The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-04-08

1n virginia CnG Meaus Ol tenptAtiou ARC
limited, and the number Of Offices as well as
their emoluments are small and restricted.
There is but one Office ia the State that has
attached to It an amount of compensation
tba, would In community of ordinary COM
fort and abundance constitute temptation
sufficient to induce man tolerably fortified
by conscious feeling Of honesty to compro-
mise his integrity TO obtain it. But it must be
remembered that now ip Virginia we are not
even ordinarily well supplied with the means
OF comfort and subsistence, and that even
the moderately compensated public positions
have become temptations where some years
ago they would not hsve been taken as Gift.
Men have considered their necessities and
have become office-seekers who not long
since would have scorned to do so. Under
this changed condition and the pressing
wants that now bear upon the actions Of
men "self abpegation has grown to be
comparatively rare, and men have been
resdy to enter even doubtful service
to acquire the means Of living. AS is
always the case, there are not want
ing at g time like this the appliances
and the motives to take advantage Of the
social condition. Men in controlling posi-
tons and parties with their schemes render
the public necessities available for the pro-
motion Of their own ends. Leaders who
lack not only statesmspship but the indis-
pepsabIe trait for the purity and thorough
ness of statesmanship-selfabn gation-are
employing that need that has supplanted the
principle in the minds Of so many people to
promote their own objects.
! There never wss day when the eager
ness for Office In Virginia Was so indomi-
table, and when even the smallest places in
the State had 50 many looking for Them.
The passion ascends from the lowest and
most illitera.e to the higher classes, and
the zealand eagerness increase in proportion
TO the dignity and the compensation Of
place. We state this with ne idea that q
man in Virginia will dispute the proposition.
Under no other conditions. e., better con-
dition-of the people could there be. such 8
debaucbery Of the public mind Of the State
as we all see. and no man can shut his eyes
to.
We speak it In modification and sorrow
thst there has arisen in Virginia condition
OF things utterly at war with public obliga.
ton and.the true principles of craftsmanship.
Public measures are subordinated TO personal
advantages, and opinions are controlled too
much by personal ptejudices. Aspirants for
office have considered their prospects as
more at the mercy OF clques and
combinations than Of honest public
opinion. Men have 80 dreaded the conse.
.quence Of displeaaing persons welding in.
-fuence through their position and the use
they could make Of the means placed in
their custody that their mouths have been
shut and their coming and going governed
lost their spirit OF independence along with
their sense OF public duty In short, thai
they had not the resolution and the virtue
to practice the great heroic principle of self
abnegatiou. While such has been the effect
upon minds that were even elevated and 10
.telligent-while they have held their peace
rather than imperil tbeirsprospects by nobly
performing their public duty-many have
fallen upon their faces and crauled through
the mud 10 place. ---.--,.--..---.---
We draw no extravagsnt picture. This
Is the simplest truth. All know the Ger.
rectness of IL. The worst feature Of the
e. La Int 1oco ~ nnnfofv
switch we most rely for the preservation OF
order and law and public and private right,
the profession of the law, has in latter days
been the recipient of large-nay, monstrous-
! fees that have biased their positions and
impaired their relations to the public welfare
most seriously. In ancient fable. when vir'
tue had taken. refuge in tho very temple OF
Purity, Lust descended through the dome
in . shower OF gold and conquered. 1T
is impossible TO preserve public virtue
intact where the corrupting agencies of'that
power ind access to the hearts Of those who
should be the eyer-watehfui guardians of the
public welfare. They ere brought up, with
that object. In the schools they are taught
1t. All their lessons, all the lectures they
hear, are directed to the establishment Of
the highest sense Of public Obligation and
the incubation Of an answering resolution
10 maintain right and conserve public order.
1t is constantly the case that enormous
compensation has crippled shespublic man
and rendered him unreliable in the perform.
nf lrkv, eIok A.ct