New-York tribune., 1878-05-04
GAIL HAMILTON-D. b. EATON.
MR.. EAToYs PATH OF GLORY IN THE FEB
RUARY ATLANTIC.
THE REAL EDMUND BURKE.

pack Not one of them since has started out on a
hunt to bay the moon without reassur'ng bark on
Burke before he got home again. burke womb
not waste your resources" says the Curtis Commits
sion severely "Burke got laughed at, tOo,' mutters
Mr.. Dorman b. Eaton. Burke also was hated
forhis saintness" says The Aer- York Ndon patting
Mr.. Schurz on the shoulder. Put Edmund Burke
in the Senate" says the Good Boy from the pulpit
land he would say he had no time for such
naughtncss.' And their references to Burke are as
conclusive by way of argument as the proof
text brought Iward from the Prophet Isaiah to
Justify tine Issuing of railroad passes to officers
" the staff shall pass ~
Nothing so eifectually clears away cloud of ran
dom and general assumption as Il sharp and definite
appeal to facts / pray my readers therefore
TO look for a few moments at WHAT
Edmund Burke actually did in the way OF Economl-
cal Reform. that we may see how far he trained III
tho same regiment with the RoformeTs OF our day
and by what right they claim him as their great eA
amplar and leader Let us examine the very speech
Cuoted in the Commissioners report and referred to
by Mir Eaton i'm his AfaHGc.artlcle for consolation
under rdicue.
MIR. Burke AT the outset of this spPccl-dcclared
that the people of England contchdrd only that
their legislators should ntcrwcavc some economy
with the taxes with which they chose To bcgih
American
pcrbaps then at their height and the war itself was
not far from it, ingloroIs end The definite qnes-
tion was what burdens of taxation could be lifted!
Mr.. Burke Disseminated between public Offices
which perform real services and Offices which pro-
vdad large rewards for no service at all. OI the
latter. he further Disseminated bctwcCntos' made
for the public dccorun for preserving the grace ANA
majesty of a great people, and those which were
merely expensive aud almost dIsg1cetui loi-
malities The latter alone he proposed 80 abolish
the former to regulate.
The Kinpdom OF England, apparently compact
monarchy. really existed III the form Of wheels
within q whcel-a sort oi pcutaIchy. The hin@ was
not only King. he was Prince of Wales. DoSe OF
Lancaster, Earl of Chester, CONT Paatirc OF Lam
caster, Duke of Cornwall In every one OF these
five municipalities. duchcs paiaiinaleS' there was
a regular establishment OF considerable expense
and most doninrcriug influence. That IS 1t had all
tbc apuaratus of a kingdom, for the jurisdiction
over few private estates that nearly all the
revenue il brought the crown went to the payment
Of useless Offices iu these mock jurisdictions;
Mr. Burke', bill proposed their abolition,
OF the forest lands the crown held the dominion the
timber and the game Mr. Burke proposed that
there should be survey Of the whole; what was
useless for the ma al purposes of the Kingdom to DE
condemned and disposed of foT the security oi what
n,i.ht be useful He did not believe that the rev
euur arising from ih- sale of forest lands and rights
y.oud BE- 50 considerable was generally mag
in,d and he thought il would hc uuvi,c to " screw
it up to thc utmost, or even suurr bidders I" en-
bance according to their Cagcrnco~, the purchase oi
objects wherein the expense of Tint purchase may
weaken the capital TO DE employed in their cuiilva-
ton" fear that Mr. Burke lad himself open to the
charge Of an alliance VITA the timber thieves
against the Government, but h defence must n'
found in his declaration, that the principal I'Ir-
nue propose 10 draw from these unculu'at"d
wastes +, 10 sDring from the Improvement ana pop
LllatIon of the kingdom This, of coufse lay
omen acain to the objection of being more
convenient and comfortable to the English
peasantry, yet it seemed to him also
better thing for the revenue in the long run, than
a tightly screwcd-up stumpage. His bill proposed
therefore the sale Of the forest lands and teiT aD-
sorption into the mass of private property.
Mr.. Burke affirmed. IL the third place. that the
civil department was IN 50 dlSoIgani1'u anu u"-
wicldy condition that no lord OF the TREASURY ha'
ever b..p able even 20 make tolcrdhic guess a. ine
expenses Of government for any one year.
Customs and Office, which in the far l'ndai
past had arisen out of the necessities "i the
times were sti!l continued with increased expense
loD after they had not only ceased to bo necessary
Of couscaucncc held the Office Of patont hereditary
cook TO an Earl Of Warwick. An Earl Of Glouccs-
fer was steward of the household 10 thc Arrhb shops
Of Canterbury The trnspit in the kinTs Kitchen
was a member of Parliament. There was the office
of the great wardrobe and the jewel office ana
others. to pay for whose u'cc,Sncss were
three useless trcasurers, Two 10 hold purse
and one to play with n stick! The Board oi
Works in the seven years preceding 1717 had
cost about - 900 900 and for all tins expense
could not show a building Of the sz" and lmp'r-
tauce of pipeon-house. MIR Burke proposed that the
whole Board of Trade should be- abolished. There
were great patent Offices in the eNchcqucr Iucy
were mere slnccurcs-always executed b. deputy
held for life. The profits on them, growing OUT ol
tbe public distress were onormous Yet, because
they were held for life, because they had been held
os property. given as provision for children been
the subject Of family settlements and the security
of creditors he did not for their abolition but
for Their regulation lie proposed that as the present
lives and reversions should fall IN, the salaries
should be fixcd-that of great auditor for instance,
should be reduced q TO $1,000 year, the rest ol
the principal officers to $500 year each. In
answer TO the demand why lie left these Offices at
all he answered frankly that he conceived II to be
a fundamental part of the Constitution of his
country and Of the reason Of State in every cOun-
try that there must be means Of re"ardng public
service, and that those means would be incomplete
and wholly insufficient If there should be no fur
thcr reward for that service than the daily wages
it receives during the pleasure of the Govern
ment Thus Mr.. Burke, as RciOrner
must incur the odium of wishing Government
10 be turned into sOup-hOuse for delayed polti-
clans. He AYERS it. He argues it OF length in his
great speech on Economical Reform. He says that
4 ; ri nj uf
the very foundation Of the whole structure. He
thinks that saving to the public here may prove the
worst mode Of robbina IT, There is a time when the