第21章

carriers，stenographers，womentypewriters，clerks，becauseofthepoliticsofthemselvesortheirfriends，withoutregardtotheirownservice，is，fromthestandpointofthepeopleatlarge，asfoolishanddegradingasitiswicked。

Suchbeingthecase，itwouldseematfirstsightextraordinarythatitshouldbesodifficulttouprootthesystem。Unfortunately，itwaspermittedtobecomehabitualandtraditionalinAmericanlife，sothattheconceptionofpublicofficeassomethingtobeusedprimarilyforthegoodofthedominantpoliticalpartybecameingrainedinthemindoftheaverageAmerican，andhegrewsoaccustomedtothewholeprocessthatitseemedpartoftheorderofnature。Notmerelythepoliticiansbutthebulkofthepeopleacceptedthisinamatter-of-

coursewayastheonlyproperattitude。Therewereplentyofcommunitieswherethecitizensthemselvesdidnotthinkitnatural，orindeedproper，thatthePost-Officeshouldbeheldbyamanbelongingtothedefeatedparty。Moreover，unlessbothsideswereforbiddentousetheofficesforpurposesofpoliticalreward，thesidethatdidusethempossessedsuchanadvantageovertheotherthatinthelongrunitwasoutofthequestionfortheothernottofollowthebadexamplethathadbeenset。Eachpartyprofitedbytheofficeswheninpower，andwheninoppositioneachpartyinsincerelydenounceditsopponentsfordoingexactlywhatititselfhaddoneandintendedagaintodo。

Itwasnecessary，inordertoremedytheevil，bothgraduallytochangetheaveragecitizen’smentalattitudetowardthequestion，andalsotosecureproperlawsandproperadministrationofthelaws。Theworkisfarfromfinishedevenyet。Therearestillmassesofoffice-

holderswhocanbeusedbyanunscrupulousAdministrationtodebauchpoliticalconventionsandfraudulentlyovercomepublicsentiment，especiallyinthe“rottenborough“districts——thosewherethepartyisnotstrong，andwheretheoffice-holdersinconsequencehaveadisproportionateinfluence。ThiswasdonebytheRepublicanAdministrationin1912，totheruinoftheRepublicanparty。Moreover，therearenumbersofStatesandmunicipalitieswhereverylittlehasasyetbeendonetodoawaywiththespoilssystem。ButintheNationalGovernmentscoresofthousandsofofficeshavebeenputunderthemeritsystem，chieflythroughtheactionoftheNationalCivilServiceCommission。

TheuseofGovernmentofficesaspatronageisahandicapdifficulttooverestimatefromthestandpointofthosewhostrivetogetgoodgovernment。Anyeffortforreformofanysort，National，State，ormunicipal，resultsinthereformersimmediatelyfindingthemselvesfacetofacewithanorganizedbandofdrilledmercenarieswhoarepaidoutofthepublicchesttotrainthemselveswithsuchskillthatordinarygoodcitizenswhentheymeetthematthepollsareinmuchthepositionofmilitiamatchedagainstregulartroops。Yetthesecitizensthemselvessupportandpaytheiropponentsinsuchawaythattheyaredrilledtooverthrowtheverymenwhosupportthem。CivilServiceReformisdesignedprimarilytogivetheaverageAmericancitizenafairchanceinpolitics，togivetothiscitizenthesameweightinpoliticsthatthe“wardheeler“has。

Patronagedoesnotreallyhelpaparty。Ithelpsthebossestogetcontrolofthemachineryoftheparty——asin1912wastrueoftheRepublicanparty——butitdoesnothelptheparty。Ontheaverage，themostsweepingpartyvictoriesinourhistoryhavebeenwonwhenthepatronagewasagainstthevictors。Allthatthepatronagedoesistohelptheworstelementinthepartyretaincontrolofthepartyorganization。TwooftheevilelementsinourGovernmentagainstwhichgoodcitizenshavetocontendare，1，thelackofcontinuousactivityonthepartofthesegoodcitizensthemselves，and，2，theever-

presentactivityofthosewhohaveonlyanevilself-interestinpoliticallife。Itisdifficulttointeresttheaveragecitizeninanyparticularmovementtothedegreeofgettinghimtotakeanefficientpartinit。Hewishesthemovementwell，buthewillnot，oroftencannot，takethetimeandthetroubletoserveitefficiently；andthiswhetherhehappenstobeamechanicorabanker，atelegraphoperatororastorekeeper。Hehashisowninterests，hisownbusiness，anditisdifficultforhimtosparethetimetogoaroundtotheprimaries，toseetotheorganization，toseetogettingoutthevote——inshort，toattendtoallthethousanddetailsofpoliticalmanagement。

Ontheotherhand，thespoilssystembreedsaclassofmenwhosefinancialinterestitistotakethisnecessarytimeandtrouble。Theyarepaidforsodoing，andtheyarepaidoutofthepublicchest。

Underthespoilssystemamanisappointedtoanordinaryclericalormin