Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-08-05

| MS past illt 10 Ut MN lot IL As u DoN ne
was accepted by the Government as cadet
at West Point, and that was his college and
university. have high respect for that mil
itary school Every branch of military sci
ence is taught there, have no doubt. with
knowledge. skill and success. The princi-
Piles of military honor and the great law of
command and obedience are inculeated as
the guiding stars of the future life Of the
student. The affairs Of ordinary human ex-
istence outside of the military profession,
and the problems it has to deal with, are
necessarily treated as matters Of only sec
ondary moment Our military school at
| West Point has given US MANY glorious sol
diers who have adorned the history of the
country; but it has never been pretended that
il was meant TO be, or was. a school of states
manship. That school absorbed, the Young
man entered into the regular army service.
OF all classes Of our society il NAV be said
that our regular army is the most exclusive.
the mos, widely separated from the ordinary
business life Of people in point of sympathy,
duty and habit, II We have an apart class
among Us, a class whose contact with the
cares and endeayors and business and OBJ
jects of the life Of the masses is only occas-
ional and unsympathetic class that in its
/ ideas and aims Is separated from the multi
tudc, il il the officers Of the regular army.
| This is not meant to discredit in any sense
the character of our service or Of the officers
in i, i, is the almos, unavoidable peculiarly
OF their training and situation. for which
they are in no way responsible. Their du-
ties may be arduous but, except in places Of
highest command IN active warfare they are
extremely simple. specific and narrow and
Il is common experience that the mental
horizon Of men IS apt 10 become limited by
the sphere Of their duties. have heard it
said a hundred times. by men who had spent
/ the best part Of their lives in the regular
army. and then were thrown upon their own
resources to make living in ordinary pur-
suits. tina, their arrny life had untitled them
for the everyday tasks Of society. They
7 found Themselves. in n multitude Of cases.
utterly bevlldered BY the competition they
had 10 run with those who had been trained
in civil pursuits. How IS II possible To assume
that men who have spent the best part of
their lives, who have grown old in that eX-
elusive atmosphere, should show particular
fitness for the most complex and confusing
Of ali duties. the highest civil office in the
land
TIE PRESSURE oF CONFLICTING CLAIMS tNp
CLAIMANTS UPo> \ PRESIDENT.
/, may be said. therefore. without exag-
gvration, that IN hundred ca>ss 10 one hS
taking an Old regular army officer, who ha,
never been ANYTHING else, and putting him
into the highest and most difficult political
position. YOU may ,pol an excellent General
( in making poor President.
There he Is, with an honest intention
I 20 do right and TO serve his country. Prob
lens Of financial policy suddenly rise up be-
I fore him-qucst.onS Of revenue, Of CONNER
C.al policy. not IN the way OF general max
ms and vague principles, but in the my l,ter-
/ ious shape or practical problems 20 Ibc apph-
/ Ell 20 given state Of circumstances qucs-
lions OF party politics, where the interests Of
I the public and Of the party are curiou,iy
I mixed together IN be~lldcrlng confusion.
[ The man al the head Of affairs means TO do
right lot Us assume his Cabinet officer,
I mean the same. But nov i host Of Sen
/ a,ors. Representatives. prominent political
leaders from all parts of the country swarm
Z IN upon him. Having never had anV prar-
I teal contact with the workings OF financial
OF commercial systems, having stood alodf
I from the intricacics Of political management.
I the man al the head Of the Government i,
4 the objective point Of all their efforts There
I are a hundred politicians Of name and I'M
| poriancc. real or pretended. who lay claim
I TO hi, attention, and having heard them all
| a. he has TO hear them-and finding that
their views and objects run counter to one
/ another, he suddenly discovers himself IN an
| une Xpectcd state of uncertainty A. to what
4 !, right and what j. not, what will serve the
\ interest Of the country and wha; will benefit
Z ar tuiurp the interest of ms marty H., hl,
/ TO meet multitude Of Arguments pu, at him
I By multitude OF men from hundred diff
| tcrcni motives. all seeming Ia HIM impor-
I tant. because all are TO hlm new not few
among the most prominent Of those who
urge their opinions most strongly upon his
mind. trained aud skilled by long practical
/ schooling IN all the arts ot covering up the
/ weak point- Of their cases and concealing
I their motives b! specious arguments, and Of
| making private interests appear those Of
the public They have all contributed to
hls election and success they ART all entitled
I TO his regard he has heard Of them all a.
I prominent men entitled TO respect
/ he has considered them all as men
| entitled TO credit; and now he discoy-
/ ers that their opinions clash and tina, their
aims are diifereut and contradictory. Scores
/ '' N''''' '''''' ''t'' N.'N4' va
10 make him believe that the Cabinet minis
| ter he trusts, BY the things he attempts TO
| carry out. Is inJuring the party upon whose
| permanence the life, or al leas, the welfare.
ofthe Republic depends. lie has yet 10
| learn that the Senator in his State Of the
Congressman in his district has interests Of
his own. peculiar to himself; that those in
terests are sometimes not exactly those Of
the country, or even of the party at large
and the man who is recommended to him
! for high Official position. as a model citizen
of the Republic, has attained that position,
/ in the opinion OF his hacker, less by service
rendered TO the commonwealth than by ser
vice rendered TO person; that the same
man will be represented to him by others,
not as the model citizen, but as william
who cannot be trusted moment. He will
be told that those who judge Of political OBJ
jects and the means by which to attain them
from higher standpoint than mere person
al or partisan interest, are amiable theorists,
who are well enough in their way, bu, are
useless IN 'te praeuGai "a. cohaue, Oh pohties'
s,'.', s''Li;p - h.,, - III - ~