And, if there is any foundation for the popular impression
that public offices are conferred on men less eminently qualified to
give dignity to public employments, the reason of this degeneracy--less
noteworthy than it is usually represented--is to be found in this
connection.
Governments and political organizations accept the common law of
society. When an individual or a corporation is prosperous, places of
trust and emolument are often gained and occupied by unworthy men; but,
when profits are diminished, or when they disappear entirely; when
dividends are passed, when loss and bankruptcy are imminent, then, if
hope and courage still remain, places of importance are filled by the
appointment of abler and worthier men. The charge made against official
character, to whatever extent true, is better evidence of confidence and
prosperity than it is of the degeneracy of the people; and a public
exigency, serious and long-continued, would call to posts of
responsibility the highest talent and integrity which the country could
produce. But it is, nevertheless, to be admitted as a necessary
consequence of the facts already stated, and the views presented, that
the average amount of sound political learning among those engaged in
public employments is less than it was during the revolutionary era. It
is, however, also to be observed, that, when such learning seems to be
specially required, the people demand it and secure it.
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