The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-06-20
THE COLLEOTORsHIP FOR THE PORT OF
CHICAGO.


County Central Committee Of Mclean
county, the following resolution, asking
at the hands of the President the appoint
ment of the Hon. John II. Oberly to the
position of Collector Of Customs for the
port Of Chicago, was unanimously
adopted
g Rcsolred, That we, the Democratic
Central COMMITTEE Of Mclean county,
most earnestly request and petition the
President of the United States to appoint
the Hon. John H. Oberly to the office of
United States Collector for the port Of
Chicago"
At no tine since the election and the
Inauguration of President Cleveland, I'M
til the above resolution came under our
notice, have we felt that we were called
upon to discuss Mt length either the dis
position that should be made Of any Of
flee within the gift of the President in
the State of Illinois, or the character Of
the person upon whom such office should
be bestowed.
We have RETAINED from such discussion
because thus far the federal positions dis
posed of in this State have been more or
less local in their nature and effect, and
we believe that it is democratic to allow
the largest liberty to each community in
the disposition of all matters that most
nearly affect the interests Of that com
munty. To the Office of Collector for the
port of Chicago no such local character
attaches, and therefore no such reason
intervenes to prevent full and free ex-
preston of our views upon the whole
subject.
1t is an Office whose interests touch up
on and affect in degree the interests, not
alone of the people within the State of
Illinois, but as well the interests of those
who reside in the States adjacent The
great commercial interests Of the North.
west are brought IN direct and continuous
contact with it, giving to it dignity of
character that attaches to no other gov
eminent office in Illinois.
The receipts collected from customs du-
ties thereat reach into the millions of dol
lars each year, and the disbursements
thereofare correspondingly great, making
it an office of no less responsibility than
it is of dignity. A large force of en-
ployees is necessary to do the work Of the
Office properly, most Of whom arere1uired
to possess knowledge and experience pc
culiar to the customs service. In the Sc
lection and direction of this force it is
imperative that the soundest judgment be
possessed and exercised by the one in
control. This dignity and this response
bility combined make the Office of Collect
or for the port of Chicago State office
and not q local one, and give the man
whom the President appoints to discharge
the duties of it State instead Of local
Importance. In short, the people of the
State look upon the Collector for the port
of Chicago IS the Presidents direct and
legitimate representative in Illinois, and
when q man is to be chosen to that Office
it is but just to them to appoint some one
who is a State man and who is a strictly
representative one.
He should be one who is in everyway
competent to discharge the duties Of the
office; one who is of good character and
of approved integrity. In himself he
should represent the best elements of the
people as well as the best elements Of the
party to which he belongs. He should re
a man who is in complete and perfect har-
mony with the progressive ideas of the
administration under which he serves-a
man who has the courage Of his own con-
victions, united with the daring to give
expression to them and the will power to
enforce them. 1t is most essential that
he have . thorough knowledge of the
needs Of the government in all that which
pertains to and affects it in its fiscal rela-
tons. He ought not to be a mere figure
head, appointed for the sole purpose of
and with the sole expectation that his
whole duty is discharged when he has
drawn his yearly salary.
The people have right to expect and
the President to demand that he be man
who will be constant aid to the admins
tration In the conduct of national affairs
within the State; that he be a man who
is the choice Of his party adherents in the
State, and not that of . mere faction or
locality. The Collector for the port of
Chicago should be q person who is well
and favorably known throughout the
whole State, one who has been long and
intimately connected with the public af.
fairs Of the people and identified with
their interests. That he may be Of true