Some Reforms in Our Public Ethics [pp. 417-425]

420 SOME REFORMS IN O UR P UBLIC ETHICS.
the cost within moderate bounds. But
what is worse, is the injurious effect of
this system on public morality. Owing
to the difficulty attending an election or
an appointment to an office, and to the
uncertainty of retaining it for any considerable time, public officials are strongly tempted to appropriate the public
money in a fraudulent manner; and it
is a well-known fact, that they yield to
temptation much more frequently than
men who fill similar positions in private
life.
If public officers knew that their position depended, not on a corner-grocery
convention, nor on a gambling politician
sent to Congress as the tool of a corporation, but on the faithful discharge of
their duties, they could afford to work
for half the salaries they now receive.
When this comes to pass, and not before, we may reasonably expect honesty
and efficiency on the part of public servants. Sheriffs, instead of "laying the
wires" for the next election, would attend more to their duties, and probably
establish some plan of prison reform,
the result of which would be that prisoners would cease to be a burden to the
State. Experience would enable every
officer to reduce the amount of work in
his department, or to perform it in a
better manner. But now, every officer
would prefer to see the quantity of work
in his department increased rather than
diminished; because the more work, the
more fees, the greater the number of
deputies he can employ, and the larger
the number of voters who would feel interested in his re-election.
What is the reason that we so often
change our public officers? In changing them do we act with either the hope
or the desire of obtaining better men?
Not at all. The power, as well as the
inclination, of every officer to do his
duty is injuriously affected by our system. We act only in obedience to a
sentiment worthy of Attila or any other
blood-thirsty conqueror at the head of
his barbarian hordes. "To the victors
belong the spoils" is the key to our
conduct. Attila, however, sought his
"spoils" in strange lands and from
strange races; but we obtain our spoils
in our own country and from our friends
and neighbors.
However careless and extravagant we
can afford to be in pecuniary matters,
human life is too precious to be wasted
without cause, and nothing can excuse
us for not affording it the necessary protection. Here our laws as well as our
customs are wrong. The large number
of murders committed yearly in the
United States is owing to various causes. A very fruitful one is to be found
in that false pride which impels people
to redress their own wrongs, instead of
appealing to the proper tribunal. Readiness to avenge an insult is considered
by many to be a trait worthy of admiration; while the fact is, every indulgence
in this habit brings us nearer to a level
with the savage. Every member of a
civilized community tacitly agrees to refrain from taking the law into his own
hands; therefore, whenever he resorts
without sufficient cause to physical force,
he forfeits the honor of a gentleman and
violates the most solemn obligation of a
citizen. Matters would not be so bad if
this tendency to become our own avengers were confined to the dregs of society; but, unfortunately, our social and
political leaders are subject to its demoralizing influence. While senators,
judges, and newspaper proprietors resort
to the fist, the club, and the revolver, to
redress their wrongs or to enforce their
arguments, it is idle to expect those usually looked upon as vicious and degraded to have any respect for the majesty
of the law. Surely, if the gentleman is
justified in using his cane or his derringer, the hoodlum is justified in using
bricks and cobble-stones; and if the
latter is punished while the former is
[Nov.