The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-03-19
THE GREED OF OFFICE.

THE GREED OF OFFICE.
The desire to win high place in the
public esteem is q natural and healthful
stimulus to honorable effort always. But
such desire may be, and indeed should be.
expressed in noble endeayors to be largely
useful to others. Its legitimate expression
is in noble and manly qualities. He who
can do, and dare, and suffer to relieve 9TH
crs Of disabilities, or to shield them from
danger at his own cost, deserves and in.
sures to himself IN enduring fame. A
healthy ambition will lead a man to develop
all noble qualities in himself, and to conse-
crate them to the noblest uses to family.
to country, and to mankind. Such an am
bition is every way worthy and commend
able. In contrast with it is that unhealthy
greed of place which leads man to
neglect and look with contempt upon every
pursuit not under government control.
Some people seem to think that they have
an inherent. natural right to be in office,
and that to deny them place is a personal
aitront. They assume that they, of all the
people, are to be provided for by the gov
eminent.
There Ia no attraction for them in any le-
gitimatc business or useful employment
The charm of official patronage is lacking.
They will do the most mental work. for
small pay, only to wear the livery of the
public service. This class of persons is un-
fortunately large and growing larger. They
are not production to be encouraged, in
our opinion. We do not consider it good
recommendation for position that a man
will starve ifhe does not get it. Indeed.
capacity to fill some useful place in private
lie should be sine qua non Of qualifca-
ton for office. When an appeal is made to
recommend man because he will starye.
or his family suffer, if be does not get it,
the case will bear searching scrutiny. Yet
we are daily asked to recommend people
for places upon this ground. Thousands of
young and able-bodied men and women
stand idly watching every place of any val
lie in the departments, ready to rush by
scores at vacancy when it occurs. They
spend precious months and years of time
picking up little jobs and waiting for some-
thing better to turn up, while life is full of
opportunities for intelligence and enterprise
to win grand successes.
There is no friend of ours whom we
would not infinitely rather recommend to a
good trade or business than to an appoint
ment. We feel sure that in most cases it
is the utter destruction of real manliness to
enter the civil service with view to seek
IN 1t permanent source of support. 1t is
usually the end of all ASPIRATION and pro-
gress. The mind of the incumbent settles
down to the routine of the Office. and has
no thought but of the monthly salary and
what it will buy. A life occupied with a
narrow round Of pleasures and office
drudgery, beret of all the healthful excite
ments of business, is the result. Yet. If
we tell these people that they had better
turn to the farm, the work shops, the vast
range of diversified labor, which society
rewards richly when well done, they are
injured and almost insulted. Yet this is
the way we would put it to those dearest to
us, because we feel that it is best for all
young people to seek employments which
offer overwhelming scope, and which
abound most with motives to improve
and enlarge their intellectual powers
1t may seem hard that what we call
an educated man or woman shonld
be reduced to the necessity of seeking a
living by labor, but we think it is quite
time to lay aside that sort of nonsense.
We think every employment is genteel
by which one can earn an honorable living,
We remember a time when with as much
Latin and Greek and Mathematics in our
head as ordinary college students, we found
unable to employ this knowledge
so as to get living by it in the far West.
where we had strayed. Well, we never
thought applying for an office. We took
10 the land, put up log cabin and went to
work, dug, chopped, plowed, planted |
.rees, sowed and reaped, and SO made a |
living. We plowed barefoot and roasted
;reen corn by the log heaps when we
we're hungry. In this simple home we
entertained governors and members of
congress, and men and women who now
race the high places of the land. We
never felt derneaned because ace acolEed