The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1872-07-04

Moreover from the one central source
Of power a network Of wires radiates
over all the land: the appointing pow
or holds as lash sixty thousand of the
shrewdest, ablcst, sharpest men in all
the population, who are banded togeth.
or in brotherhood of common inter.
est whose pockets are full of tho pub
lilo money; and who will hesitate ct
nothing to retain the advantages they
possess.
Thus on the one side We have multi
tudes ready to sell and on tho other
Thousands ready to buy, and to buy them
.oiM their oun money! On the one side
are the slumbering, uuthinking, lndif-
ferent multitude ; on the other swarm
of active creatures, bustlins, cunning,
INSCRIPTIONS, ready.to administer sooth-
ing syrup if the populaco stirs, and to
answer its mutterings with plausible
and oily generalities.
The most devilish coutrivanco of
modern times is that Of making your
fraternity, the editors of the country,
submissive. agents in this rascality, by
giving you share in the plumber. This
is buying up the attorneys of the peo-
pie ; this is bribiug the very sentinels
on the watch tower of popular safety.
No man honors your profession more
than do. No man holds the newspa.
per in higher regard, as wonderful
force OF civilization and. society, than
/ do. No man could be more willing
than 1 am to see your labors cncourag.
ed, protected and remuueratsd. But
you are nothing if not independents
Holding Offices which depend on the
annual or quadrennial triumph of a
party or faction, you become the hire
lings Of authority, sort Of Intellectual
Hessians, fighting for pay and plumber,
and compelled to wag your tongues in
defense Of that party or faction when
perhaps your very hearts sickeu with
in you.
You ask me what is the remedy fer
this state of things, especially for the
evils of the civil service.
My answer is perm'onence OF tenure i;
in other words, q recurrence to the
practices of the early days Of the repub-
lie.
In the whole course of his admins
tration President Jefferson removed
but thirty-nine persons, and no one Of
these for political causes. Mr.. Mad,-
son made but Eve removals Mr.. Mon
roe but nine; Mr.. John Quincy Adams
only two. The present pernicious sys-
tenn originated with President Jackson.
It is summed up in the phrase invent
ed by Gov. Marcy, "to the victors be-
long the spoils." Gen. Jackson had
himself, before his election to the pres
idency, taken strong ground against
partisan appointments, aud when he &C.
signed bis seat in the Senate he had
advocated two amendments to the
constitution, designed to limit and puri-
fy the exercise of the appointing pow
or. But upon his coming to the pres
ideucy all these considerations were
abandoned and in one year lie made
some two thousand removals from the
civil service, and from that day to this
the system has been continued.
That profoundly wise man, Thomas
Jefferson, clearly foresaw the evils that
would result from such a system, and
he refused to adopt it. In letter to
DR.. Rush, dated March Gath, 1901, he
says
ri know that in thus stopping short
in the career of removal Con partisan
grounds) shall give great ctfepse te
many OF my friends. That torrent ba'
been pressing me heavily, and it vii
require all my force to bear up against
but my maxim is "fot justssio, rua
cosluma"
In a letter to Mr.. Madison, datee
Nov. 20, 1920, he says:
"This is sample of the effects VI
may expect from the late mischievou
law vacating every four years nearl!
all the executive offices Of the cover !,
ment. It saps the constitutional aDe
salutary function of the President, an(
introduces principle Of intrigue ane
corruption which will soon leaven the
mas, not of Senators but of citizens
It will keep in constant excitement al
the hungry cormorants for office, render
them Is we'll as those in place syco
plants to their Senators engage then
in eternal intrigue to put one out AM
another in, and make of them what al
executive directors become, mere sink
of corruption and faction"
How clearly did the great author Q
the Declaration of Independence ciphe
the future !? He appears to be describ
ing the very state of affairs whic1
is now upon US.
With no less clearness did the illus
trious Henry Clay toresee the result Q
this pernicious system. In speech ii
the Senate, Jan. 26, in opposition t
the confirmation of Martin Van Burel
u minister to England, he says:
"It q detestablo system, drawn fror
tho worst period Of the Roman repub
lie, and if it were to be perpetuated, i
tho Offices, honors, and dlgnities Of tn
people wore to be put up to scramble
and 70 be decided by the result Of ever
Presidential election our government
and institutions, becoming intolerable
would finally end in despotism as mex
orable as that of Constantinople.
Josiah Quincy, in speech in tn