Iron County register., 1899-03-30
Let the People Appoint.

Lei Tue Geople Afpo4Ats
This nation should no more subscribe
to Expansion than it should qpaf
poison. It will have ceased to be the
country for which Washington fought
and jefferson bent his brows when it
does. II all else were. fair and honor
ably right connected with Expansion,
the long enlargement it would give
that growing evil, the Presidents ap-
pointmeut power, should be more than
! a reason for turning it bitterly down.
If there is a upas in American poll
tics, beneath whose bale and poisoned
shadow the best of our liberties turn
yellow, droop and die. ii is the pat
ronage Of the White House aud the
/ Presidents power TO appoint" This
power must be clipped, not magnifed;
made less not enlarged Already the
| White House has at beck and call 200,-
600 appointees, whose salaries and
lease of office-life the President who
made them holds in the hollow of his
hand. What an army of janizaries Is
this to march to any war its creator
cares to wage! Don't let's swell this
corps of political mercenaries by any
department (ciyil, naval and military
of the Philippines. Don't multiply
patronage. already q menace! Within
| a decade Congress has been driven to
all wrongs aud evils of legislation by
sheer stress of it. Cleveland and
again Mckinley have nodded congress
sional action with the trowel Of pat
ronage. Il has been bait or bludgeon;
it has been welded to bribe or bully
House and Senate to go the White
House way and work the White House
will. To add TO it is but to strengthen
party at the expense Of the public;
and. fairly speaking, put arms in the
hands of an enemy.
The people should come closer to
their work All this Office filing. or
as much of it as may be, should be
taken from the White House and done
by ballot. The public is a fool and
arranges lis own pillage when it dele
gates TO any man, President or layman,
the choice CT a public officer. And if
Democracy, in its day. were sapient,
and in its generation wise, it would
declare for the destruction Of the Pres
ident's so-called patronage" Home
rule should, from a phrase, become a
sentiment; and from mere fgmeut at
tain the dignity Of political fact, Every
Judge, every district attorney, every
clerk of court. every marshal. every
postmaster, should be born of the bal
| lot and chosen direct by the people.
! Why should d president select any of
these folk of office? Public veal does
ut guide him. There is no imbecile
of politics so dense but knows the
President to have two main purposes
in patronage. aside from that control
of Congress called for by the money
hackers of his canvass. These 1.-TWO
main purposes" are his own reelection
aud the payment Of his party debts.
/ Those are the only ends of patronage,
and they offer stalwart reason for the
public doing the work.
/ Why IS ii wisdom to construct po-
litical Samson of the White House?
Shear the White House of its locks Of
patronage for therein lies its power; q
| power which at the best but does the
peoples work worse than the people
/ would do it, and which. on the other
/ hand. has time and again been leveled
/ like a lance against the breast of pub
! lie good Stick 10 the ballot while the
ballot will do, and never permit ap-
/ pointment until appointmentment is
the only solution. Elect every officer
named above and take him from be-
meath the thumb of the President. By
this same token, elect your senators by
the people. Those brilliant briberies
of the past few weeks make for it hardy
argument. OF ninety senators in our
upper house, fully thirty smell of the
rank odor of the corruption that pro-
/ 6r,cad +ham N Z TgTdfeg