Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-06-29
POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
APPOINTMENT OF COLLECTORS.

The consolidation of the internal
revenue districts was a move for which
Mr.. ARTHUR is to be commended.
1t lOps off the heads of supertluouS
officehOlderS, and lOps of useless eX-
penditure of the peoples money.
The OficehOlders will howl but the
people will rejoice. The salaries OF the
fourty-fOur decapitated collectors will
be an appreciable saving, while the re-
duction Of districts will in no wise in
terfere with the efficiency Of the inter-
nal revenue service.
This is the business, economic view
of the Presidents action. 1t has also
a political phase Of some interest.
1t begins to appear to the country
that there is a curious political one
sidedneSs in the changes of collectors.
In the performance of all official duty
which the people will commend, Mr..
ARTHUR has not lost sight of the oppOr-
tunity for political-perhaps PERSONAL
profit in making the changes. This
motive crops out I'm almost every State,
but one or two instances suffice To re-
veal the character of the changes.
In North Carolina. it is said, Mr..
ARTHUR has r~eorganiZed the stalwart
or GRANT element by restoring to pO-
sitiOn WM. III. WHEELER a internal
revenue collector, with enlarged jUriS'
dictiun. Mr.. WUEEL.ER was removed
in 1889 through the influence of Mr..
joins SHERMAN, then Secretary of the
Treasury, because he persisted i'll using
his patronage to send GRANT rather
than SHERMAN delegates to the Chica-
90 convention. Ever since the advent
Of Mr.. ARTHUR to the Presidency the
stalwarts Of North Carolina have made
n strong fight for the restoration Of
WHEELER, and the President has at
last acceied to their wishes, with the
| understanding hat WHEELER and the
Stalwart element will give in their full
adhesion to the coalition movement in
North Carolina.
This appointment of WHEELER, with
other federal appointments previously
made, hands back to the GRANT ele-
ment of North Carolia all the valuable
federal patronage taken from it by Mr..
SHERMAN, and is destined to have
much influence on politics in the State.
1t is understood that the entire federal
patronage in North Carolina will now
he used for all that it is worth in
furthering the coalition movement, and
whatever substantial results accrue will
prove for the benefit of the stalwarts.
ID is now considered assured that either
ARTHUR, or any II that he may pre-
fer, will have the North Carolina dele
gates in the next Republican cOuveu-
ton.
All the changes that have been made
by the new Commissioner EVANS have
Sguinted in the same direction, aud it is
we'll remembered that the first thing
EVANS did after his appointment was
to go into the Republican convention
of Kentucky aud set the pins, as he
alleges, for sending ARTHUR delegates
to the National convention.
1t is scarcely worth the while to re-
call the circumstances attending the ap-
pointment Of the collector in West Vir.
ginia to discover the same political
drift or purpose influencing and con-
trolling It. Ex-Governor PIERPoINT
seemed to have been first chosen for
the appointment and his name was turn.
ed down only when his celebrated letter
to BLAIR, renouncing his allegiance to
the Stalwart wing Of his party, came
under notice OF the President.
The idea that the Stslwar and GAR
FIELD divisions OF Republicanism were
disappearing will appear to be a little
premature since the policy Of the al
ministrstion is becoming more pronoun.
ced and aggressive. The effects of this
movement will manifest itself more
fully as it is better understood. We al
ready have n hint Of it in this state.
The Grafton Eagle says:
That the appointment Of Duval was
q great surprise in the Radical ranks, is
very plain. Ex.G Governor Pierpoint has
not been heard from, neither has S. p.
Mccormick, but it is safe to say that
both these gentlemen will unSllng their
tomahawks, and that blood and hair
will fill the air until some sort of an ar
rangement is patched up among these
patriots. Pierpoint is not lacking for
friends and is 3 man of courage, and
should he wish to resent the injustice
| hnnn him he would inhaaI he o for