Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-03-25
Rally Round
The Plum Tree
~ Frederic Haskin

washington. March 24.-"I have de-
cided 70 knock Off little plum" said
the young man who had tried the news
paper business. the real estate business
and two or three other businesses. and
found them all somehow unsuited to
his peculiar talents.
His most obvious talent was for ct1l-
tivating atand-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 pol
iticians. all tho smiles he had smiled
and the hands ne had shaken.
And he is by no means lonely IN that
intention. A cowd IS gathered about
tho plum tree OF political prefernent.
waiting eagerly for the ripe fruit which
is about 10 fall. The oid-timers say
that never has the crowd ~ Office seek
era, both those who come 70 Washing
ten or are already there. and those who
stay In their home town and work BY
mail and By proxy been 50 great as II
/ Is this year.
You have 70 60 hack 70 1912 IN order
| to find a comparable condition, for IN
1916 the war IN Europe made conditions
| somewhat abnormal In 1912 il is said
that as soon as Wilson was elected the
Democratic National Committee had no
| less than 80. 900 letters from applicants
for jobs. At that time there were in
the gift OF the President only 10.054
positions, the other 262.50s Government
| jobs being in the classified service.
There are no similar figures avaIla-
/ BILE for this year. but it may safely be
said that the general condition IS about
! the same. There are i or 20 times as
! many applicants for jobs as there are
7
| mined 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 70
| business untu the pie is all distributed
and the howls Of the disappointed have
| subsided.
Varieties of Job Seekers
The varieties of these lob hunters
would be hard to catalogue. They vary
all the way from rich men seeking 70
crown their careers with diplofnttic ap-
pointments, to staunch Republicans Of
| long standing who want TO be rewarded
for their loyalty by places as watchmen
or elevator operators in the Capital
buildings? Every sort Of claim and OBJ
Igation is brought forward. Innum-
erable letters Of endorsement and in
PRODUCTION are passed around. Years
of time are wasted. And after Il u
all over only few per cent Of the ap-
plieants can be accommodated, and
then an enormous crop OF bad feeling.
with a baleful Of influence upon many
political career, is the most obvious
result of this process Of selecting the
deserving.
The proper method OF getting po-
| litical job has become almost stan
I
early IN the game that you rank high
among the faithful and the deserving
You must be highly and conspicuously
active In political way. Then you mcst
be prominently mentioned. Get any
good friend or several of them to do
this work. Here you can afford 70 aim
| high For example, il viii do no harm
70 let a little report be circulated that
you have been mentioned TOR a Cabinet
place or a high diplomatic post. This
fact may be- mentioned IN a speech at
the local citizens association meeting
II may even get into the local paper. In
this and other like ways you VIII gradu-
ally get yourself recognized as one OF
those who is to be taken care Of You
will. at the right time, apply formally
for clerkship worth about four thou
sand. year, and in due course VIII be
AfN'Hf+A%N'+N
the folding roos at two thousand.
Personal and political loyalty are
the great considerations Efficiency
cannot lac 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 senee of personal obligation.
This may not make for efficiency in the
government service. but It gives the
great game Of politics a friendly atmos-
phere and it produces soma startling
, changes in personal destiny.
Making . Diplomat
For example there was a certain
Secretary of State who had an old
friend in u little town IN the West He
tion TO his old friend who was typical
small town lawyer. When the Secretary
OF State took his high position. il was
fully understood by both Of them that
the old friend should have almost any
thing he wanted As il happened ht
! wanted nothing for himself But ne mac
a son This son had been through high
! school and had sold soap in Mexico and
! Central America. The old fEiend want.
| ed his son appointed TO a diplomat,
7 post in Latin America. 1t was i'm
a lot OF literature on Latin America
| and after devoting a whole Sunday
: | afternoon to the matter. he chose 1
Central American post which paid St0.-
600 year and seemed to have a pretty