Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-22
Or .UERARTr -
hkEE IhnpREpAnp foRTY Two
PRESIDENTIAL kPpon.rrEnTS

revenue and land servicee. etc. to four
years. This act was Oetensibly to insure
periodical examination of the characters
of these men. But it's real object was to
promote election to the presidency of w.
H. Crawford, then Secretary Of the Treas
ury. under whose department most Of the
patronage offices were then grouped.
Crawford was to get the influence OF these
scores of officials. at the peril Of displace-
ment but during the latter part Of Mon
roe's administration Crawford was dis
abled physically and the trick went for
naught.
John Quincy Adams waxed wroth at
office seekers and wrote about their Cor
morant appetite for office" His jeremiadl
that "one-half the members OF Congress
are seekers for Office" has a hypersen-
sitive ring today: During &. his term term, a,
patronage" reported. THE King Of Eng
land is the fountain of honor the Presi-.
dent of the United States Is the sourcei
of patronage" At this time the publici
printing was distributed among variousi
firms. as the President desired, and this
committee proposed the restriction OF;
patronage in this particular as well as inf
several others. But this President she1
second Adams. removed. all told. but ski
officers who had been confirmed by the,
Senate.
All of this was mighty mild doinga
compared with what was now to come
In the thirty-nine years since Washing-t
Of "presdentiar' officers had been made4
But now came Andrew jackson, turning
out 1900 officers, 600 Of whom had BEEN
confirmed by the Senate. Within two
months the custom houses OF the princi1
pal cities had been reformed" clerks
being removed without charges and with
out warning. John Quincy Adams. writ
ing in his diary Of the ''tragical ELECTS
of these prescriptions, says:
X
"A clerk in the war Office. nanedt Hem
shaw, who was strong partisan for Jacli
sons election, three days since cut his
throat from ear to ear from the mere
terror Of being dismissed" and that Lin,
neus Smith Of the Department Of States
one of the best clerks under the govern
ment. has gone raving distracted. an0
others are said to be threatened with the
same calamity. Within five years oe
JacksonS activity in thus reforming tha
executive service there were 1873 defalca1
lions by government officers. Marcy. in
defending Jackson In the Senate. used
the phrase ITO the victor belongs tho
Van Buren, followed Jackson's example,
and William Henry Harrison in one
month made 40 removals. while Tyler in
four months dismissed 121 high officials.
and it is charged against him that he
used offices for denomination. falling
which he revenged himself through dis
missals Then Presidents began to ask
for some sort of civil service reform re-
Nevng them from office seekers.
Office seekers swarmed SO about Lin
coin when he came to the White House
that the establishment OF either his for
eign or domestic policy was greatly de-
layed. II am like man SO busy i'll let
ting rooms in one end of his house that
he cannot stop to put out the fire that
is burning in the other" he said Finally
the first civil service act came in Grants
time, and more bars were put up by Ar
thur and subsequent Presidents. notably
Cleveland so that now 20 per cent Of all
government employees enter the service
through examination.
But while the division chiefs and their
clerical subordinates were placed On the
permanent roll, the list Of ''presidentiaf'
offices SO greatly increased that the
scramble for them soon became almost as
great as that for offices in general in the
old times. before the bars were put up.
Just after President Mckinley assumed
Office in 1897 the floor of the large lobby
outside his office, then inside the mansion
proper. sank four inches from the weight
of these throngs of place hunters. and TO
avoid their wrecking the great east room
below the floor had to be suspended from
the roof beams Of the building.