The greatest of all things is PLACE; for all other things are in the world, but the world is in it.-THALES, the Philosopher. THE General Government of the United States at Washington controls the appointment of about 14,000 postmasters, about 14,000 deputies or clerks, about 3,000 mail contractors and agents, and about 2,000 revenue and lighthouse officers, making in all some 33,000 public dependants, whose duties are local, and whose residences are scattered through every township and village in our country. Every State government has in addition a patronage averaging at least 2,000 appointments of a similar character, making 54,000, which added to the 33,000 already mentioned, make 87,000 men. This is of course entirely exclusive of all Cabinet officers, State and national, and their troops of clerks and dependants; of the army and navy lists, embracing their thousands; of the whole diplomatic and consular corps; the registers, receivers, surveyors, and other officers connected with the administration of our public land system; the Indian agencies, and of a most potent and, perhaps, a more numerous class, the jobbers and contractors upon Government works, and the providers under Government contracts. Exclusive of these last, and confining ourselves, for the present, to our first figure, we find 87,000 men distributed over our country, more or less dependent upon public patronage, or, rather, upon those by whom it is dispensed. This figure includes no women or children. They are, or should be, men arrived at their political maturity, and in the vigor of manhood. Supposing every such man to support three-and that is a moderate estimate of the product of every man's industry in society-these 87,000 would represent the capital, the social and political substance of 261,000 inhabitants. As it has come to be pretty well established that political, like most other kinds of gratitude, is an emotion experienced for favors to be rendered, and that political friends will be preferred in the public service to political adversaries, it is fair to presume that every one of the 87,000 appointments we have enumerated will be made, subject to that preference. The public sentiment of the country seems to sustain such a policy, and even tolerates, with marvellous patience, the more revolting practice of removing from the most subordinate office for political defection or differences with which the duties of the office are not concerned. And when a state of things has thus gradually arisen, in which all, or nearly all, the offices in the hands of one party are made systematically points or nuclei of influence in support of that party, whether by the direction of patronage connected with them, by contributions of money for political expenses, or by other modes of influence exerted by men brought by official position into contact with large numbers of their fellow-citizens-it then becomes unreasonable to expect that a new party coming into power will consent to leave these fortresses of influence in the hands of their opponents, even were it free from the pressure of the great number of its meritorious adherents, vernment. Indeed, it will occur to all, upon a little reflection, that by far the most numerous, noisy, active and devoted politicians are those who are not enjoying, but are seeking place-who are earning their position-who are not, but always "to be blessed." who often need them for subsistence, and urge their claims to them for reward. Thus goes on the system from bad to worse, by alternate retaliation; its evils at every step both increasing and multiplying, until it becomes impossible to reach them by any other than some radical, organic remedy, directed not against the abuses, but the system-not against the symptoms, but the iuner, deep-seated home of the disease. Besides these 87,000, who will have thus given up their hearts to the administration which had the discrimination to call them to the public service, there will be a certain very large number in waiting, apprehensive that their aid will be required when they are not at hand. What may be the average number of these patient patriots at any given time in the country, it is difficult to conjecture. We are informed that there were, on the 1st of August last, upwards of 4,000 applications for places in the Custom House at New York City. As there are but 460 officers about the establishment, including the collector, any of the simple arithmetics will furnish a rule to calculate the proportion of candidates to officers in this particular case. If the same proportion should maintain throughout the United States, there would be at the present time about 800,000 Democrats actively engaged in impressing upon those in whose hands are the issues of political favor, the great advantage which the State would derive from securing, with the least possible delay, their valuable cooperation, and also the extreme devotion with which themselves and their fathers, unto the third and fourth generation, had loved the peculiar opinions entertained by the Government upon whose elevation to power it was at this time the special privilege of the whole world to congratulate itself. Without caring for any of the absolute certainty of figures, we wish only to remind our readers of what, when stated, their own experience will promptly verify-that the political patronage of our government is annually devoted to populate the land with active partizans, made more active by influences independent of their convictions. Secondly, that, of these partizans, but a small proportion hold office, or any official relation with the Go Now let us glance for a moment at some of the consequences of this state of things. The theory of our Government makes its prosperity and success to depend upon the fairness with which the people are represented in the laws. Any tendency calculated to refract or misrepresent the popular will, thereby becomes a public calamity. This is a position which no one recognizing man's capacity for self-government will presume to deny; yet to fully appreciate it in all its length and breadth, it requires more amplification than we have space or time to furnish. We fear there is even in this country an imperfect sense of the grave importance of having every positive and accountable interest, however obscure it may be, fairly represented in the making and administration of the laws. Now will any one for an instant pretend to deny that the 87,000 incumbents of office, and the 800,000 who aspire to be, are not influenced in their political action by what they do, or hope to enjoy! Even supposing them all to be honest, a supposition which, like the geometrical straight line, can only be used hypothetically, still will they not have a selfish interest, separate from that which belongs to them as citizens? and will not that selfish interest lead them to select their opinions and their allies with some slight regard to other considerations than the public good? Will they not talk louder, praise more indiscriminately, conceal faults or errors with more than Christian charity; labor and wrestle with neutral and flagging friends, or reclaimable foes, with a wilder zeal or more contagious enthusiasm, a more captivating indifference to private aud personal convenience than they would if their action had been inspired solely by philanthropy and patriotism? We shall have done them great injustice all our days if it be otherwise. But let us suppose any considerable portion of these political probationers to be corrupt or corruptible-and this supposition lets us down at once from the imaginary region at which we were sustained by the last hypothesis-suppose any considerable proportion of these to be unscrupulous men, and what mischief may they not be competent and tempted to do! All that vast floating vote which has no fixed opinion, and which takes its hue, like the unsheltered meadow, from the cloud which happens last to be passing over it, falls at once a prey to their solicitations. Bribery is made to take the place of argument, and political influence is offered as proof of character. Men who have never wished to, or thought of doing anything but attend to their own business, are disinterred from obscurity, and flattered with illusory promises their ambition becomes a passion, and hurries them on until they fall into some unholy political alliance, offensive and defensive, whereby the State loses perhaps a useful and industrious citizen, to gain a misinformed, indiscreet, and good-for-nothing politician. In this way every nook and corner of society is searched to find out any easy friend or susceptible tool who may be availed of, to strengthen that peculiar party or sect upon whose success the fate of this "officiosissima natio candidatorum" are supposed to depend. this way, parties who might agree perfectly in their county and town legislation, are divided by their differences on national questions, in which the great body of them perhaps, have only a factitious interest. The party which succeeds may lug with it the county or the town, against the judgment and the interest of all who are concerned in its affairs, and all through the machinations of men whose only object is to establish that dynasty from whom they have the largest expectations of official bounty. There is no room nor reason longe to doubt that by influences such as we have indicated, the popular will is often grievously misrepresented or perverted, and the public interests most unscrupulously sacrificed. When we consider upon how close a vote some of our most important local as well as general elections have turned, that the largest majority ever given on any presidential election since the establishment of the government, was not five per cent upon the whole vote cast, and when we further consider that these moderate majorities, these tremendous minorities, have determined the adoption of measures and systems of legislation having the most serious bearing upon the destiny of our country, we feel that we are chargeable with indulging no premature alarm nor groundless anxiety about the consequences which may result from the operation of such disturbing and depraving forces upon our political institutions. It is our faith to defy every consequence of popular sovereignty if the popular will is impartially represented in the laws. By virtue of that faith we also distrust every government just in proportion as that will is misrepresented, and we abhor every tendency or institution which contributes to the sacrifice. And again, this imperial patronage, running through and uniting both the National and State Governments by the alliance of cemmon interests, common dependence and common faculties of cooperation, and subordinating as it does the judgments of such hosts of men to their interests, tends to divide the nation into two or three great parties upon a few controlling questions, by which the minor, but not the least important interests of the people are entirely swallowed up. Interested rather in the success of the party than in the beneficial influence of its measures, these Government retainers frown upon Again, it is impossible for one man everything which savors of insubordi- to dispense the vast patronage of many nation, cherish passive obedience to of our State governments, much less caucus ordinations, and proclaim from that of the general government, with every house top that party organization any considerable confidence that he will and regular nominations are the vitality do it wisely or fairly. It is not a very of patriotism. The consequence is, that they attach to those questions on which patronage is to depend, every local question, however distinct in its character; and whoso believes in one, must believe in all, and defend all, or be content to be shouldered aside as an unsafe friend or a factious disorganizer. In bold nor a very novel proposition that in the aggregate of cases every man understands his own business better than a stranger. That principle might authorize the inference that the residents of a county knew its interests better than a non-resident; but lest that might to some seem questionable, we |