New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-04-06
THE QUESTION or S4LTAGE.

TIE QUESTION or S4LTAGE.
Why cannot these questions of salvage
| winch are continually recurring IN the progress
OF political controversy be settled upon some
clear and well-defned princplci Forever the
| questions come MP: How much is ii worth
To save a country 2" How much 60 save a
paIt, ?" "How long shall the dclivcrcr of the
country he entitled to the farming of its
offices 2" "What precise proportion Of the
patronage shall he awarded the savior of his
party ~ These questions ccme up 50 often
that it seems quito worth while to establish a
| system OF salvage with definite laws and rcgii-
| lanons. 1t might simplify matters greatly II
il were set down as Fundamental fact that
cltzons of a Republic 10y their relations To
the ship of state as owners. builders con
sicnorS. Corslgnccs. officers. crew and pass n
gers. are precludrd frnln claiming salvage. Then
the citizen who claims 10 have saved the
country, though a grateful people may give
him lis hleli,ti houors VIII not assume that they
re- in the nature Of salvage dues or that
hr has any reasonable ground for demanding
that they b- made perpetual Similarly II
might simplify matters IN the distribution OF
pAti mag, il It were und rrstOOd that no PARTY
leader ~ entitled TO claim salvage O1 the party
fuI SIMPLY dong his duty, and not betraying
his associates. supporters aud friends
There wis good deal that sounded like
claim for salvage in he talk ~ the over-zral-
Gus advocates of third term for General Grant
HI, more injudicious friends insisted that the
country really owed q third term 10 General
Grant as the man who had saved the country
from destruction at the hands Of the rebellion.
They said the country could not do too much
for him. and the very least 1t could do was To
give him the Presidency for a third term, or
SO long as he might d, sire to hold the Office
They were no more grateful 10 General Grant
for his great services than other men who did
not believe in rcwaTdlng him IN that way, but
| their gratitude had more guSh and less reason
in it, The cooler and more deliberate judG-
| ment of the majority was that the magnitude OF
bis service was measured by the Importance Of
maintaining institutions which 1t was pro
| posed now, from a sense of gratitude. to e1-
pose TO new and greater danger than
ever. The people saw the absurdity Of the
| proposal to permit the captain 20 run the ship
on the rocks simply because his skill and
courage had brought her through the storm.
| and they rejected it. In a thousand ways
| since then they have shown that they are not
ungrateful OF lacking in appreciation OF his
| services. They simply said by that act that no
service of the citizen. however great or heroic,
| could create n claim for salvage on the Gov
eminent or its offices. No one generation
| holds the Government ut its disposal as an
| absolute possession it is held IN trust FOR
future generations and for mankind. The ae-
ton of the people in the case of General
Grant has settled the question that saving the
country carries with it no claim OF salvage.
And now there seems to be a claim of
salvage OH the part Of certain leaders,
who. It is said. saved the Republican
party Mt the late election Had it n o
been for them, we are told with fire.
onency and emphasis, General Garfield
| would not have been elected, aud
| the Republican party would have had no
Offices to distribute nor patronage to bestow.
Hence the claim, not to be consulted simply
AS members and leaders in a great party upon
which the responsibility of honestly aud ell
GENTLY administering the Government has de-
| yolyed, but to have the absolute disposal of
offices and award of patronage. IL is not as
serted that they did pOre than Others TO
nrouote the success OF the party, or more
than their duty as citizens who believed in
the principles of their party, or more than the
marty had right 20 ask and expect OF them
in return for honers already showered upon
them. The whole extent of this claim il that
having been tempted to betray the party or
withhold from it their active support on
account of having been disappointed IN the
nomination for President they did neither, but
like honest men performed their simple duty.
Without their active aid, it Is said, the party
would have been defeated. The great bulk of
the Republican party were expected to take
bold and do the work OF the campaign, eX-
pecting no consideration for extra services, and
claiming nothing for having saved the party.
| But the gentlemen who stood alOof and had
to be petted and coddled before they would
! lift a finger come forward now as the saviors
| of the party and demand as salvage the
| absolute disposal of q certain share of the
| patronage.
| There is a degree of assurance about this
| performance that far SURPRISES anything In
connection with the third-term movement.
They might have bolted or sulked. They did
| neither, and 90 saved the party. IL that
principle applies, then it was not Grant or the
Union armies that saved the Union. but the
Northern Democrats, who might have made
mischief In the rear, but did not. IL the
Senate is to listen to this sort of salvage
claim. lee it 10 further and establish some