Litchfield enquirer., 1878-01-10

.i.dOctflne was aV0WeQ indeed, ana m any case the ofense was slight compared with later
 atrocities; but it appears to be the first crop
 ping out of a system. which was to have a
 boundless growth, and do incaleVlable mischief. It was to find little encouragement, however,
 ill Madison or Monroe, and least of all in John
 Quincy Adams.
 As to Madison, about whom there was noth.
 ing of the demagogue, though his sdministra-
 tion fell upon years of great excitement, in
 which three were period of war, yet of
 eight years he removed but five officers Be-
 sides, he ever considered it most essential
 point to have men of approved abilities and
 character in the public service, and speaks
 with severity of the class of men who are al-
 ways pushing for office and whose vanquish-
 ed competitors will, from desire of office, be
 perpetualy endeavoring to distress the admin
 istration, thwart it's measures, and renderthem
 odious to the people. It is not to be denied
 however, that NIT. Madison had his amiable weaknesses, and he is charged with paying too
 great .deference tori the recommendations of
 low and designing men,. in consequence of
 which some of his Appointments we're exceed
 ingly improper F as,'tt gsss-z.sEs s.ssjsssssas
 The administration of Mir Monroe has been called the second glorious epoch in our nation al history. For the first time since Washing
 toms retirement politics were quiet. Parties
 had fought over monarchism and states rights,
 over the purchase of fLouisiana, over the embar- go business and the war of 1872; in the mean
 time completely changing ground, though, of
 course, standing firmly on the Constitution,
 until what with the Hartford convention and
 the disbanding of the Federalists in 1891 there
 was general cessation of hostilities. With
 the accession of Monroe, the lion and the lamb
 if there can be said to be any lamb in poli-
 tics-lay down together. They were 'all fed
 eralists, all republicans" and even Jackson
 advised MT. Monroe to compose his cabinet
 from both the old parties. And in these eight
 years of peace and goodwill, Monroe effected 1 but nine removals.
 This era of good feeling, however, was des- | tined soon to pass away. Of the four candi- dates in the field at the election of Mr. Mon- roe's successor, Henry Clay, who was one l threw his influence in favor of Adams against Jackson, thus bringing about the triumph of the tormertothe great disappointment and cha grin Of Jackson and his friends And now we can understand why, as Mir. Adams says in his correspondence, it seemed as if every liar and calumniator in the country was at work night and day to destroy his character His tory, however, vindicates the character of John Qulncy Adams as that of strong, earnest, fearless man who in many respects stands next to W ashington, and who has not been surpass- cd by any of his successors. AS to how little he abused his trust, 1t ascertain that he did not follow the example of his father in appointing relations to office, while we have his testimony that he determinedto renominate every person against whom there was no complaint which should warrant his removal We have also the testimony of Henry Clay that during Mr.
 Adams administration not solitary officer of the government from Maine to Louisiana, with in his knowledge, was dismissed on account of his opinions. Even when Clay wanted him to remove the naval officer at New Orleans
 MT. Adams refused to do SO on the ground that the cause was not sufficient. Where should the llne be drawn ?" asks Mr. Adams in reply to Clay. Of the Custom-house officers through out the Union, he writes ''four-ffths were in all probability opposed to my election. They are now all in my power, and have been urged very earnestly and from various quarters to sweep away my opponents, and provide places for my friends. Ii depart from this in one instance shall be called upon by my friends l to do the same in many. An invidious andin- quisitorial scrutiny will creep into the personal dispositions of the public officers throughout | te eJn4n and the m2st selfish and serdd pas men whose places may become the prizes of | sianticr upon them" 'Mr. Clay" says Adams l did not press the subject any further" In 1 the case ofa functionary of the gen~.al govern ment who was represented as using his olns- adversely to Mir. Adams's reelection Mir. | Adams made the reply "That gentleman is | one of the best officers in the public service. | have had occasion to know his diligence, ex- actness and punctuality. On public grounds, | therefore, there is no complaint against him, | and upon no other will I remove him. If l | cannot administer the government on these l principles am content to go back to Quincy" Mr. Adams, says William H. Seward. was ut | terly incapable of prescription for opinions l sake, and would not displace the most active l political opponents from public st; t ons which | he found them occupying, provided they were l competent and faithful in the discharge of their duties 1t is humilating to believe, he adds. | that the truly Republican position he took in regard to appointments to office was one of the means of his subsequent defeat.
 Here then we have fifty years of kind ot 1 civil service which was, on the whole worthy l of the country and of the distinguished men | who guided it's affairs. Prescription was little complained of, and patronage, as system, was never openly avowed, and but sparnSly prac- ticed. The tremendous power of disnission which was conferred on the President to pre- vent the public from suffering through faithless or incompetent officers was exercised for the public good, and not to gratify party or per sonal ambition. In other words, the civil ser vice was service rendered to the country, and added largely to it's prosperity and greatness
 In taking glance now, at the second ntty years of our civil service 1t IS noticeable that now for the first time was promulgated that shameful doctrine, ''To the victors belong the spoils." The phrase itself. we believe, belongs to Governor Marcy, but the system as openly and notoriously carried into practice is charge able upon that strong, not to say headstrong president who could hardly be guided by more considerate policy than to reward his friends and punish his enemies. We have seen above that Jackson and his friends were greal- ly chagrined at being beaten by Mr. Adams, and also that Jackson's victory was finally brought about by turning against Adams the very patronage through which the latter might have brought about his reelection. We may be prepared to believe, therefore, the statement of Mir Calhoun, that the only cohesive princi- pie which bound tagether the powerful party which rallied under Jackson was official pat ronage. We may understand also, why, as MT. Webster says i'll his correspondence, thou sands of expectants for office thronged the Capitol. and clamored all over the country. It
 was understood on all hands that it was to be case of sharing the plunder while Jackson, as we are told, commenced system of remov- als from office, and of appointments on large scale to give the places to those who had serv- ed him personally Hitherto. it had been the uniform custom when charges were preferred against public officers, foreign or domestic, to transmit to them copy of the charges for the 1 purpose of refutation or explanation. Now, 1 persons were dismissed not only without trlai 1 of any sort but without charges. In the first l four weeks of Jackson's administration, Henry
 Clay says more than twice as many appoint
 ments were made from Congress as had been
 made by John Quincy Adamsin as many years. 1 When Mr. Calhoun was Secretary of War un-
 der Mir. Monroe, he says but two civil officers
 were dismissed, and then the reasons for dis
 missal were reduced to writing and communi-
 cated to them, while in the first year of Jack sons administration two hundred and thirty
 officers were dismissed, and he knows not how
 many more. 4 biographer and ardent admir- CT of Jackson is pleased to say, indeed, that
 the questions, ''Is he honest? Is he capable =
 were ever on his lips. and that he made oniy seven hundred removals during his long ad-
 immigration He might have remembered,
 however, and duly pondered the fact that
 against seven hundred removals by Jackson in
 eight years, there were only two by John
 Quincy Adams in half that time.
 l What was had under Jackson was certainly