The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-10-07
Evils of Office-HuntinG.

The new Postmaster General, JEWELL, is
said to have remarked that ono Maryland
crs need apply" for position in the Post
office Department for some time to come, as
MARYLAND has considerably more than her
quota at present. This notice will he re-
garded as "onginerous by Maryanders.
After time, somebody who succeeds our
"jewel' Of Il postmaster will have to in
form Connecticut men that they must " hold
on q WHILE" because Connecticut has more
than her share of the loaves and fishes Of
the post-otfice.
so it goes. Personal and ncighborhood
attachments have great deal TO do with the
distribution of office First, offices are
claimed as the property of party, and those
who get at the head of bureaus will sub-divide
them into neighborhoods, aud each puts in
his relatives, friends, and neighbors wherever
he can. This but increases the corrupt ten
denotes of Government patronage. 1t is not
distributed with the proper considerations
1t is as much source of disappointment
and discomfort as it is Of party trlckery and
strategy. 1t degrades the elections to the
schemes and greed of partisans, and the good
and welfare of the country are never thought
of by the partisans.
Office and emolument are the sources Of
: the enormous corruptions Of this country
as they are the cause Of ruin and misery TO 8
vast number of people. A man who gives
himself to party struggles in the hope OF
office is seldom, after, fit for business of any
kind. There are at least twenty aspirants
for every office; so that nineteen out Of
twenty are disappointed, and are forced tc
go to work to earn alivelhood, or TO beg, Of
"sponge," or starve; which last we do moi
believe any of them do. They generally
lead idle and vicious lives, and die prema
turely, to the relief Of the country and theil
friends.
Of those who succeed, few are continued
in Office longer than four years. The newly.
elected President "sweeps decks" to feed
bis friends. Those who are removed drink
themselves to death or go to their old homes
TO begin life anew. Their business, if they
ever had any, is gone, and must be made
anew, if ever made at all. Their property
il they ever had any, is gone, and, like man
taken up at backgammon, they must wal,
the chances, that are very slim, to effect al
entrance into position in which poor sub
sistence may be earned and their children
if any, may be clothed and educated.
We are almost disposed to parody we'll,
known text in the Bible thus: :" 1t is easier
for a camel to so through the eye Of a needle
than for an ex-officeholder to make an indie
pendent living"
There is an even worse view Of the case
OF the "turned.out." They ruin grea
many people, and become equally Otter
dead-weights upon them. Those who are
dependent upon the "turned-out too often
are reduced TO pinching want, and badly.
supported children are badly protected by
insufficient clothing, and badly educated
through bad example and the want Of school.
ing.
Thus We see that all the evils OF idleness.
and vice, and corruptiona are spread over the
land. Every ofice-hunter, every Office
holder, and all the turned.out, have relatives
and friends. Thes are more or less involved
IN the consequences OF the misdirected ener-
giles of oil who look afterwards or have lost
places, and the whole country is afflicted
with the terrible disease which comes from
I she vile csncer OF Government patronage.
8 Its not xsIaYagant TO attribute the worst