The daily gazette., 1881-05-06
EDITION
Patronage.
From n lrper's Weekly.

h'S aFahSotAE1eiC VI blV Oidi AbOuJC
frauds, Ike tie deadlock IN the Senate
over lhe Lflices, and the defiance OF the
citizens OF rhe city OF New York by The
Machine Ring in the LegIs atu,e, and the
brow-beatius vf the Mayor by the al
torneys of patronage, are all illustrations
OF the nature and tendency of patronage,
which will lot be lost upon the country.
II IS CORFU t power which has frown,is
growing, aud which must be diminished.
"There IS already sufficient evidence in
hand" writes the special correspondent
Of the Herald, ''to show that the Star
Route lobby was not without Congress
men as part of its force; aud the game ol
straw bidding, sham securities, aud
raised coitrac,s appears to have been
carried on " ilh brazen effrontery which
shows that the men engaged in it-soipe
Of them men of political influence, and
other officers, here aud elsewhere-had
not the least fear of interference from
any quarter" "Every body copneci ed
with the Star Route lting," says The
Tribune correspondent, "hourished
apace. General Brady, whose friendship
enabled IL 10 draw vast sums of money
from tie Treasury, grew rich, as well as
the contractors aud agents. Not long
before the new administration came IN,
the Ring completed arrangements, as its
members thought,t perpe.uate its power
1t wa thought that the admins
tratiOn would not dare offend
b ally. His friend boasled that
he was too powerful man for the ad-
mlnistration TO Offend" And oncs more
the correspondent of the Heratd:-" rhe
result (of The ;nvestigatiou) promises
to be as astonishing in It's details as the
exposure Of the Whisky Ring by Secre-
tary Bristow; and fortunately the present
Acknowledgement is not line kind OF map
to issue an order intImidaling witnesses
and shielding rogues.'
All the accounts agree in stating
thai millions of dollars have been
squander, d, and that the Government
officer chiefly implicated will endeavor
to project himself by producing letters
of members of Congress and other
public functioDarles virtually asking
for the plunder of the Treasury. In
other words, the swindle has been ac-
complished by means of influence, and
the argument is the old and insolent
argument of patronage, that it is for
the good of the party. This was the
consideration for winking at the
Whisky Ring. If the Whisky Ring
stole the public money-in other
words, robbed the people-it could
afford to contribute literally from its
stealings to pay the party expenses.
This is the logical aud inevitable result
of the vast system of patronage, which
underlies all the opportunities for con-
tracts, and all the extortion of
assessments, and the whole enormous
and INSCRIPTIONS power of the ma
chine. patronage means votes" said
an Assemblyman, who showed 10y
his words how deeply he felt that his
vote against the Citizens Street clean
ing bill needed justification. In plain
English, the phrase means simply that
any patty which has the power ought
to use the public money to buy votes.
Our experience proves that this is the |
necessary consequence of patronage.
1t tends TO make politics wholly venal,
to exclude character and ability from
the public service, and to destroy pub
lie spirit altogether. Il
But IL is in this way that sins Of par
ty are visited upon itself. Do intelligent
think that the p4rty pro-
spects Tor the autumn elections are I'M
proved by the deadlock in the Senate TO
secure the election OF Gorham for Secre-
Lary, and the street cleaning record of
the Republican Assembly at Albany, and
the revelation of the Star Route frauds?
they will remember the effect of the
Covode investigation upon the Democra-
3 IN ~ In. QRn nd n fho LNnfcb Di.Nn
investigation upon Ie Republican party
in 1876 There Is 10 be taken into the |
account of this year, also, the kind of re-
action which often follows Presidential
election, and the absence of any I'M
mediate aud paramount issue. Parties
will be tried at the autumn elections up
on theiI recent merits and conduct, and
in New York, where the result Is vitality |
impo tant, the Republican machine al
Albany exposes the city of New York TO
a pestilenc-, while the same machine at |
Washington quarrels with the RepublI- |
can administration upon question of |
patronage. Is this the way TO victory? |
The party division in the 81 ate is tiercer
than ever-fiercer than under the late |
admi nis:ration. Aud 1t is personal
IL Is all due To patronage. IL |
is substantially QUAR- ! of the Ins
and the outs, in which under a system
OF patronage, the advantage Is heavily
with the lis. The solution of the situa-
tIop lies In principle, aud that principle
is the practical extinction of patronage.
the conviction that, this is fast
becoming necessary, if our Institutions
are to continue to work peacefully
spreads very rapidly. All the pol ticai
events of the winter and spring aud the
present political situation have deepen
sd this conviction In the public mind.
Monstrous pubic scandals are plain
,igns of public danger. Granting that
he explanation is the low tone ofpublic
ite aud the ~ant OF a just sense OF pub
C responsibility, we defy anybody to
how how that tone is to be raised and |
hat sens" awakened under a sys,am of |
'atronage.