Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-03-26
Rally Round the Plum Tree
BY Frederic j. HaSkin
WASHINGTON, March 31.-'I have de-
w cided to knock off a little plum
said the young man who had trie

WASHINGTON, March 31.-''I have de-
w cided to knock off little plum
said the young man who had tried
the newspaper business. the real estate bust
ness and two or three other businesses, and
found them all somehow unsuited to his pc
culiar talents.
His most obvious talent for cultivat-
ing stand-ins with the great and the about
tO-be-great. He knew the time had come
to cash in on all the small favors he had
done for rising politicians, all the smiles he
had smiled and the hands he had shaken.
And he is by no means lonely in that in
tention. crowd is gathered about the plum
tree of political preferment, waiting eagerly
for the ripe fruit which is about to fall. The
old-timers say that never has the crowd of
offce-seekers, both those who come to Wash
ingtOn or are already there, and those who
stay in their home towns and work by mail
and by proxy, been so great as it is this year.
You have to go back to 1912 in order to
find comparable condition. for in 1915 the
war in Europe made conditions somewhat
abnormal. In 1912 it is said that as soon
as Wilson was elected the Dem ocratic
tional committee had no less than 10000
letters from applicants for jobs. At that
time there were in the gift of the president
only 10,064 positions, the other 262,608 gov
eminent jobs being in the classified service.
There are similar figures available for
this year, but it may safely be said that the
general condition is about the same. There
are fifteen or twenty times many appli-
cants for jobs as there are Jobs Each Of
these is valiantly determined to sacrifice his
private life and career for the good Of the
country. No wonder there is scramble.
No wonder no administration ever gets down
to business until the pie is all distributed
and the howls of the disappointed have sub
sided.
Varieties of Job Seekers
The varieties of these job hunters would
4oI0 fo0E
from rich men seeking to crown their ca
reers with diplomatic appointments, to
staunch Republicans Of long standing who
want to be rewarded for their loyalty by
places as watchmen or elevator operators
n the capital buildings. Every sort of claim
and obligation is brought forward. Innu-
merable letters of Endorsement and intro
duction are passed around, Years of time
are wasted. And after it is all over, only
a few per cent of the applicants can be &C
commodated, and then an enormous crop OF
bad feeling. with balefUl influence upon
many political career, is the most obvious
result of this process of selecting the de-
serving.
The proper method of getting a political
job has become almost standardized. You
should make it clear early in the game that
you rank high among the faithful and de-
serving. You must be highly and conspicu-
ously active in a political way. Then you
must be prominently mentioned. Get any
good friend, or several Of them, TO do this
work. Here you can afford to aim high
For example. it will do no harm to let a
little report be circulated that you have been
mentioned TO- a Cabinet place or a high
diplomatic post. This fact may be
mentioned in a speech at the local citizens
association meeting. 1t may even get into
the local paper. In this and other like ways
you will gradually get yourself recognized
as one of those who is to be taken care Of
will at hn ri formally
for clerkship worth about $4,000 a year,
and in due course will be appointed to
responsible position in the folding room at
two thousand.
Personal and political loyalty are the great
considerations Efficiency cannot be too
closely considered. One absolute essential
for any man who would rise in American
politics is that he show great loyalty to his
friends and fine sense of personal obliga-
tion This may not make for efficiency in
the government service but it gives the great
game Of politics friendly atmosphere, and
it produces some startling changes in per-
sonal destiny.
Making a Diplomat
For example there was a certain secre-
tary of state who had old friend in a
little town in the west. He was under some
deep personal obligation to his old friend,
who was a typical small town lawyer. When
the secretary of state took his high position
it was fully understood by both of them that
the old friend should have almost anything
he wanted AS it happened he wanted moth
ing for himself. But he had son. This
son had been through high school and had
sold soap in Mexico and Central America.
The old friend wanted his soon appointed
to a diplomatic post in Latin-America. 1t
was Immediately promised. The old friend
got lot of literature on Latin-Amerca and
after devoting Sunday afternoon to the
matter he chose Central American post
which paid $4,000 year and seemed to
have a pretty good climate. His son, in due
course. went there as minister And the
funny part of it is that he made a pretty
good diplomat as American diplomats go, and
has risen in the service. Of course. good
many such stories could be told that do not
have such happy endings.
In general, the patronage business is GER
tainly an unhappy one. Ask any newly elect
ed congressman. There are posts for which
he has a hundred applicants. To appoint
the wrong man may mean his defeat. TO
appoint any man means to make ninety-nine
men angry. Indeed, many promising ca
reer in congress is wrecked simply by the
accumulated animosities Of disappointed
>eekers after favors.
For the congressman to push aside per-
~onal and party claims and choose whom
lie considers the best man, is impossible
hat is. if he hopes for reelection. There
re personal friends who must be cared for.
ere are staunch lifelong party men who
- NO red for. Worst of all. there are
2a widows of such men, who always seem
iHi-""i' to dosarvingness of their spouses
49,. $1,000 ond who have the additional
claim of their feminine helplessness and
their numerous progeny.
And vet the congressman love their pat