Year: 1878

A New YORK organ " oho VI tio iauso
Of ''professionnl pollticlang tnat curse
fhis country deprecates the fact that
there IA in reality OH office-holding class,
and seems not to understand why this
ahould be 80 in D. country which, uteO-
s.eticnlh,. has no such class Though as
q mattor of ideal theory-of theory
resting on no foundation OF actual TACT
there Is no office holding class In Amer
lea, "as d matter OF fact the protes-
sionaI politicians arc distinct from the
rest OF the people, not because tney
have received any special education TO
fit them for the public service. but pc
nat1ae when they have once pushed their
wnv into official life, their felioW..cltl-
zeris 90 about their ordinary ayocatlons,
content TO lot them manage the party
machinery and enjoy the spolls OF the
victories they are active In gaining. !,


Every reader will recognize the truth
og The following account Of the Ameri-
can office holding class, or that class
who live by tho trade Of what hos been
styled "practical politics.


One of the of1ice-holdng class may secure
his first public position BY n Fortunate noml-
nation and election, or by IN appointment IN
reward for services done 10 more impoft1ht
fpersonage but DIS soon as he has obtained hls
place among the professional politlclans Inc
privilege OF making living out OF tho admin
astratlon Of public affairs seems TO be CON
4InflnH to MN, III ne Is CblUVVtu NUN tLitP
His party will not think Of securing place
for any one Of the thousands OF better men in
the community until he Is provided for r. He
is always kept before the public The
very peppJe who despise him turn TO him lne-
,chanlcally as q representative man. lie Is o
standing candidate for every ofIlco, ana CIT
zens who distrust his integrity. acknowledges
his incapacty, and laugh OF his Importantly
still! vote for him out of mere haolt; ,,,o .ox


When their party Is IN power these men
hold the Offices when it Is out OF power they
ore willing to act as candidates, with the con-
4yiction that they will have whatever The or
ganizntion wins Tho clique not only has
Command of the temple of honor, but OF all
the approaches that lead to 1t. On the eve Of
an election it Is supposed, as matter OF the-
ory that Offices Of the government are open
to the best citizens and that the men whom
their neighbors most love and trust will be
chosen to fill those important positions; put
as matter OF fact every place Is oonsldered
with reference to half dozen candidates ln
each pnrty and ~ nomination is hs unlikely
to strike among the thousands Of better men
In the community as o flash Of lightning Is,
Practically the choice Of ne people 10 tn,'ted
V 10 q fen professional politicians 'cho contend
agith each other for The control Of Q c0nuenh0n,
and never drcnm Of Use possibthty Of inter-
ference from, mithoM their oWn charmed Circle
Thus it frequently happens that nearly every p
man In o community finds himself voting fot
o. candidate whom he would never have Sc
Ieoted and whom he consents to support
through mere party loyalty, Virtually, there
~~ fore. there s an ofIiCe-holdlng class in the
country.


.oThe existence of this class is @ curl
GUS development Of our system, the
organ says, "and by no means healthy
one" But tho writer seems not to per-
ceiye the more important fact that 1t is
8 perfectly natural development OF our
evstem one which grows out Of 1t as
Inevitably as effect follows cause.


It is O. fundamental character Of our
system that the electors, as g. body, are
arbitrarily excluded from any direct
participation in the business Of govern
ment. They are never called on either
to decide political questions, or TO say
how they wish them to be decided. No
question Of high or low tariff, real or
sham money, Of civil-service regulation,
or Of anything else, in fact no measure
or proposition Of public policy
OF any nature whatever, is ever,
In our system. submitted to the
electoral decision. The sentiment OF
the country is, never taken upon any
question In advance Of it's decision by
representatives chosen In most cases
before any such question arose. "The
people," who, as q matter OF theory,
constitute the sovereign authority, are
not only not invited by our system to
declare their sovereign will, but are pre-
vented by our system from doing SO.
All that our system permits .he politi-
cal people to do is to elect come per-
sons. at fixed intervals, to hold the pub
lie offices for o specified term, whether
they prove trustworthy or untrust-
worthy, and some other persons, also
for q fixed period, to decide in their
stead whatever political questions may
arise. Elections are never held to take
the sense Of the country upon O great
political question; they are held sim





round when tho law says the Offices
shall become vacant and be again filled
by allot-boxing. They are held to make
officeholders, and for no other purpose
on earth. AS @ matter Of theory, the
offices are at such times open alike to
all citizens; as q matter or fact, the
great body of citizens realize no interest
In deciding what particular persons
shall hold the offices; that which chiefly
concerns them is the carrying forth Of
policies and measures OF government
which they believe to be for the general
good. But this Is not what the election
is held for. This is not what they are
asked to vote upon. This is q matter In
which they are not allowed any voice.
They are not to say whether govern
xnent shall pursue the policy Of retiring
the greenbacks, or the contrary policy
OF increasing their volume; they are
only to say whether ono or another
OF two or three blatant demagogues
that have ably concealed their opinions,
If they have any, lest they should
hurt their chances Of election. shall
be commissioned to make the decision
In their stead. They are not asked to
decide q political question; they are
asked only to decide which among q lot
of worthless scamps shall be fed at the
public crib. Excluded by our system
from participation in the decision Of po-
litical questions, what wonder that self
respecting citizens should habitually
leave the mere personal matter Of Of
fee holding to be decided by the pro-
ressional scallawags in that line of busi-
ness? When the temple Of honor" is
nothing but q den Of tax eaters, and the
only question to be decided is as to
which of number Of self-seeking
scamps shall be admitted to it,
what wonder that the clique Of profess
tor 81, h. VA