Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1892-08-11

undergo and that this considera-
ton was an added reason for his
action; the particular offense OF
the employees in the civil
service then was of a different
kind from that which civil service
reformers discuss at the present
time; their oflense was the out
growth Of conditions peculiar to
that time which ! will endeavor
briefly to describe; the officers In
the Continental army in the Reyo-
luton were deeply affected by the
example Of the officers of the army
opposed to them; generally speak
ing the American officers were men
of ample means, of the highest
social standing and usually able
to crafty their tastes. The British
officers had all the personal attri-
butes of the nobility; a taste for
what is sumptuous in surround
ings and splendid in person; un-
fortunately for the Americans who
emulated them, though they were
of noble lineage they were not Of
ten in the line of family inheri-
tence. So while they were scrup-
ulous in maintaining their social
status they were unscrupulous In
the means employed for that pur-
pose. Benedict Arnold fell VIC
tim to this splendor and his trea-
son was mere attempt to secure
q fortune to sustain him in the
social position he had won. A
retinue of Wallets and hunkeys
ministered to the tastes and graf
flied the vanity of this class; their
supercilious and arrogant demean-
or toward helpless dependents in
the household and in the army
was their engine of disoiplineJ it
met the requirements of the case
for the time being and gratitied
the high self.esteem of the FORUM
ate class; the besetting sin of the
unfortunate is envy of the FORUM
ate, arrogance; the former sin less
than the latter; it takes quality
of manhood, of which too many
are lacking, to keep clear of these
besetting sins. After the Revolu-
ton there was formed the Society
of the Cincinnati, to be forever
composed of officers of the Conti-
mental army and their descendants.
Washington, taking the office of
president of the United States, had
for six years been president-gen-
eral of the Society of the Cincin-
natl; he held the latter office until
his death, Adams, federalist, sue
ceeded Washington in the presi-
dency of the United States; in the
twelve years of these two admins
trations the civil service was or
ganized and manned very largely
from the Society of the Cincinnati,
their dependents and friends; the
rich, members Of the society want
ed the honors of office; the not
rich the profits; these Office hold
ers were identified with the social
circle in the east-Boston, New
York, Philadelphia-which held
undisputed ascendency until after
the civil war; a prevailing charac-
teristic of this class is curtness of
speech toward those whom it con-
siders its interiors; they are OF the
class which now frowns the man
in overalls out Of its presence
Strange that New England with its
democratic church and state should
have become affected with this
undemocratic spirit; New England
has been politically and socially
undemocratic, and more persist
emily so than any other section of
our country. New England colleges
are full of young men who COM
bine great stupidity with this
great arrogance and they are the
quiet amusement or the bane Of
the professor according to the lat
ter's sense of humor and knowl-
edge of human nature. When
Jackson came to Office the civil
servants of the United States had
long since assumed the airs Of a
bureaucracy; in addition to their
personal arrogance they had ac-
quired official arrogance and the
arrogance of class; their record was
heavy with offenses against the
instincts of democracy which was
now becoming proud and assert
i've under Jackson's leadership.
If the high man will frown, the
low man will smite; as the bene-
liciaries of the established church
are frantic for the defeat of Glad
stone, so Jackson was hated as
only the men are hated who strike
at unjust prerogatives; Jackson
was certainly heaven-ordained for
his work as Washington and Lin
coin for theirs; undoubtedly though |
his destruction of the United !
States bank was a blow at sound |
finance and what his civil service |
policy has resulted in forms n vast |
and mournful record of wrong al |
ready; 130 federal office holders in |
a national convention and $50, 900 |
all subsidized by the party with
all the resources Of the gov
they can covertly employ
added TO all that a depraved pub
lie sentiment allows and expects
them to employ is a great indict-
ment against Andrew. Jackson's
system.
But if Jackson had foreseen all
the evil consequences of his ac-
ton he could have done no differ
emily; he had it in his power to
annihilate an incipient aristocracy
Of office holders and he dared do
it; the evil that Jackson unwit-
Lingly did lives after him; the
memory of the good appears to
have been inferred with his bones
Since Andrew Jackson there has
been one class only of American
sitizens; congressman and cabinet
a