New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-09-19

they bav. tlemscvcs chnscn! By IN obsolete theory
Il s TIE President who appoints tho Federal officials
aud the President Ia responsible Only 10 tne
people. who elect him. THE mutual Independence
OF the Executive aud tho Congress is much eH-
tolled by carly writers, but the Americans have
changed all that reality, IL is the Congressman who
has the power OF debating TO tho President whom he
shall appoint postmasters, collectors, &c need not
point out TO Of your acute mind, my friend tnat
the Congressman chooses for these good places the men
who have helped him TO his good place. and that when
the next election round they IN turn are very
active in securing his return TO Congress An element
of variety is introduced by the rivaries OF men VINO
want the same custOmhouse postOce and 1t IL their
squabbes which give excitement and uncertainty TO
what would otherwise be monOtonous business In re-
atty you see this seemingly complicated system re-
duces itself to beautifully simple and symmetrical lot
mnla The oice-olders elect the Congressman and the
Congressman appoint the ocehOlders This Is the real
American Constitution In q nutshell
Our intelligent readers, we trust, are ready
with an indignant denial of this calumny
upon our institutions. On the whole, perhaps,
direct denial would be unadvisable; but
qualifications, explanations, and commensurate
ments will doubtless speedily overwhelm this
ingenious and audacious foreigner. Mean
while, let lis point out one or two facts tnat
do give some color to statements like the fore
going. Many of us have had occasion to no
tice lately how thoroughly the troublesome
business of selecting the worthiest man for
Congress is attended to by the little knot OF
men in each community who cluster around
the Federal oiiices-Or, in the case OF the
Democrats, who fondly yearn toward those
Offices. In fact, we are learning that this
"civil service business has two ends, both OF
~, Opa 10 fhaf tha offices
not best filed by giving them to little, wire
pulling politicians The other, and the yet worse
feature of the present system, is that 1t takes
the choice of Congressman away from the
people at large. and puts it in the hands of a
small class who use it for personal and selfish
ends. The result is generally the election not
of the wisest, purest, and ablest man who can
be found in the party, but of the man who
most judiciously distributes promises of Office
among the hungry and active camp-followers.
The usual comment on such statements is:
"Let all honest citizens 20 to the primaries
themselves Good advice: we say Amen to
it most heartily; but wholly insufficient. For
the system of caucuses and conventions has be-
come so elaborate, and offers such field for
adroit management that the ordinary citizen is
at immense disadvantage as against the office
seeker who finds his bread and butter in it. 1t
is case of amateurs against professionals.
The primary, the caucus, the convention, are
to the office holder or ofiice-seeker what
his farm or shop is to the ordinary
citizen. He gets his living by them.
He is incomparably an Overmatch for
the man to whom politics is of necessity
only an incidental. There is but one remedy,
perfectly simple but very difficult 1t is to
absolutely abolish the system OF dividing the
Federal offices as patronage among Congress
men. That requires the election of Presi-
dent who has the spirit and intelligence Of
reform, and whose party relations at least do
not make such an undertaking hopeless and
ridiculous; and it requires the election, in the
face and in spite of the present iDtrenched
abuse, of fair proportion of genuine re-
formers as Congressman.