Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-03-09

duty performed. This assumption, how
ever, as open to sharp criticism. As
matter of fact there is no such leisured
class in this country. Americans are en-
phatieally workers, and all our best intel
ligences are fully engaged in various en-
crossing pursuits. 1t must, therefore, be
understood that such unpaid appointments
as we refer to are as a rule made from men
in active business and such men cannot
bestow upon the public service a sufficient
amount of thought and time without in
juring or neglecting their personal inter-
ests. This being the fact, it follows that
it is very seldom possible to secure the SER
vices of the most able men on unpaid
Boards. Such men are not willing, save
in exceptional instances, to give up their
valuable time to the State without any
compensation. The consequence naturally,
and almost necessarily, is, that when it is
required to Fill these appointments it is
found impossible to do so without having
recourse to another class OF men-namely,
those who think they can turn the ostensi-
bly, unpaid appointment to profitable
account.
The fact that there is never any diff
Guilty in filing unpaid appointments must
be considered together with the fact that
there is always great, and generally insup-
erable, difficulty, in getting the best men
for such positions. 1t is certainly not the
best class who are always willing to ac-
cept these offices. Very commonly we
find them sought by politicians who have
mastered the mysteries Of party manage
ment. Not seldom they are held by men
who, Judging from their ostensible husi-
ness, could not afford to devote the neces-
sary time to the work yet these men
certainly do not appear to lose anything
by their public labors. The truth is that
when men of this class seek unpaid posi-
tions it Is because they see their way to
compensating themselves in illegitimate
ways. They have certain patronage at
their disposal. Or they have the auditing
of accounts, or the purchase of supplies, or
some one of dozen different methods of
getting beverages upon the treasury, or
levying kind of blackmail upon individ-
uals. They in fact expect to, and do, play
the role of middlemen between the State
and the objects of their trust, and they
exact tolls from all who have to do with
their department, whether as employees or
as contractors or merchants.
It is absurd to expect that men of this
grade will exert themselves disinterestedly
for the State. They go into politics with
the deliberate purpose of making the occu-
patton remunerative, and they have no idea
of devoting their energies to public uses
for the mere satisfaction of public spirit.
The general result is that too many of the
departments which are controlled by un-
paid Boards or Commissions are ineffi-
GENTLY or extravagantly or dishonesty
governed. When the purpose of the
trust has a moral or an educational or a
reformatory side, that side is as rule
neglected, and the only part of the bust
ness which really interests the Board is
that which concerns the finances of the in
stitution. Such Boards naturally peryert
and debase the departments over which
they preside. They introduce partisanship
into them. They intrigue and cabal for
the employment of their own creatures.
They take positions antagonistic to the in
terests of the State. They look at every
thing from venal standpoint. And be-
cause they are practically irresponsible,
though often exercising large powers, they
not infrequently cause serious mischief,
and Illustrate the best-meant legislation.
We think it is open to very serious doubt
whether in the interests of good govern
ment unpaid Boards ought not to be con-
demned and abandoned. If, as we claim,
the fundamental assumption in the theory
of such institutions is false one, the
whole theory necessarily falls to the
ground. live cannot secure public spirit
ed and leisured men to do this kind of
work, we are not justified in continuing
the experiment, since it is obvious that the
work will not be properly done by the
only other class available. On the other
hand it is plain that if we adopt the prln-
ciple of paying for all public work, we
shall be enabled to enlarge the field of
selection greatly, and that while obtaining
more responsibility on the part of Office
holders we shall also secure increased econ.
omy and efficiency. It is, moreover,
questionable whether the Commission
principle generally does not involve a con-
fession of radical defects in the gov
ernmental system, and whether an ap-
proximately perfect governmental system
ought not to provide for the performance
of all the work which these Boards are
supposed to do. without the creation of
such supplementary institutions at all.