Rotation In Office

Tliis is a favonte expression wiin uemojrats. We havo asked several of them to r'ive usa definition of its preciee meaning. - From tíieir answers we learn 1 lint the phrase expreses tho Democratie, principie that no person ougkt to hold the same office excrpl for short terms. This sounds rather nwkward: but weo not sce how thc definition can be bettered. It will not do to sny ihat no person should continue in office :nre than one term: or this tlio Demócrata do not hold to. But he incumbent should hold the same office ony for n short time, nnd then etep out and makc oom for his neifjlibor, who in his turn shnll oon pive way to ihe next in cuccession. It is to be ohserved that this rotation in office is not inconsistent wiih holding office for ife: but the offices must be chaned. The nnumbent may be demi)craiically rotated ouí oí" one office into another for half or a quarter of a century. Such 18 the general practice of the nartv.Observin? men think irrey see in this prin ' iple one of the elpmen's of the snccess of ( bat pnrty. Each office has its aspirant., from ' Resident down to Pnthma6ter. It is for the ' terest of the seekers to cry out Totntion in ffice, os a mennsof thrnstingr out the incumtent and mnkingr room for themselves. It is br the interest of Cass, Bnchanan, Stc. to suportthis principie so as to preclnde the relominntion of Mr. Polk. So u each coim - ry road district, where there are but half o lozen neighbors, uoon this principie each of hem may hope to herenfter have the honor of iirpciing the lnbor of his fellows upon the liiirlnvay. Roiation in office shoves a man out merel y beca v se he is in the xvay of somebody else - Siippose the case of o Democratie Supervisor. He has proved himself an able nnt' Oiithful nfficer. His pnrty intend to nominnte nnnthpr ma. He asks theni why? He inqtnres if they am not fully eatisfied. O yes, thev reply, you have don first rate. "Well. do not you think I shonld do well in future?'1 We have no kind of doubt of it, they wül nnWer. "Then why not continue me in office?" "Because you have been in offico, and mint now msko way for somebody else. This is the sole rciison. Every man in his turn is our principie."But is this principie of prnctic.nl bnfit to the public' He-e is a chance fnr Bomct Inner to bc Fflid on hnth ?idps. The nature of the office, the qnalifications rpquisite, nnd Hip length of its terms, are al I to be taken mto account. The public npert tlie servies of thosr citizpns who can best perfonn the dutipp of office Tl)is beinsr ernntedjit follows thnt thowrihoujd bp opnointed wlio nre best qnnlified for the severnl pitunfions. Now, Mippose a rnan to be eelpcted who ovpry wny pqtials the expectntions of his ronstituents, nnd tlny have no hotie of obfninin? n be'.termnn, sho'ihl Iip not re-elected for ilmt verv repon, viz: ikut hr fïllrd the offire heffer fhttn thf nrxl incvmbent probtihly wW? Tliis to our niinds, '.s ré'afinii eiiou?b, and we wonld continue him in thnt office for lifp. unies he eould be protnotcd to one whpre he wouM do bi'tter. Bnt, soysthe Democrit,do yoti not know thnt a man who has heen long in office becnmes necessarily indolent, careles., dishonest or corrupt' Does not expenence dpmonstratp this? Do we not see the saine propoition tniein private Üfe' Take the President or7nshierof a Bnnk. for instance, who has a rood salary . Afler he han been in office twen .y ycars. will he bc as valunble and efficiënt in officer as he was the first years of liis ftice? Will li e nnt drink more wine, be moro ' sxpensive in his habits, lnbor le.s for the interït of the bmk, and leave more to t ie innnngement of others than he did in the brginning 'jf his careert To this argument we Rnswer that experience affords no certain result for a guidr, in respect to private or public life. There are some bank officers who are ns Inborious and faithful at the end of twenty years as they ever were, while Ihc knowledge and expsrienco acquired by them during that penod are highly valnable to the instiluti"n. If they becotne lazy, careless, or corrupt, it will not unfrequently be found owing to their largo salaries, which tempt them to enter upon all kinds of extrnvaaance. So in public life. There ia a vast uiversity in the character of men. John Qmncy Adaniï-las been in oiEce of Bome kind or other, for nearly half a century: and vet no onc con sy but the old man, at. the age of 76, fulfils his duties as Representative vviih as much energy, punctuality and zeal os he ever manifiested at any neriod of his life. The same may be eaid of many oiher public men. Report attributen the same perseverance in official daties to Mr. Polk and old Cave Johnson. One argument for tliiu principie, advanced by eome Democrals, ie, that for most offices there are many persons of quaüfications supposed to be nearly equal, and it is but fair ihatench one 6hould have m his turn whatever of emolunient or honor the office might bring. For instance. if there bc ten persons in a town who would make good Supervisors, it is no more than justice that the ten should each hold the office one year, rather than that one of tbe number should hold it ten vears.Tliis argument looks plausible at firstsight but there is no Democracy i it. For ivhat purpose are Supervisors and all otlier officers elected by the people? To créate situutions of profit and honor for a certain chosen few; or for the benefit of the people of the town? Rvery truo üemocrat must onswer that the last Í9 thetrue purpose; and consequently the offices should be so bestowed that the interests of the people shall be best promoted, whcther all the expectante be gralified or not. The Dcmocrats are not elow to viólate their ovvn principie where they find a public officer that euits them. It is 6tated that Col. Benton, at the eml of his present terra, will have occupied the same chair in the Senate for Iwcnly Jour years in sutcession. We have a similar instance in ourown State, in the case of Moj. Kearsley, who has held o public office forabout a quartcr of acentury, and now, atjer a vacaron of twoycare, he has beenstaied in ttie same simation, and every Dem ocratic paper in ihc State that noticed the fact, mcnlioned t approvingly ! The officer , was an acceptahle one, and they forgot all about rolation in office. Gov. Barry bas held offices for many yeara. and stood highest on the list of candidntes for a third term.- Fort y Democrats were found willing to vote for hini, and thus bolie their own favoriie principie. Democrats keep their public men in office as much as any other party, and not unfrequently they hold the eame offico for tmny successive yeare. This we regard as an evidence of the good eense of the party.- When they find o public officer that fuita them, they hold on to him, os they sliouid do. But there othct considerationn of importnnce. A largo amount of knowledge is requisito for dischnrgmg some officas with advantage to the State. Tnke ttie ense of Representativo to the Legislature. Rotalion in office re- quireá that the 53 membera be changed every year. Suppose them p.ll ascembled. Not &soul of tlietn wos ever a member of such a body before, and most of them know nothing of thöforms of proceeding-, or the rules of debate. Yet they are expected to despatch ■i II the bus'ness of the State and adjourn in thirty days , wit hout fail. They commence by electing one of their number, not quite as ignorant as the rest, to preside. In a day or two a bilí comes npappropriating 50,000 acres of the public lands for ihe extensión of the Railroads. The young member, if faithful to his duty, will be greatly puzzled to know how to vote, hi order to vote wisely, be must ascertain the omoiint of lands owned by ihe State, their present nnd probable future value, the ndebtedness of the State, its pledíree, ad well as the situation of the Rnilroads, and their receiptp, expendituren, profits, nnd benefits to the State. All this and much more ho musí know before he can voie unilerátandingly on this proposilion.- To gain this knowledge, so aa (o draw accurate conchisions from it, would require no small amount of time, labor and nppl:cation; and to vote without this knowledge would bo ridiculous, as well as unsafe and dangerous. Or, to take anuther exnmple. Our yotinjf mpmber is rulled upon to vote vea or nay for a bilí of a liundred soctions altering theentire arrangoment of cotirts and admintstration ofaw throtigh the State, n wm reqmre me best pnrt of half a dny to rend it; how mtich rnvre then, t examine nll the cxisting regulations, nnd judgo what chaiige vou!d be for llio better. On every vote of importnnce on nny subject, the Icgislutive tyro wijl feel the necessity of an rxtended and accurate knmoltdgr oj the iictmtl condUinn of the Slate. - To vote without iliis nformmion would be like a tarmpr coma. encinar h6 buildinors, fences aud improvementa without havinj ascertained theextPiit of his preinises, the natue of the soil, or the nmmint of meaná neccssnry for mproving hiá laiids. iow we adfnit thnt 53 leoriclntive tyrop, of industry honesty nnd imprudenoe, tnijrlit lgi.laip, for one session, without doitig very much mischief. But iot the some tnemberg assemble noxt ycar, and ihey would be far bctter qimlified to legislate efficiomly, wisely, and exDeditiously, than diiring the previous year. All the knowlfidjre acquired by them of Irgislutive formsnnd rules, of judicial proceedmffs. of the assets of tLe State, of iu debts, public w..rks, expon-es, ineoine, Lcü. would rrmain with them, and now acciitnulations ofnowiedge would be made. All prnciicul biMiess meivknow tliR v.ilu ■ of a goud judgmenl', lid this cnn on'iv I)'5 attained by a complete nd cornprehensive v'ww of a suliject in nll ita elatiuris; nnd tlus view can only be hnd by tem of knóWlcrfpe-, odded to enh oiher thro' i Inpse of time by cintinued indu.-iry, obsenaion nnd refledion. In lins respect, then, .hc Lerislator of half a deze years experieace ivlll be far superior, in devMoff or actinff oit scliomes of public benefit, to the s;.mo nersoii t !lie nomméncement of hiscareer. We do Rot eay that he would be any more honcst or ndiistrioii!'; bui itdoed not folios tlia he necesuarily be anv the ltss so. The true policy of the public is to select such persons for office as they tliink v. il! fill tiiem for the publ'c good - to dWcharire those who are ('ound to be ncorr.petent or unworthy, and retain in offico all who do well tül others are found wht can reasonablj' be expected to do better. The same principie would hold in reference to Executive and Judicial officers. He who has had expcrience as a Governor or Judg#, can, for that very reason, be a beiter Governor or Judge than a man of like qualificalionn who has had no expenence. In this respect, the weight of argument is decidedly uguinst this constant changeof public officere. We, therefore, disagree to the Democratie doctrine of rotation of office. We would roíate out of office every uu.-uit:ib!e incumbenr, and keep all others in, tül they were more needed elsewhere, or till their places could be better supplied. In this way every unworthy candidate ivould be dismissed after n sufficient probation, and every valuable one be kept in full employ. In what way could the interest of the public be better subserved?05a The Whig papers are trying to make capital fbr their candidates by calling their ticket the "Farmers Tickkt." Tlilu ia paraded in nll their papera ne a reason why all farmers ought to support iha ticket. Rather nconclusive we think. Candidatos 6hould be supporled on the ground of hér principies and qualijications, not tiieir professionmercly. A Detroit correspondent of the Marslia 11 Statesman says that Felch and Birney 'are educated aristocratie Laivyera, who care a" litlleaboHt the wants of the peopleof Michigan, as thcy do of those in the rnoon!" The fact is that Mr. Birney is as Iruly a farmer, in every sense of the word, as any man in tho State. That lio has bad a good education and experience as a lawyer, is rather a recommendalion of him as a candidato than otherwise. The imputation of beinpr ' 'aristocratie" needs no denial. Kvery person who has ever 6een Mr. Birney knows it 10 be false. U A writer in the Argus objeets to thc arbitrary and despotic powers poseeesfid by the Cour t of Chancery, cxtendmg not only to property but personal liberiy. This Court consisis of one person. The writer noys th at only Une other Stales have Chancery Cour; b.