The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-12-01


PUBLIC LIFE IN AMERICA Wher
Thomas Hughes. the author of Ton
, Broicn, was in this country he saw mucl
of the college boys. and was surprised
that mono Of them thought Of public life
as career In England he said, we al
ways suppose that the first scholars ar,
thinking Of Parliament, and secretly
meaning to be Prime Minister. The En
glish stories and the French vaRdeviles
are full of tbs same view, and the curtain
falls upon tho hero as minister or embas.
sador, the cup of his glory running over
De Tocquevile observed with curiosity
that the best men in America were. as a
rule, neither in public life or anxious to
be there and shrewd young European
who was recently in the country said
"Everything went well until | came to
Washington, and then Congress stagger-
cd my faith in America He explained
that in a representative republic it was
fair and unavoidable to judge the people
by those whom they selected to represent
them and if the judgment was incorrect,
it could only be because the system itself
was failure. IL would have been more
correct to say that the system was abused
for it could properly DC accounted a fall
ure only when its purpose was quite de.
feated. Now the purpose of represen.
tative system is not to designate the best
men in the community, but to secure good
government; and from that point Of view
the American system can no more be
called a failure than the English or the
Continental. If good government be the
test, what shall be said Of English rule in
Ireland
There are two obvious but powerful
reasons why tho class Of men Of whom Do
Tocquevile speaks does not turn to pub
lie life in this country, although many OF
that class are conspicuous in ii, from
Washington, the Adamscs, j etferson, Ham,
ilton, Jay and others, down to Calhoun,
Webster, Clay, Seward, Chase, Sumner,
and their associates. Indeed, with all its
truth, there is much that is ilusivc in the
statement. The village Ilampden might
shrink upon larger theatre. and tho
mute Milton turn out n Upper. The re.
mark of De Tocquevile has the advan.
tage of omae ignotum pro magnifco-the
obscure is apt to seem magnificent. But
then shirt on n clothes.line seen in the
twilight has startled the whole village as
a majestic ghost With all reservations
made, however. it will be conceded that
the choice of the representative of con-
stituency full of admirable and able men
often falls very oddly. There is. for in.
stance-But the gentle reader shall sup
ply his own illustrations. What then are
the two obvious reasons that, as class,
the men whom we should prefer to elect
are not anxious to be elected :
The first day is the uncertainty Of the
career, and the second is the small salary.
The last is not a noble reason. and it Is
powerful only in connection with the Grst.
An able man, ambitious to serve the state
but wholly dependent upon his profession
for the support Of his family. naturally
hesitates to throw away the income that
he has secured to enter public life for two
or four or six years. with nn certainty Of
continuance in it. We're he sure Of re-.
naming the sacrifice would be compare.
lively small but the conditions of con.
tinuauce are often such as honorable men
disdain. 10 England, the only other con-
stitutlonal country, the conditions OF pub
lie life have hitherto been essentially diff.
ierent from ours. The peer, are heditary
legislators. and many Of the seats in the
Commons were virtually the property Of
noblemen, given continuously ut their
pleasure, while the organization of parties
is such as to afford a permanent career.
Yet even in England a competence is cs
s,ntial to asuccesstu public man. The
fact is observed by De Tocquovi!le, there.
fore, is not due to the disinclination to
public life Of :he men OF whom he speaks,
but to crcum,t tances which they cannot
directly control. And if it should be
said that those circumstances are the con
domination Of tho system, wo should reply
that the disadvantages of tho absence OF
those men are due to abuses rather than
TO the system. Among snch abuses are
the limitations OF locality. and Of what is
called rotation, hy which good man is
removed Tor the sole reason that he hs
hecome better by experience, while hi,
place is filled by IA new man who must b.
selected from particular county or dis.
.rict, Other abuses are those which arisc
from patronage, and which give the non.
ination a d the power OF the party ma
chinery to merely mcrcenary aud selisl
schemers. Such abuses are not iusepara
BILE from the systom. which must no'
therefore. be judged BY their results.
Meanwhile there are those who max,
the sacrifice aud enough Of them 10 sug
gest doubt whether the remark Of the
shrewd Freuchman is well founded. d.-El
TORS EASY CHAIR, in Harper.s Maga.
zine far DecemJer