Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-12-23
Careers in Two Countries.

Within the last p years three
American Presidents have attracted
English attention to such a degree
that their histories, their characters,
and their faces have been as familiar
in this country Us any cabinet minis
ter's. Englishmen know Mr.. Lin
coin, Genera Grant, and General
Garfield as they know Sir Robert
Peel, Lord Clyde, or Mr.. Forster.
Not one of the three has been O. man
of fortune, or has, indeed, possessed
anything like a competence, while
two have died poor men. Mr.. Lin
coin, until his election, lived upon
his earnings as la~yer; and when
he died, after six Years Of the Pres
idency, he left his widow so little
that subscription was raised for
her by his friends, and an appica-
ton was made to Congress for
a pension. General Grant, when he
called to active service, was far
from prosperous-had, indeed,
scarcely anything except his income
from a small business-and though
he has received large gifts and has
enjoyed the highest salary in the
! Union for eight years, he has still to
supplement his pension by work as
chairman of corporations. General
! Garfield, when he died, was found to
be possessed Of $4,000, consisting
chiefly of a farm probably over
valued, of 100 acres, which he culti-
waited himself; out of his salary as
President he had effected al insur-
ance for $4,000 more, but even with
that addition the whole property left
behind was only f10,000. The facts
are interesting for two reasons.
I They show that the pursuit of poll
/ tics In America, even when the poll
tician is successful, is not, for an
honest man, a paying profession, and
careers are really open in the United
States, not only to the lowly born
but to the poor.
/ A very large section of American
politicians live on their salaries.
There is no more pressure on them
in Washington to live expensiyely
than there is on Irish members in
| London; their salaries are not lib
eral, mileage being taken into account,
in that country of magnificent dis
tances; and they have, we presume
that fearlessness of the pecuniary
future, which, more than any other
popularity, differentiates Americans
from Europeans. Society such as
! they wish does not care about their
means, and does not consider that a
poor man is more likely to be bribed
/ than rich one. It trusts Garfield,
indeed, before Gould. In England
/ the member cannot live without
money OF his own at all, as there is
no salary for him to receive,
and practically, if q poor man
and married, he finds the
position nearly intolerable.
More or less, in spite of character
and ability and even success, if he has
not 81, 200 year from some source
brother, the rich distrust him and the
poor despise him, and he is hampered
at every turn. His want OF means is
not thrown in his teeth as want of
birth is, but it is quietly reckoned
against him like an unsafe seat or an
old politicol escapade. It would III
! practice be impossible fer a man III
General Gar6eld's pecuniary position,
with wife and two sons, unless he
was an Irish member, to retain his
seat in parliament without Office for
any length of time. With only $3.50
year and house to keep up, his
nerve would break down under the
cab difficulty and the worry Of know
ing that dissolution which even
well to do members feel keenly, might
be fatal to him--London Spectator.