The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-01-27

THE PASSION FOR OFFICE.

The desire to hold public Office has
become almost universal in this conn
try. When a young man approaches
the time when he is legally entitled to
comes up to him, instead of examining
the principles of the parties to deter
mine which is the best and which set
of principles contain the most prom
ise for the country, he calculates his
chances for office, and enters and votes
with that party wherein he discovers
the best chance for himself. So of the
old man just sliding off the theatre
of action. He may have been repub-
lican for life or democrat, but it costs
him not twinge of conscience or
moments shame, not single blush to
cast away the principles of his man
hood if he sees the better chance for
him in the camp of the enemy. Law
yers who have spent the half of a life
time building up practice in which
they easily earn twenty thousand dol
lars year, gladly lay it all down to ac-
cept judgeship which pays four thou
sand year. Even ladies whose homes
are dreams Of luxury and refinement
cast them aside, cast aside the seclu-
sion and worship of the family to enter
the treasury of the United States to
ill an onerous and laDorous position at
a meagre pittance of pay. Farmers
and artiZans, the best of their class,
but woefully ignorant of ali the duties
of official life readily abandon the plow
or the workshop for the harrassments
and strange lsbors of public posi-
tion when the chances are alto
gether against them and altogether
against them in financial way. The
thirst for Office is universal. 1t per-
vades all classes, Men will do such
things in the pursuit of place that they
would regard as dishonest and dis
honorable to the extreme in any other
earthly enterprise.
How demoral1zing and disgraceful is
all this, and also how rapidly and
surely deteriorates the character of
men 80 infatuated. For these reasons
we should find some means to turn the
minds of men, especially young men,
away from this weakness. When we
have succeeded we will have increased
the efficiency, purity aud usefulness
of our citizenship amazingly. When
once the bee has entered the bonnet of
a man his usefulness for other pur-
suits is gone, his frankness and lovea-
bleness are gone. He has become a
fawning sycphantic hypocrite. His
smile gives him dead away. His
rugged manhood is gone. He has be-
come time server Il double dealing
false friend, Shiny unmanly enemy.
There is nothing in him which manly
men and devoted woman either toler-
ate or respect.
Political ambition, the sort we are
speaking of, rapidly pulls down the
standard, and this is why there is SO
much malfeasance in office. This is
why the public service is administered
as it is. Bribery and corruption stalk
hand-in-hand through high and low
places. The public service becomes in
efficient, and loosely admins
tered. There is no energy, no
healthy devotion. Excellence and
fitness are qualities unknown and un-
valued in the public service. The
creature sinks to the level of the morals
prevailing and steals, neglects and |
betraYs with all the abandon of the
who preys upon the purses of
the public.
The greed for place has become a
great evil. 1t is growing one, and |
how to correct this becomes one of the
pressing problems of the times; very
certain, it is that George VIM. Curtis
plan has tailed altogether. We must
seek for something else or our public
service will soon have become bye
word and a reproach.
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