Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-06-27

r.ieentionsiiess,f p the pepart,nentsI
-1faf whiting taSs229 9-H fij'a y T1ks Nation
Is tDfssraeedf Y1n R7a1gISssafy an {fs-
| Facts which 81, 6<aceiiS people
| s4sno ouuidsS,o nsiSdie r..ew a;@lA-: IN
-.5 s,1odt tui .ebn19 Gidj IL ,.':ioiI ioDa1
a,r" foofre! pcide1iice OF the SAM go
WAsHISaros, June g. The whole
tendency of political and social life at
| the capital is to discard simplicity, ig-
! the old virtues which were once SO
| much priced ard respected a. have gone
| out Of fash saIl sndwthe,1fgW whnstill
adhere, to them are, regarded as the
fossils Of q departed age: ,Shoddy,
With its vulgar tain, II III the ascend
ant Id a1rd out iof flee FL It's great ann
Ebition; is ito: affect: the,a meretrieious
tdisplay and sensual tastes .t which prop
EerlY enough ssgna1ized fhe, despotic
hand degrading reign. Of Louis Ma
pole0n: p whese' motto WITS bread and
the Circus, :: Paris; with nall It's: ghded
irottenness, affects the, exterior forms
Itof decorum. Here wee IS gross,
Haunting and audaciooihs.:2 No re-
lining; gloss is visible. Tt is nnde,
| exulting in sharaaI and defiant of all
lHecency.i;.,i +tG.G /, So au:iSs = '.sgt.,,et
II Wealth has the first place every
lSwhere. A man Is estimated for his
|Eortu1ie, his official position, or his in
ltfuence with poweBa2sA woman is5re-
|garded for her capacity to control men,;
Fiber ''fast". qualities: and heE etfrontery
lin society. The sterling attributes in
d the one case and the gentle virtues in
ltho other are of no value" in a social
Imarket, where everything is judged by
IA standard of, greenbacks, and real
merit or distinction has no place. The
lexample Of the most prominent i'll
bubble life has necessarily infected the
|fubordinate spheres, until the whole
|bystem has become rotten and de,
praved.
IA When members of the Cabinet, SEN
4 Ators, Representatives., and officials
Are seen revealing in wealth, who only
D few, years ago were absolutely poor,
and are courted as the leaders of fash
| Ion. it is easy to Understand how the
: dependents on their favor will follow
| in the same devious paths and seek. to
httain position by the; same unworthy
methods. Success at any price is the
| brize held up Before ambitious eyes,
Ind ..the end iustities the means the
moral lesson ineulcated by daily ex-
ample. A desire for parade has seized
upon all conditions of life. WHICH radi-
! ate from the White House. And when
: this is not possible in a proper way, it
| isl sought byiothers without regard to
| the sacrifice of honor Or duty. o.:
| This fact serves to explain a large
bart of the corruption which has inya-
ded every branch of the public service.
| It is to-day worse than: that of any
other civilized country because in one
sorm of another The highest as well as
Che lowest places are demorabzed and
controlled by sinister motives or sell
fish influences. Without radical
change. there can be no effective rem
/ ly. Even if the civil service quackery
Vas all that the charlatans claim for it
in point OF efficiency it could produce
40 more effect as ci.rc than a COM
alon plaster would .extirpating a
! deadly cancer tThir disease is chronic
and requires what the doctors call he
+oic treatment.
| The plumber of the contingent fund
n the Department. \, which the Sun has
| recently exposed. Is only part OF a pre-
! FALLING system which reaching from
| Congress throughout thepublic service.
Ehe contingeG-ies Of the Senate and
House Of Representative exhibit the
most vilfuf waste Of the peoples mo-
riey in luxuries and extravaganza which
we're never before even suggested, at
cost of hundreds of thousands every
| year. These loose practices have bred
others, until Legislation has become
venal and johherg IS establish d as a
profession: To compete IN tue race OF
vulgar pride, money must BE had, and
NO sare is taken hawit maybe obtained.
Other eviis have expanded into full
growth in this dollhouse 81 corruption,
and some of them are alarming. Du-
ring the rebellion the experiment was
| women into the departments. It had
a field Of employment adapted to fe-
male capacity and 81 Supporting the
| wives and daughters Of me-, Who had
freely offered their lives for the coun-
| try. Both motives were oreditab
and as long as they were respected the
experiment fulfilled the best expecta-
| tons. But like everything else, it has
! grown into fragrant abuse and mon
| strons scandal. AS soon as Congress
| began to legislate upon the subject and
| to create offices, the result was foreseen
which i ..a~ painfully visible to every
! eye. '
| Many excellent ladies' whom misfor-
tune has overtaken, accomplished, ca
pabla and worthy t. appear in any
may bis sailed htfd labor in the de-
partments. Others equally Fespecta-
| BILE, the children Or wivss OF gallant
| soldiers who fell in battle, and others,
again, no less meritOrious, maintain
themselves in the same way. For GER
| tam duties they are better fitted than
| men, and are worse paid. These
| classes have lost no esteem by the ad-
yersity which has compelled them to
seek this mode of support at some cost
of REljs and former associations.
But az ealelaeait hes been brought in
among these WORTHY so,s4r2 which is
an outrage upon them, dissrace to
the public service, and a glaring
scandal seen of all men. Il is notori-
GUS that Senators, representatives and
officials have imposed upon the depart
ments loose characters, who are ut
:teriy 4ql14ait,,t ~ such employment, and
unworthy to ii;tingie With the ladies
who are contemplated and ips4ited by
their. presence. There is no use of |
pqineing phrases about palpable fact, |
or Anticipating TO exten1iate it under
tbs cover q hlfisiaskktes accidentally |
made. Members of 6q4Hfegs have !
pensioned their mistresses GY scores /
on the treasury, and the same thing is
true Of many of the more important
officers in the departments through
whose agency appointments are made.
If the instances were fare some ex-
cuse Faaight be pleaded, but when the !
p proof s sy has taksn large ds
partment, then it demands public
criticism. The truth, if fully told,
would astound the country, not only
as to the extent of the evil itself, but
as to those who are most responsible
for its spread, among whom figure a
large faaqmber of the Christian states
men. &oIoqiQ1fS women occupy places
OF trust ip many Of tie Offices, the
heads of which aspire to noral posi-