegraphs have so
greatly facilitated human intercourse
that business Is now conducted with
far greater rapidity than formerly, and
its qualifications are worldwide in
stead Of local. Hence it is evident that
each branch Of It demands more and
more exclusive attention as It involves
q greater number Of interests. It has
been found more advantageous to the
business man as vol as to the public
that each one should give his undivided
attention to n business. He who
does this o o acquires superiority in
that walk, and is sought after accord
ingly. As population grows denser
the competition increases, and the
prospect Of success grows more limited,
but the individual becomes Of less i'm
portance and Is less known. Now,
this is a very great disadvantage in
some respects, especially as regards
candidates for public offices. In the
early days Of republican simplicity the
truly good men were known to all their
fellow-citizens, and they alone were
selected for important posts; but now
there canrot be the same intimate
knowledge Of a mans character and
antecedents, and thus 1t frequently
happens that unfit men are elected to
Office, and their record Is only dlscov-
cred when some defalcation or NAL
feasance Oh their part necessitates an
inquiry. It has, unhappily, become n
matter of notoriety that corrupt and
corruptible men do get into the public
service and inflict much injury OIL the
community, In the shape Of unjust
legislation, onerous taxation, fraudu
lent jobs, oppressive and corrupt .ad-
m%inistration, and waste Of the public
money. One reason why su"h men
find their way into Office Is that the
bulk Of the people arc so occupied with
their own affairs, or 80 negligent, they
will not take the trouble to inquire
into the antecedents Of the candidates,
and reject the bad and the Indifferent.
This Is all wrong they should apply
their experience Of what Is best In prl-
vate business to the public service.
When q lawyer or physician Is wanted,
q man Of known skill Is selected. Why
should not this rule be applied to the
public affairs Of city, State and nation?
The more considerable the transac-
lions, the larger the revenues, the more
numerous the collections and the sums
dealt with-and these are increasing
every year-the greater the necessity
for training men to the administration
Of affairs, or Of selecting those who
have had the appropriate training, and
who have proved themselves to be
faithful officers. Every office under
the Government has been affected by
the growth Of the nation, and the varl-
Gus branches of the public service have
become s~pecialties. Hence the neces-
sity for education TO administer them,
and also for letting men enter into the
public service, to be retained there
during "good behavior" 1t seems to
be generally believed that an Ameri-
can Is tt tor any post, and that there
fore all posts must DO kept open for
him. As this theory flatters the ma
tional vanity 1t is very popular; but 1t
is f~allacious, as a very little reflection
will show. The administration Of a
branch of the public service demands
the possession Of ouly a certain set Of
faculties, and not Of every faculty I'M
der the sun; 1t requires only such
knowledge as Is related to 1t, and not
a general knowledge Of everything. A
man may be an excellent "good
fellow" but n very bad public officer.
And as there Is an infinite variety OF
character, ability and knowledge
amoag Americans, 1t follows that some
must possess fewer OF the qualifications
for office than others do. Now, If the
public were as wise In their choice OF
their officers as they are In the choice
of their private legal and medical ad-
visers, they would seek out these
others and elect them. They would
then be better served ; and even If
they were not, the fault would not then
be their own, having made the best
selection they could. There Is another
evil which would be prevented by the
system OF training mon for the public
service, or retaining good officers In
their places, and that i, the ruin that
has been brought upon many a private
citizen BY aspiration for office. Con-
spicuous instances Of this are OCCASION
ally seen, but there are numberless
minor cases which are not seen by all,
whore men wreck their prospects In
pursuit ofsome official post, and which,
If they succeed In obtaining 1t, some
times chances them from good mem
bers Of the community into public
nuisances.
The report comes from Chicago that
q sojourner In a boarding house there
was recently choked to death by get