Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-03-09
ROTATION.

Ond term of office that two maX1mS
originated which, more than all
other causes, have contributed to the
decentralization of American politics.
The first was the exclamation of
Secretary Marcy: 10 the conqlterOrs
belong the SpOils." Of course the
spOils were the offices. The other
was the doctrine, then first imported
into Federal. politics by Mr.. Van
Buren,, from New York, of rotation
ia Office. The two together mean
that politics is gambling concern
in which the offices are the stake,
the interests and welfare of the
people are things to be talked about
in stump speeches and village eau
cuses, but the interests and we'll
being of Office-hOlders and Office
seekers are the real business to be
pursued, under the pretext of the
public welfare as a blind, which is
thin enough for all but the sovereign
people to see through. These
maxims and the political practice
grounded on them were not as rife
in Gen. JacksOn's first term, when
Calhoun was the inspiring influence
of his Cabinet and Van Buren, was
unknown outside of New York pol
itics. Indeed Jackson came into
office mainly under the influence of
a popular reaction against the al
ready increasing traffic for office.
The air was then full of talk about
bargain and corruption, as charged
against Mr.. Clay; and perhaps it
will best illustrate the depth to
which we have now fallen if we re-
mind our readers what these charges
were, for while the suspicion of their
truth ruined Clay's political pros
poets and certainly prevented him
from ever becoming President, his
conduct, even if guilty of all that
was charged against him, was moth
ing more than what is now looked
upon as the regular thing for politi-
clans to do. The charge against him
was that, being Republican (Which
was nearly what a Democrat is now,
he found he could not be elected on
his own principles, and agreed to
withdraw his own pretensions and
use his influence in favor of the Fed
eral candidate, John Quincy Adj
ans, on condition that he Clay
should be made Secretary of State
under him, and so be placed in the
line of the succession. This bargain
was never categorically proved
against Clay, but there were grounds
of suspicion never cleared up, which
terribly blocked his after career.
But now, surprising it all proved,
what did Mr.. Clay do which is not
done every day in modern politics
which is not recognized as the regu-
lar way of going to work among
politicians of the present day? If
guiIty-which we have never as
stunned to be true-but, if guilty, he
was simply guilty of looking upon
his popularity, his influence in Ken
lucky, his elOquence, his reputation
for craftsmanship as so much stock
in trade to be disposed of for his own
advantage. 1t was something be-
longing to him for his own interest /;
not high trust conferred on him
by the people for their interest. 1t
was something to trade away, to
give away, to swap with other poll
ticians engaged in the same trade;
it belonged to him and not to the
people. And now the very principle
of action which when attributed to
Clay ruined his career, even
though he was only suspected of it,
is openly practised and avOwed as
the regular way of going to work in
politics. 1t is all bargain and traffic
and intrigue among politicians /;
trades are made about everything
and the people called upon to con-
firm them. What else is the talk
we hear among politicians every
day? Some men, for instance, will
tell us that we are bound to nOmi-
nate Mr.. Hendricks at the next
Democratic Convention, because
some of his supporters ut the last
one agreed to support Mr.. Tilden on
that condition others, that we must
nominate Mr.. Tilden himself for
similar reasons; nay, the President
of the United States himself, Mr..
Hayes, evidently considers his re-
moval of troops from the Southern
States in the light of a bargain, the
terms of which were that on that
condition the Democratic members
Of Congress should not oppose his
Inauguration. Everything is done
as the result of a bargain among
politicians. 1t is time that the peO-
pie should intervene and tell them
AAAdl " hat AAlNN eAAN AAetAAANhAAAS VIII
is not theirs to give or bargain away.
The two maxims we have quoted
are the basis of this miscOnceptiOn,
Ofthis understanding that politicians
have a right to trade and traffic with
one another for public office, so that
one can make over to another the
support which his constituents are
disposed to give him.
We have been led to these remarks
by a paper which has been handed
to us from Nashville, signed TIL.
Claiborne. The author desires to
represent this district in Congress
next session in the place of our pres
ent representative, the Hon. John
r. House. We prefer to retain our
present member in office, and the
rest of this paper will be occupied
with our reasons for so doing. At
the same time, whatever our admit
ration of Col. House, we wish it
understood that this paper is not
,,--;t4ay, II, his intarnSt bI1t in that