Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-20
influence, real or assumed, are
thicklu Glad Thnaa nlaIms


aoter, and the successful candidate at
once has q most difficult and embar-
raising work before i'm in closing up
his accounts. We have come to under
stand q good politician" to be q man
who can most skilfully adjust him.
self to conflicting opinion and who can
sc hedge his direct pledges as to escape
the charge of being traitor to 'his
friends" This condition, enforced by
the people, IL destructive Of the best
popular service. It makes of the
statesman" q dodger, of the high eI-
e~outive q double. dealer, and Of minor
official q trickster. We begin at the
wrong end when we 60 to work at our
legislative bodies In behalf Of genuine
civil service reform. Yet We would
not discourage the work there, for It
Is calculated to educate public opinion
to q higher standard of political obi.
cation, and to direct popular thought
to the fact that all the primary oblig,-
lions of good government rest abso-
lutely upon the broad shoulders
OF u free citizenship. There
are two conspicuous elements
of weakness In thu work
of choosing public servants. The
chief of these Is traceable to very
many of our most conscientious citi-
zens. They sgree that character
makes the man, and they profess to be
deeply concerned for the moral welfare
Of the people. They have their set
opinions, II not as to means at least a.
to measures, and before they lend their
support to n or another of the Jon.
testants for public place they must
find him In psofsssed harmony with
their uppermost hobbies. They are
generally caught by the man most
ready to promise. The other element
Of weakness Ia traceable to those, very
likely to be good workers In politics,
who only consider the ''spoils" feature
of the Issue. They want profit out of
the oampsign-patronsge before or
after the election. This latter class
cuts the largest figure In the public
thought, but les numbers are Insight.
fcant and weak In comparison with
those of the class previously spoken
of. The wonder Is that our civil
service is as good as it Is, and the only
explanation for 1t Is that the average
public sentiment, free of selfish warp
ings, IL wholesome, and that to It,
after all, the public servant Is com.
PEELED to answer The very bene.
fciaries of his wrong doing will desert
him, and take refuge behind the cloak
of private cltizenahip, when the pub.
lie sense takes up the prosecution.
Men In public life know this, and
those of any measurable success are
constantly fighting to keep themselves
out Of the merciless clutches of the
vultures of politics, permitted by pub.
lie sentiment, largely through culpa.
BILE ignorance, to prey at will. From
the very highest to the very lowest
conditions of political society there Is
common assent that themau willing or
ambitious to serve In public place
must place himself at the head Of his
own canvass. This Is to say, In short,
that the man who is unwilling to beg
an ofice, to intrigue for 1t, to give his
time and money to gaining 1t,
subjecting himself to all the pulling
and hauling OF the trafficsrs in poll.
tics, Is by universal consent not to be
regarded 40 available. Lee q man say
that he Is not . candidate there may
be regrets, politely expressed, but
forthwith no n regards him sslonger
among the possibilities; every hand
that was up for him drops at once.
They say If . lar will not work for
himself he cannot expect others to
work for him. It ID q sorry state of
things. 1t IL the testimony of q wide
recognition of the fallacy that the
Office ID the property of the office.
holder rather than the sacred
trust for the promotion of the public
welfare. It cannot be expected that
there should be any degree of popular
sympathy with the man who simply
wants an Office thrust upon him by the
strength of his friends without any OK.
pense of time or money upon his own
part. But there should be
popular sympathy with the mar
who desires to hold himself
aloof from unwise and dangerous
pledges, and who L. ambitious to keep
himself free of ~entangling alliances t.
the end that he may owe no debt ex'
oept to the public service. Men thu
ambitious are naturally reluctant In
making positive pledges concerning
their our on questions still on tria
at the bar of public opinion, % well al
with reference to their influence In
behalf Of individuals intent upon the
profits Of the public patronage. VIZ
find that our public officers are now
against all existing conditions of q con
trary tendency, largely holding them
selves subject to the best public sen
timent; and there can be no better
guarantee than this that the large
liberty, for which we plead, In the pri
mary work of their creation IL essen
TALLY in the interest of the public ser
vice, and may safely be OK
tended. The people should &c
the best service possible-they shout,
cease the business of msking choic'
between evils. They should offs
their high trusts of public Office Il
men they may Judge best capable o
disohargtng them acoeptably-they
should cease to farm them out to the
most ingenious and persistent beggars
1t follows, therefore, that the chile
consideration In the disposition of al
ONCE should be the character of tn,
man. He should be judged for wha'
he Ii, and for what he has been, rathe
than upon what, to get q vote, he ma,
promise to be. Confidence given upoI
q pledge by word Of mouth Is YER,
likely to be disappointed; oonidenc'
extended upon character that IL tn
growth of years, Of which the life an.
the record of 1t are the attested testi
mony, Is not 90 likely to be serious'!
| shocked. Thoae who dismisa tn