The Wilmingtonian., 1885-01-03
A VOICE FROM THE TOMB.
The JeGersonian Idea of fhe Proper
Method of Procedure.

course to pursue in consequence of the i'm
patience of his own party and his desire tc
concililte the good will of the people al
large. In this conjuncture, vacancy hay
ing occurred in the office of Collector al
New Haven, just at the close of the Adams
administration and Mr.. Adams having
appointed Federaist to fill it, Mr.. Jeffer.
son removed him and appointed a Repub-
lican in his stead. To remonstrance
against this procedure on the pant of New
Haven merchants Mr. Jefferson replied in a
letter, intended for general information.
setting forth the principles which governed
him in the exercise of the appointing power.
The singular moderation and justice of his
views give them present interest when a
change of Administration will find the
office-holding condition of the country very
much in the situation it was III 1901. We
append Mr.. Jefferson's letter.
10 Elias Shipman and others, a committee of
tie merchants Of Neso HaDea.
WASHINGTON, July 12, 1901. Gentlemen:
nave received the remonstrance you were
pleased to address to me on the appointment
OF Samuel Bishop to the office of Collector
of New Haven, lately vacated by the death
of David Austin. The right of our fellow
citizens to represent to the public function
aries their opinion on proceedings interesting
to them is unquestionably a constitutional
right often useful, sometimes necessary, and
will always be respectfully acknowledged
by me.
Of the various execu tive duties no one ex-
cites more anxious concern than that of
placing the interests of our fellow. citizens
in the hands of honest men, with under
standings sufficient for their stations. No
duty, at the same time, is more difficult to
fulfill. The knowledge of characters pos
sessed by single individual is, of necessity,
limited To seek out the best through the
whole Union we must resort to other infor-
nation, which, from the best of men, acting
dislnterestedly and with the purest motives,
is sometimes incorrect. In the case of Sam
uel Bishop, however, the subject of your
sShoiotihhScj bitio was bdh6D, lHIOTnaUlO0
was sought, and such obtained as could
leave no room for doubt of his fitness.
From private sources it was learned that his
understanding was sound, his Integrity pure,
his character unstained. And the offices
confided to him within his own State are
public evidences of the est nation in which
he is held by the State in general and the
aitu md TOW 10,
lives. He is said to be the Town Clerk,
Justice Of the Peace, Mayor of the city of
New Haven, an Office held at the will of the
Legislature; Chief Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas for New Haven comfy,
Court of high criminal and civil jurisdiction
wherein most causes are decided without
the right of appeal or review, and sole Judge
of the Court of Probates, wherein he singly
decides all questions of wills, settlement of
estates, testate and intestate; appoints
guardians, settles their accounts, and, in
fact, has under his Jurisdiction and care all
the property, real and personal of persons
dying. The two last offices, in the annual
gift of the Legislature, were given to him in
May last. Is it possible that the man to
recently committed trusts of such difficulty
and magnitude is "unfit to be the Collector
of the district of New Haven" though ac-
knowledged in the same writing to have
obtained all this confidence "by long life
of usefulness?" 1t is objected, indeed, in
the remonstrance thar he is n years of age;
but at a much more advanced age our
Franklin fba Of
nature. He may not be able to perform in
person all the details of his office; but if he
gives us the benefit of his understanding, his |
integrity, his watchfulness, and takes care
that all the details are well performed by |
himself or his necessary assistants, all public |
purposes will be answered. The remon-
strance, indeed, does not allege that the |
Office has been lily conducted, but only |
apprehends that it aoiU be so. Should this
happen in event, be assured, will do in it |
what shall be just and necessary for the
public service. In the meantime, he should |
be tried without being prejudged
The removal, as it is called, of Mr.. Good |
rich forms another subject of complaint.
Declarations by myself in favor of political |
tolerance, exhortations to harmony and affec-
ton in social Intercourse and to respect for
the equal rights of the minority have ON GER
tain occasions, been quoted and miscon-
strued into assurances that the tenure of
offices was to be undisturbed. But could |
candor apply such a constructions 1t is |
not, indeed, in the remonstrance that we |
find it, but it leads to the explanations |
which that calls for. When it is considered |
that during the late Administration those |
who were not of particular sect of politics
were excluded from all Office, when, by a |
steady pursuit of this measure, nearly the |
whole offices of the United States were
monopolized by that sect; when the public |
sentiment at length declared itself, and |
burst open the doors of honor and confidence
to those whose opinions they more approved, |
was it to be imagined that this monopoly of |
office was still to be continued in the hands |
OF the minorityP DYES it violate their equal
rights to assert some rights in the majority
also? Is it political intolerance to claim a
proportionate share in the direction of the
public affairs? Can they not haTmonize in
society unless they have everything in their
own hands? If the will of the nation, mani
Tested by these various elections, calls for an
administration of government according
with the opinions of those elected; if, for the
ful6llmenJ of that will, displacements are
necessary, with whom can they so justly
begin as with persons appointed in the last
moments of an Administration, not for its