New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-10-24
THE PERILs OF POLITICAL PATRONAGE.

l Siuo, 70 iau Doul bohpi We WY al
example to prove the contrary. The .rea-
son is obvious-human nature is SO falll-
BILE, and the greed of power so universal
that those who most abase themselves be-
fore the king are intrusted with his sig
net, AMI the sycophant is always tyrant.
The subjects endure; they complain. The
courtier communicates the complaint to
the monarch, and the subject suffers from
the vengeance of the sycophant whom he
has offended. The subjects retaliate upon
the monarch. The throne is overthrown
to annihilate the vermin who have taken
refuge under it. This may happen though
the king may be as amiable as Sardanapa-
lus, Louis XIV, of France, or as him of
whom it was said
| A better farmer necr brushed dew from lawn.
| worse king never left realm undone
| Republics are by no means exempt from
the same evil, though they are saved from
overthrow by the right of the people to
change an administration by suffrage.
The explosion is prevented by the safety
valve. But republics adopt that degrad-
| ing substitute for the personal preroga-
tives of the crown which goes by the name
of patronage. A system which can only
rest on the rigid restrictions of the one
man power, yields to individual discretion
the choice of officers to execute the laws
With the indisputable truth that major
| ity of the people are filter to choose their
own officers than any one man can be to
designate the officers, the custom has
crept into and through the republican
system Of America which awards the pat
ronage Of majority of the people to the
| discretion of "a single person." There
are some States which have always hated
the rule of "a single person." as their
English republican ancestors had done.
| The constitutions of such States have
restricted executive patronage within
very narrow limits. The Governor of
Massachusetts, we believe, has no power
of appointment except his military staff
as commander-in-chief. The same jeal-
ousy of executive discretion, and the same
| devotion to the elective principle run
through the constitutions of almost all the
| States of the Union.
Recurring to the proposition that the
exercise of executive patronage is perilous
to the administration and the ascendency
sc ~ 10 oal 81 4n hn
convictions of President Grant upon the
| subject. No public officer could have
been surrounded by more difficulties in
distributing patronage. A million of men,
more or less, connected with the late VIC
tory, were pressed upon him. He had
little knowledge Of civilians, or of their
comparative qualifications for Office. He
at once relieved himself from the labor of
subordinate appointments. The impossi-
bility Of assuring the integrity of one
hundred thousand Office holders was man.
fest He began to scrutinize the qualiti-
cations of applicants. 1t offended those
who claimed to participate in this patron
age. He has instituted the most rigid
system of investigation into frauds in the
customhouses, the internal revenue, and
the Indian bureau.
The enemies of the administration give
him no credit for lis difficulties or for his
memorable punishment even of his party
! friends. These enemies treasure all the
abuses as arguments against the very vir-
tue which has exposed them. The political
associates of Tweed and Connolly de-
mand to be placed in position for reform,
and even some Office seekers of the Re-
publican party combine in opposing the
| continued service of President Grant be-
cause his power of appointment is ex-
hausted by exercise, and there would be
little prospect for new men to get into Of
fee under an administration organized on
so strict a basis. All offices under the
republican system should be elective by
the people. Those which are in their ma
ture executive should be filled with great
care. In both cases the offices should
agree in political principle with the power
which appoints. Since, however, that
power is responsible to the people, the Of
ficer should be of undoubted integrity and
properly competent to the discharge OF
official duties, otherwise not only will the
opposite party denounce the appointment,
but the disappointed applicants for the
Office, though belonging to the same party,
will swell the clamor against him.
We deem it duty to say that the sys-
TEN of official appointment in Louisiana
presents the same evils which have so
much embarrassed the administration Of
President Grant. No other State consti-
tuition confers upon the executive so
much patronage. Judicial, military and
municipal officers are to be appointed by
an executive who can not be, in all cases,
well informed as to the personal qualifca-
tons Of applicants. The credit of good
appointment is not acknowledged, but
the censure of an unfortunate appoint.
ment falls upon the whole Republican
party. This excessive patronage is an
evil. 1t imperils the ascendency of re.
| publican principles. 1t is the pursuit Of
this patronage which infuriates the De
mocracy.
We have ALWAYS doubted the success a