Weekly Trinity journal., 1876-05-27
A PERNICEoUs DOCTRINE.

One great fault of democracy lies in
the fact that public service is given,
rot as testimonial OF merit or peculiar
fitness, but rather that party favorites
may be rewarded. And, since a certain
class Of men have come into existence
who m axe politics study and aim to
live by Office alone, it has resulted IN the
selection on many occasions Of those ut
terly incompetent for the duties they had
sought, however we'll they were skilled
in the management Of party machinery.
In the early days of the republic no such
condition Of affairs existed parties then
fought for principle and not for spoils.
But it cannot be denied that at the pres
ent time there are thousands and tens OF
thousands who have their political ac-
tions governed by the apparent prospect
Of success of this or that party
They are the class which takes the lead
in "bolting" from one of the Old parties,
making some political action the ostensi-
Bile cause Of their detection, while if the
truth of the matter could be arrived at, it
would be found in nine cases out Of ten
to lie simply in the fact that they found
their chances for official prefermeDt gone
with their old associates, and had there
fore taken this new departure to endea-
yor TO win it of their former enemies.
That this mischievous class Is so great
in numbers is due to two reasons, the un-
exampled growth of the country, which
requires n large force OF officials for its
government and the pernicious doc
trine which originated with the jackson
administration, that "to the victors be
belong the sports" The practice o
making r clean sweep in all departments
Of public service whenever change O
administration occurs, while it may be
very agreeable TO those who have
friends to reward and enemies to punish
is not, nevertheless, practice calculated
to insure efficient public officials. The
frequent changes in office made by chan
gos Of administration remove men about
the time they have just thoroughly and
fully learned the duties OF their position, to
give place to Others wholly inexperienced
only to be in turn displaced again. Nor
does it always follow that a change OF
party is needed to secure change OF
officers. The class who look to public
service as means Of living are not par
tcularly careful about displacng politi-
cal enemies only, and as they usually
have a following whom they can "innu-
ence" the powers that be think it the
part Of eXpediency TO remove those who
have had their reward, to make place for
others whose power for mischief may be
used perhaps, against them. The only
remedy for this state Of affairs to discard
the pernicious principle of which We
have spoken. No successful man Of bus
mess endeavors to increase the number
Of his customers by changing off old and
tried assistants and putting new and in
experienced ones in their places. What
is a safe criterion in private matters
should be deemed equally SO in public
affairs. The civil service roll Of the
United States embraces between seventy
and eighty thousand names. Here aud
there we hear of instances of malleasance
in office, OF violation Of the public trust.
\ ct when we consider that every one Of
these eighty thousand is to q greater oi
less extent liable to instant removal to
make room for some other /; that his
service, however faithful. will not be lol
momont considered if his party is hurl-
ed from power that the appointments,
although made by the government are
in reality controlled by the immediate
Senator or Representative, and in many
cases were dictated as n reward for party
service, is it not rather a matter of wond
erment that the cases of official delin-
quency are not more common than they
the spoils" sets at once all the party
machinery in motion. The official knows
that his chances of retaining his position
depends upon the fidelity to party he ex-
hibts. He finds his Independence of ac-
ton destroyed, he becomes merely a
part Of the machine. Such would not be
the case were positions given for term
of years contingent upon good behavior.
There would then be an incentive to hon
esty in official circles which there is not
under the "spois" system.
But there is no use multiplying words
upon the subject. All men who have
reasoned upon the question are satisfied
that the system is radically wrong and
that the tenure of office should depend
rather upon the display of fitting qualities
than the whim of popular majority.
But while all agree that The principle is
wrong, we question il any serious at
tempt will be made to right it. The law
makers Of the country are politicians
rather than statesmen their own lease
Of Office is dependent upon those who con
troll the political machinery of their par
ties. Until the people get emancipated
from the control OF the political rings,
they can talk about the evils of the sys-
tenn but it will amount to talk and moth
ing else.
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To CORPORATIONs.- Section 900 of