Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1881-06-04
OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.
WASHINGTON, MAY 29, 1881

WASHINGTON, May 2S, 1881.
The precarious tenure of official life
in Washington has been fully demon
strated by the wholesale discharge from
the several bureaus of the government
during the past week. One department
alone dispensing with the services of
five hundred employees. These slaugh-
tered victims Of an ~unregu!arcd civil
service Of the government either in con-
sequence of the failure of congress to ap-
propriate the necessary funds TO pay
them, or on account of the extraordi-
nary pressure of small politicians their
brothers, sisters, cousins and auntS, sup
ported and assisted By congressman who
those OF their constituents who having
manipulated the party machinery iii
their favor, insist that their services
must be recognized us Il valid lien upon
the patronage OF the government and
thus it happens that by constantly
catering TO this idea, every IA who Ill
n manner has influenced a vote to
secure the election of his member OF
considers himself IA qualified
applicant for office, and it would appear
from the thousands of our fellow citizens
who flock to our city to present their
claims to the new administration that
the Unsuitable thirst for office cannot be
ouenched or satisfied. Ii il the Balm OF
Gilead required and demanded By the
afllited patient, and nothing will answer
as a substitute, they all want it and must
have it, and like the famous eye-water
Col. Sellers, "the more thew get the more
they want" The heads of the depart
ments are sorely beset by these persistent
and irrepressible clafnorers for positions.
public duties are retarded and feariuliy
embarrassed, courteous and aiIablc treat
ment on the part of the otlcial is con-
strued as an encouragement for cOniin-
ued prosecution, until finally driven to
despair the best naturcd servant be-
comes cross and i'll tempered and is
compelled to resort to aggressive meas
ures as a protection from imposition
and impertlnence. The young man or
woman who leaves a home however
humble where the necessities OF lie
may be obtained, to seek all office at the
national capital will soon discover that
the enterprise is of a most hazardous,
character, q venture upon thin ice, q
voyage without chart or compass.
However we'll armed and equipped with
recommendations not II applicant in
fifty succeed in securing an appoint
ment, and the successful one in a major
ity of cases would have been benefited
ii his application had been denied. y
Washington ~clerkslip is not q position
to be desired, for numerous reasons.
The tenure of Office is uncertain. One
may hold his place Tor a few months or
he may remain for a few years, but dur
ing the whole period Of his stewardship
his mind is harasscd and beset with APP
prehension of danger. Knowing that
the official axe like the sword OF
Damocles is always suspended by a
brittle cord above his head he regards
his official life a mere lottery, and his
future appears dim and shadowy.
Salaries are small and promotions
slow, merit in many cases being sci
aside by the powerful lever, OF political
influence.
The clerk must be a gentleman, dress
well, and necessarily remain poor,
The duties in most eases are of the
same routine character day after day,
and year after year. Nothing new is
learned, one becomes mechanical in his
habits, a part of q great machine, con
stantly under the guidance and direc-
ton of others, and SO it happens thar
when the axe falls he is thrust out into
the world, with his manhood energy
and ambition nearly devastated, and
utterly disqualified to successfully battle
in the pursuits of life with his more
fortunate brother who is armed with
the weapon of experience.
The great Republic pointed ont OF The
map of the world by the student Of
sco~ay az the Urifed STATES of
America, may be found to-day transact
ing its business With the uati9os.If :hG
earth and attending to its domestic
affairs with all the vigor and power it
ever possessed during any period OF its
development. This extraordinary an
nouncement is made by your CORE
%spondent after a careful and thorough
investigation Of the subject. in our
pcrambulations in search of vital and
important facts We have not merely
SKINNED over the surface of the matter,
but have penetrated far into the interior,
subjected it to thorough analytical test,
and having resolved compound proper
ties into elementary constituents are
satisfied Of the relative qualities OF each,
and in a word we know whereof we
speak when we declare that the Repub-
tic will live.