Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-12-09
Aancaster :9ntelligencer.
A SpaSm Of Virtue.

A Spasm of Virtue.
The United States Senate is employ
ing itself with q discussion of the mat
ter of political assessments. Senator
Beck wants q committee to investigate
the assessments levied upon the govern
menr clerks, and Senator Hale wanted
to include in the inquiry the campaign.
contributions made by everybody. Mr..
Beck ascribes part of his anxiety for the
inquiry into the oppression of the clerks
to the fact that the president recon-
mends the passage of a law for their re-
lief. 1t may he doubted whether Mi.
Beck is greatly influenced by Mr.. Ar
thurs recommendation. He has su;ti-
cient inspiration to action in his own
conviction of the evil for which he seeks
a remedy. He admits that its passage
by Democratic Congress in 1876 has
been ineffective to suppress the wrong
it was aimed at. He wants to try again.
Mr.. Hale agrees with biz: that the evil
is great one and should be remedied.
lie seems to believe that no one thinks
otherwise and thus, although Mr.. Hale
himself has had the credit of a different
conviction, based upon 4 speech made
by him in the Senate year ago, in
which he failed to record the deep harm
of political assessments that filled his
soul.
No doubt they must lie lad thing
as the partisans of both parties now
agree in denounciny them. Possibly this
unauimity springs from the fact that
there is no present need Of them. the
election being over. Perhaps the Dem
ocrats are opposed to them because they
can't levy them and the Republicans
because they have no reason to. We are
rather skeptical as to the honesty of the
conviction expressed on both sides that
politicN contributions invited from po.
litical oiticeholders are an unmiNed evil
and should I've abated forthwith. We
remember that Senator Marcy was the
author of what has been since received
as a political axiom, that to the victors
belong the spoils. We understand that
elections have come to be costly things
and that IA great deal of money
may be legitimately expended in a can
vas. It seems clear to our comprehen-
sion that the ofliceholders who profit by
the success of their party are proper per
sons to be invited to pay its necessary
cost: on the plain principle that
those should pay the piper who enjoy
the dance. And it seems that any such
party beneficiary who receives his profit
without being willing to contribute his
share of its cost is proper person to be
invited into the economical! paths of
private life.
That these apparently obvious PROPOSE
tions at present seem to be SO far from
obvious to the congressional understand
ing as to I've unanimously ignored by all
shades of political opinion there repre-
sented at the present time, may be re-
garded as somewha: surprising but ii
only demonstrates how far our unsophis.
ticated rural comprehension is apart
from the exalted congressional standard
No doubt Congress, having passed a
law which it finds ineffective, should
tinker it if it thinks it can mend it.
We are truly sorry that it has been
forced to the conclusion that its effort
thus far has been ineffective. 1t could
only be so through the united lawless-
ness of those in power chief among
whom is that president who so ardently
desires the law to lie amended, according
to Senator Beck /; no doubt that he can
find himself so stoutly bound land and
foot by its provisions that he cannot
break away from obedience to them. 1t is
seemingly clear-but We speak diflident-
", in view of our evident failure to COM
pass the full length and breadth of this
question-that the president could pre-
vent any assessment upon a government
employee and could forbid his removal
for non-payment of any sought to he laid
upon him. 1t is commonly supposed to
be the presidents prerogative to appoint
and remove our public functionaries.
And it is also supposed to he his
duty to carry out the laws Therefore.
when Congress enacts that political as.
sessments shall not he made, and the
president say s they shall not be levied,
it seems that they should be effectually
stopped, and that there is not the slight
est reason for the president or Senator
Beck bothering to demand additional
legislation to patch up defective law.
On the other hand, however frozen
facts'' seem to upset this conclusion ;
for, as Senator Bayard said, Senator
William Malone was conspicuous
in the late convass in exercising
the political guillotine upon all the
Virginia federal officers, who failed to
keep time to the music of his band.
And the guillotine worked to perfection
under William Mahone's behest. He
had but to order, and the obnoxious
heads fell and this while not he, but
Chester Arthur, was president.
This is evidently a bad state of affairs.
Even if the law Of Congress against po-
litical assessments may he of doubtful
wisdom, there is no doubt that it should
be observed by good citizens, and espec-
tally by good senators and virtuous pres
idents. Under the circumstances it
seems that Congress is wasting its time
in debating the amendment of this law.
The only remedy is to get a president
who not only does not profess to believe