, 1876-05-06

| bic! There Is no advantage gained ny
change of officials, or by calling new part
to assume the trusts to which the old VA
recreant One set of men will eNactly aver
age in attainments, experience, and honesty
with any other set of men. Cato and Cinci
nnatus, let it be significantly remembered
were only exceptional members of their sets
rs honest men and capital gardners. Wit!
humiliation, | am compelled to confess, tina
for private and public extravaganza there i
no practical remedy, The vanity that is dc
tcrmincd to excess, at any moral cost, when
ever the opportunity is afforded, lies too
deep for removal. To Gods wise and tire
less providence we gladly entrust the sac
case.
The determination Of official incumbent,
to make all they can out of their brief chance
This would seem to he the perpetual shame
OF our entire civil service. II the iuds
be not an unchmitMbc one, permit me to say
there appear To be but three reasons why
men seek offices: For the money, ease, and
honor there are in it. OF course, there is
hut one reason why any man should hold
any Office; for The good of the people in
whose behalf it was instituted. Bnt few can
didates, fear, urge their claims successfully
by convincing the people OF the pure philan
thropy of their motives. Men somehow
never elcctonccr very hard To get appointed
to positions where their sole chance shall bt
to gloriiy God, and benefit men. You can
not get men except in rare instances, TO en-
tertain such curious ambition. Across tho
trowning sky ofan almost universal human
sellishneSs, there occasionally flash, it is true
such meteoric brilliancc as Howard, Wilhcr.
force, and Florence Nightingale Our eyes,
however nre hut seldom dazzled by sucl
royal rcsplendcncy The extreme difficulty
and large expense, of securing any office in
the republic, together with the instability of
its tenure, all dispose men, when they do
succeed, to Use their chance tn the utmost
Now ifany fact is sufficiently clear, it is that
mankind can he successfully tempted
The most fortunate specimens ofhumanity
are quite weak enough. To the shrewdness
and almost lmitlcss experience ofthat tempt
or whom the Son Of Man so triumphantIy
resisted, the sons Of men generally surrender
Now, ia the tempter's search for the very
best agency to destroy the characters OF
sOdiG men, he is unable 10 select anything
more scryiccablc than the possible cmou.
mcnts OF office. The thing is done by the sale
of pri, iegcs. A certain amount of patronage
is placed Mt the disposal OF prominent pub
lie official. Many applicants plead for the
untitled places. The cases they submit, and
the tremulous appeals they make, are re-
markahly even. AS inr as ability is concern
ed all are equally mcritorious. All are sim.
ilarly INDECENT, orequal in fortunate atiluence.
There are but Il dozen OF places to fll, while
there are three score of gool men anxious to
dill them No shadow of reason to entertain
Il preference. What shall be doncl The
tcmpter suggests, Let them to the highest
bidders" And why notl is the official re-
sponse. Ii they can afford to pay, why may
not take 1t since in any case, the govern.
ment shall not suffer?
Very many men to whom the disposition
of large official patronage is committed
doubtless reason with themselves in some
such suspicious way, aud fall. How shall
we find it in our hearts to condemn ordina-
ry bribe takers, when we think OF Bacon.
Here is mind so imperial, that the at
temptto encompass it for purposes descrip
ton is akin to the effort that vainly seeks to
survey some great power in nature whose
influence i practically omnipotent and uni
versa and yet as lord chancellor of England,
Bacon fell Think of this pride Of England
and ornament Of his species, in the guise OF
M ordinary criminal before Lord Campbell 5
court His crime may have been one Of
compliance from the prGoccupation of his
vast mind still his conviction and sentence
were swift and terrible. II ever crime is
purely accidental, BacOn,s surely WAS. In
the glory ut his immortal memory, we lose
sight ol his historic fault, with this solitary
reflection ineifaclbly impressed upon u.s. that
il the author of" Tho Instauratc Magma"
fell by the charm Of a single and trihing
bribc, who besides may not.
The practical and statcSmanlikc question
lor all American paTriots TO ask ut this sad
juncture in the affairs OF our beloved natO n
is this: Can the temptation to take bribes
by the comparative sale Of official privileges
or otherwise, be largely reduced or removed
altogether Canaot the Legitimate oppor.
tuniy Of the oiiiceholder be Heightened by
the addition of Mt least few hours Might
it not be better to pay many ot our officials
by fees legally collected from the patronage
tributary to each Ought not every federal
privilege to pNy toward the cost Of the de-
partment to which it belongs what it might
otherwise eNpend in bribeS! Tue detection
aud severe punishment Of crime is next to
nothing as long as the temptation which
provoked it il suffered to remain. So TAI
as it Is possible, let temptations to fall into
official corruption be entirely removed.