Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Volume 26 December, 1880., Various None [best books to read for beginners .txt] 📗

Or Loss,  Committing It To A Control Independent Of Them--An

Official Body Which,  Having A Permanent Tenure,  Would Be Altogether

Indifferent To Their Varying Desires. Such A Scheme Of Government Was

Therefore No More Than An Attempt To Stand The Pyramid On Its Apex: Mr.

Adams'S Administration,  Supported Chiefly By Those Whose Aspirations

Were For An Honest And Capable Bureaucracy,  And Who Could Not Or Would

Not Face The Rude Questionings Of Democracy,  Ended With His First Four

Years,  And Went Out In Such A Whirlwind Of Partisan Opposition As

Brought In,  By Reaction,  The Infamous "Spoils System" That At The End Of

Half A Century We Are But Partially Recovered From.

 

To Designate More Particularly The Great Fact Which Had Been Disregarded

In This Notable Experiment Of Fifty Years Ago,  And Which Is Apparently

Not Sufficiently Considered In The Measures Of Reform That Have Been

More Recently Pressed Upon Us,  We May Declare That The Government Of The

United States Is,  As Yet,  The Direct Outcome Of What May Be Called _The

Political Activity Of The People_. Whether Or Not,  Having Read History,

We Must Anticipate A Time Here When The Many,  Weary Of Preserving Their

Own Liberties,  Will Resign Their Power To A Few,  It Is Certain That No

Such Inclination Yet Appears. The Government Is The Product Of The

Public Mind And Will When These Are Moved With Reference To The Subject.

It Is Created Freshly At Short Intervals,  And The Manner Of The Creation

Is Seldom Languid Or Careless,  But Usually Earnest,  Intense And Heated.

Upon This Point There Has No Doubt Been Much Misapprehension. As It Has

Happened--Perhaps Rather Oddly--That Those Of Our Thoughtful Patriots

Whose Warnings And Appeals Have Reached Public Notice Have Had Their

Experiences Mostly In city Life,  Surrounded By The Peculiar Conditions

Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 44

Which Exist There,  The Conclusions They Have Drawn In Some Respects Are

Applicable Only To Their Own Surroundings. They Have Discovered Persons

Who Had Forgotten Or Did Not Believe That Liberty Could Be Bought Only

With The One Currency Of Eternal Vigilance,  And Coupled With These

Others Who Were Too Busy To Attend To The Active Processes By Which The

Government Is From Time To Time Renewed; And They Have Concluded,  With

Fatal Inaccuracy Of Judgment,  That This Exceptional Disposition Of A

Small Number Of Persons Was A Type Of The Whole Population. Nothing

Could Be More Absurdly Untrue. Outside Of A Very Limited Circle No Such

Political Fatigue Exists. The People Generally Are Deeply Interested In

Public Affairs And Willing To Attend To Their Own Public Duties. Their

Concern In Regard To Measures,  Methods And Candidates Is Seldom Laid

Aside. The _Political Activity_ To Which We Have Called Attention Thus

At Some Length Is Earnest,  Persistent And Exacting.

 

It Will Be Useful For The Reformer Of The Civil Service To Give Some

Study To The Manifestations Of This Activity. He Will Find It One Of The

Most Marked And Characteristic Features In The Life Of The American

People. If He Will Take The Pains To Examine The Civil Organization Of

The Country,  He Will Find That Its Roots Run To Every Stratum Of

Society. The Number Of Persons Interested In Politics,  Not As A

Speculative Subject,  But As A Practical And Personal One,  Is Wonderfully

Great. Thus,  In Most Of The States There Exists That Modification Of The

Ancient Saxon System Of Local Action By "Hundreds"--The Township

Organization. This Alone Carries A Healthy Political Movement Into The

Farthest Nook And Corner Of The Body Politic: Every Citizen Of Common

Sense May Well Be Consulted In This Primary Activity,  And Every

Household May Be Interested In The Question Whether Its Results Are Good

Or Bad. But Besides This,  Simple And Slightly Compensated As Are The

Positions Belonging To The Township,  There Are In every Community Many

Willing To Fill Them. To Be A Supervisor Of The Roads,[1] To Be Township

Constable And Collector Of The Taxes,  To Audit The Township Accounts,  To

Be A Member Of The School Board,  To Be A Justice Of The Peace,  Is An

Inclination--It May Be A Desire--Entertained By Many Citizens; And If

The Ambition May Seem To Be A Narrow One,  Its Modesty Does Not Make It

Unworthy Or Discreditable. But These Men Alone,  Active In The Politics

Of Townships,  Form A Surprising Array. If We Consider That In

Pennsylvania There Are Sixty-Seven Counties,  With An Average Of Say

Forty Townships In each,  Here Are Twenty-Six Hundred And Eighty

Townships,  Having Each Not Less Than Ten Officials,  And Making Nearly

Twenty-Seven Thousand Persons Actually On Duty At One Time In a Single

State In This Fundamental Branch Of The Service. And If We Estimate That

Besides Those Who Are In Office At Least Two Persons Are Inclined And

Willing,  If Not Actually Desirous,  To Occupy The Place Now Filled By

Each One--A Very Moderate Calculation--We Multiply Twenty-Six Thousand

Eight Hundred By Three,  And Have Over Eighty Thousand Persons Whose Minds

Are Quick And Active In Local Politics On This One Account. But We May

Proceed Further. There Are The Cities And Boroughs,  Their Official

Business More Complex And Laborious,  And In Most Cases Receiving Much

Higher Compensation. The Competition For These Is In Many Instances Very

Great: In The Case Of Large Cities We Need Not Waste Words In

Elaborating The Fact. It Is Difficult To Estimate The Number Of Persons

To Whom The Municipal Corporations Give Place And Pay Compensation In

The State Of Pennsylvania,  But Five Thousand Is Not An Extravagant

Surmise,  While It Would Be Equally Reasonable To Presume That For Each

Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 45

Place Occupied At Least Three Others Would Be Willing To Fill It,  So

That On This Account We May Make A Total Of Twenty Thousand. But There

Are Also The County Offices. Besides The Judicial Positions,  Altogether

Honorable,  Held By Long Terms Of Election And Receiving Liberal

Compensation,  There Are In each County An Average Of Fifteen Other

Officials,  Making In The State,  In Round Numbers,  One Thousand. These,

Again,  May Be Multiplied By Four: There Are Certainly Three Waiting

Aspirants For Each Place. But Ascend Now To The State System,  With Its

Several Executive Departments,  The Legislature,  The Charitable And Penal

Institutions And The Appointments In The Gift Of The Governor. Great And

Small,  These May Reach One Thousand (The Legislature Alone,  With Its

Officers And Employes,  Accounts For Over Three Hundred),  And Certainly

There Are At Least Five Persons Looking Toward Each Of The Several

Places.

 

Upon Such An Estimate,  Then,  Of The Political Activities Of One State We

Have Such A Showing As This:

 

Citizens Politically Active As To Townships,            80,000

Citizens Politically Active As To Cities And Boroughs,  20,000

Citizens Politically Active As To Counties,              4,000

Citizens Politically Active As To The State,             5,000

                  Making A Total Of                   109,000

 

Some Allowance Should Be Made,  No Doubt,  For Persons Whose Inclinations

For Position Cover All The Different Fields--Who May Be Said To Be

Watching Several Holes. But We Have Not Considered How Many Citizens Of

Pennsylvania Are Inclined To National Positions--The Presidency,  Seats

In Congress Or Some Of The Numerous Places In The General Service Of The

Federal Government. These Two Classes,  It Is Probable,  Would Offset Each

Other.

 

Subtracting,  However,  The Odd Thousands From The Total Stated,  We May

Fix At One Hundred Thousand The Number Of Citizens In The One State Who,

By Reason Of Occupying Some Position Of Public Duty Or Of Being Inclined

To Fill One,  Are Actively Interested In The Subject Of Politics. This Is

Almost Exactly One-Seventh Of The Whole Number Of Voters In The State:

It Presents The Fact That In every Group Of Seven Citizens There Is One,

Presumably Of More Than The Average In capacity And Intelligence,  Whose

Mind Is Quick And Sensitive To Every Question Affecting Political

Organization. We Are Brought Thus To The Same Point Which We Reached By

An Observation Of The Township System--The Fact That Every Part Of

Society Is Permeated By The General Political Circulation. It Is Like

The Human Organism: Nerves And Blood-Vessels Extend,  With Size And

Capacity Proportioned For Their Work,  To The Most Remote Extremity,  And

The Whole Is Alive.

 

Let Us,  However,  Guard Strictly,  At This Point,  Against A Possible

Misconception. It Is Not To Be Understood That These One Hundred

Thousand Citizens Are Simply "Office-Seekers," Using The Ordinary And

Offensive Sense Of The Term. The Activity In affairs Which We Describe

Is Distinct From A Sordid Desire To Grab The Emoluments Of Office. The

Vast Majority Of The Places,  Including All Those In The

Townships--Which,  With The Aspirants To Them,  Make Four-Fifths Of The

Whole--Are Either Without Any Pay At All Or Have An Amount So Small As

Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 46

To Be Beneath Our Consideration. But A Small Part Of The Offices Which

We Have Enumerated Carry Emoluments Sufficient To Furnish A Living For

The Most Economical Incumbent. The Inspiration Of The Political

Interest Evidenced By This One-Seventh Part Of The Citizenship Is Not An

Unworthy One At All: On The Contrary,  It Is That Essential Democratic

Inclination Without Which Our Form Of Government Must Quickly Stagnate.

It Would Be Foolish To Say That No Selfish Motive Enters Into This

Tremendous Manifestation Of Energy And Effort (Until Humanity Assumes A

Higher Form The Moving Power Of The Mercenary Principle Must Be Very

Great),  But It Is Fair And It Is Accurate To Ascribe To The Men In

Affairs A Much Loftier And More Honorable Impulse--The Aspiration To

Share In The Conduct Of Their Own Government,  The Unwillingness To Be

Ignored Or Excluded In The Administration Of What Is Universally

Denominated A Common Trust. That They Enjoy,  If They Do Not Covet,  Such

Pecuniary Advantage As Their Places Bring Is Reasonable,  But It Is True,

To Their Credit,  That They Do Appreciate More Than This The Honor That

Attaches To The Public Station And The Pleasure Which May Be Experienced

In The Discharge Of Its Conspicuous Duties.

 

Let Us Presume That Even This Imperfect Study Of The Political

Activities Of A Single State May Present Some Conception Of The

Tremendous Force And Energy That Go To The Making,  Year By Year,  Of The

Various Branches Of Our Government. Certainly,  Any Student Of This Field

May Accept With Respect The Admonition That There Is No Languor,  No

Fatigue,  No Feeling Of Genteel Disgust With Politics,  In What Has Thus

Been Presented Him. If,  Then,  His Plan Of Reorganization For The Civil

Service Is