The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-08-06
Oaicc-NoIding Despotissra.

control OF politics is that it is despotic in
| terfercnce with the right and duty OF every
citizen. 1t is alleged that so long as the
civil officer discharges his public duty eff
GENTLY he NAV dispose OF his time out OF
| hours rs he chooses; and the Buffalo CON-
nercial advertiser IA Republican paper eX-
horts sclf-respectinS men to whom the Or
der may refer" to pay no attention to 1t
whatever, $50 far as obeying it could ham,
per their individual political action" The
Troy Times takes substantially the same
ground, and the tyranny which these
Republican papers find in this order,
and which they do not find in
the oifice-holding control OF politics, is
also vehemently denounced by the entire
Bourbon Democratic. press. But the order
of the President is neither hasty nor ILL
considered. 1t is the result OF careful re-
Election. and it is deliberate choice.
Other persons who. are as sincerely inter-
| ested In the subject as he may have been
surprised by the method which he has
selected, and may naturally have pre-.
ferred their own. Indeed, all that many OF
them ask is that he should do what they
desire, and in the way that they prefer.
When, however, they reflect that there
may be more than one or two ways OF reach
ing the same result, they will be more pa
tient OF difference OF method.
1t is evident that the chief evil OF the civil
service system, in tue Presidents view, is
the ofiicc-holding control of politics. This Is
the root OF the trouble, and he means, with
out any hesitation and with a perfectly firm
hand, and although the root may cling dcs-
perately, to dig it up. Now what Is this evil
1t is system which gives the control OF the
details Of politics, the direction OF primaries,
the management Of conventions, the nomina-
tions OF candidates, to knot, clique, ring. or
junta OF persons in every State who hold GER
tain national offices. They hold these places
by the favor OF representatives and senators
and other politicians, and the tenure OF the
flee is fidelity to the personal interests of
their superiors. They levy contributions
upon their subordinates under terror OF dis
missal; and appointment and removal TO
and from the minor Offices and places are
determined not by the necessities OF the
service, but by personal and political con-
siderations. The local office-holders, who
are the centres OF this despotic organiza-
ton, are thus the henchmen OF sena-
tors and representatives. each COM
handing his hundreds, and tifties, and
tens, conscious that their power and
their livelihood are dependent upon obe-
dienee. The representatives and senators
In turn, supported by this disciplined army,
which has made them, and which they sus-
tain, dictate the Executive action, which
the Constitution makes as independent as
their own, and usurp powers denied to
them by the fundamental law and by the
reason from which it springs. The conse-
quence OF this enormous abuse is that In
republic whose prosperity depends upon the
interest and practical participation OF all
citizens in the details OF politics the great
body OF citizens hold aloof, and the office
holding class is privileged political priest
hood, which monopoliZes the management
of politics, vet whose interest is selfish and
personal. The danger and decentralization
that necessarily ensue are obvious. Politics
tbccome more and more vena. Corrupt
rings are fostered. Elections arouse the
worst. passions. and cOnspiracies to re-
tain power at all hazards are inevitably pro-
NOTED. The office-holding class, with such
relations and connections, is thus practically
huge oligarchy. In the city Of New York,
for instance, and proportionateiy elsewhere,
the great mass of the party of the office
holders is virtually disfranchised. 1t can
only vote for or against the will OF the
oligarchy. 1t can take no part in the vote
for State Convention, except by conform
| ing to the terms of the oligarcby, and the
Convention itself merely registers the de-
crees of the office-holders. We have here
tofore explained how the party organization
proceeds from the chief public offices in
New York--a truth which is confirmed by
the cry that 10 forbid their interference is 10
destroy the party.
Under the existing system, therefore, the
office-holders are a privileged class, and
enjoy in practice, as every man IN active
politics knows, superior rights to those OF
their iellow-citizens. Thus If the editor OF
the Buffalo Commercial advertiser held an
Office which gave him the power OF appoint
ment to minor places those who now ill and
those who hope to fill those places would
work for him and bis purpose with q zeal
of seltishness which, in contest for elec-
ton to convention, for instance, would
give him great advantage over competi-
tor who had no places 10 give or withhold.
Such an EDITORS protest against the order
OF the President as tyrannical Or outrageous
would in the case we suppose be merely
the angry assertion that It was tyranny and
an outrage to deprive him OF unfair and
illicit advantages in caueuses and conven-
tions over his fellow-eitHens. The Presi-
dent, correctly estimating the scope and ex-
tent OF this abominable abuse, which strikes
directly ut the executive poWer entrusted to
him by the Constitution, has two methods
of dealing with it. He cas- attack it directly
by prohibiting the offensive interference
with politics, or he can propose to Congress
a non-partisan and independent scheme Of
the civil service. He cannot OF himself
establish such system, because it requires
appropriations that he cannot command.
Moreover, TO ask it OF Congress at this time
is merely asking the usurpins power to re-
llnquish its usurpation- Congress Is largely
made by the vicious system. and the most
direct way OF securing q Congress that shall
fairly represent public sentiment instead OF
the office holding interest is TO release the
popular vote from the thraldom OF that IN
cerest. The President, also, has but four
years to serve, and il he should be content
to propose to Congress areformed system
it "a fair to assume that his term would end
before any forward step was taken. Bur
his immediate and decisive action, instead
OF preventing, promotes the subsequent
action Of Congress. Again, should ne seek
to eradicate the evil by establishing some
detailed scheme Of nen-partisan appoint
.ment, which Is, OF course, the final condition
OF true system, the necessary delays and
the want OF means would endanger the
whole enterprise.
Meauwhile the evil is evident, the emer-
gency IL pressing. and he deals directly with
the emergency. The ofice-hoiding interest