Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-01-10
THE CIVIL SERVICE.

From recent letter written by
Thurlow Weed to the New York Tri-
bune on the subject of civil service
reform we make the following ex~
tract:
Civil service reform will prove
wholly Intellectual until salutarg re
forms shall have been effected in the
domestic education of rising genera
tons. Until young men grow up
with the knowledge that their sue
cess in life depends upon their be-
coming identified with some of the
various Industries of the country,
Government departments will be be.
sieged by importunate office seekers.
In country developing as rapidly as
ours, there is employment for all who
are willing to work In the begin
ming, however, if need be, we must
work hard for small pay. Those who
are diiigent and trustworthy, com
menciDg at the lowest, rise to the
topmost round of the ladder. Exs
amples are alike numerous and dis
tinguished. Benjamin Franklin was
jOurneyman printer, working at his
trade first in Boston, then in Phila-
delphia, and finallyin London. Roger
Sherman, signer of the Declaration
of Independence. was a shoemaker.
Henry Wilson, United States senator
and vice-president, served his time as
shoemaker S apprentice, and worked
several years as q journeyman shoe-
maker. Abraham Lincoln worked on
q farm and was a deck-hand on a
Mississippi flat Joseph Henry,
the distinguished scientist and head
Of the Smithsonian Institute, was
silversmith's apprentice at Albany.
Andrew Johnson, member of both
Houses of Congress, Vice Presi dent
and President of the United States,
was tailor. Willard Fillmore, mem
Der of the Legislature, comptroller
of the State, member of Congress,
Nice-President and President of the
United States, was an apprentice in
a Cayuga County fulling mill. ObeS
diah German, Speaker of the House
of Assembly and United States Sena-
tor, was Chenango County farmer
George W. Patterson, Speaker of
the House of Assembly, member of
Congress and Lieut.. Governor Of
the State, was farmer and tanning
mill maker. John Taylor, Lieut..
Governor of the State, president of
the State bank, and for many years a
wealthy and influential citizen, COM
menced life as day-laboring street.
payer in Albany. Azariah c. Flagg,
an influential member of our Legis-
ture, State comptroller and comp
troller of the city of New York, was
printer. Among the best mayors of
our city were Stephen Allen, a sail
maker; Gideon Lee, tanner; Jas.
Harper, printer; William f. Have
meyer, a sugar refner. Jacob West
ervelt was a ship carpenter. George
Peabody, who gave half a million of
dollars to the poor of London, and a
million for educational purposes in
his country, was New England
workingman.
An equally illustrious example will
be found in the business history and
enlightened philanthrophy of the
venerable Peter Cooper, whose re,
markable intelligence through long
life was rewarded with fortune
with which he is now fitting thou
sands of both sexes for occupations
that will render their lives prosper
Gus, useful and happy. Leland
Stanford, the son of a Watervliet
farmer, and some twenty-five years
ago one of my Wing Boys instead
of seeking Office at Albany, took Mr.
Greelys advice and went . West,
where he embarked in useful enters
prises, acquired great wealth, and
was elected Governor of California
He is now president of the Central
Pacific Railroad, and one of the best
known and most highly esteemed
and hospitable citizens of that State
A farmers son, while digging
potatoes in the town of Putney, Yer
mont, concluding that there must be
something better in store for him,
made up his mind to try his fortune
in Montreal, where at the age of six
teen he obtained employment as a
porter in wholesale warehouse. Two
years afterward, finding him in
industrious, capable and trustwor
thy, his employer sent him to the far
West as an employee in fur com
pany. Soon afterward Mr.. John
Jacob Astor, upon the recommends