150 



CLUB. 



the appointing power. But many now holding such 

 positions have forfeited all just claim to retention, be- 

 cause they have used their places for party purposes 

 in disregard of their duty to the people, and because, 

 instead of being decent public servants, they have 

 proved themselves offensive partisans and unscrupu- 

 lous manipulators of local party management. The 

 lessons of the past should be unlearned, and such 

 official Sj as well as their successors, should be taught 

 that efficiency, fitness, and devotion to public duty 

 are the conditions of their continuance in public place, 

 and that the quiet and unobtrusive exercise of indi- 

 vidual political rights is the reasonable measure of 

 their party service. 



If I were addressing none but party friends, I should 

 deem it entirely proper to remind them that, though 

 the coming Administration is to be Democratic, due 

 regard for the people's interest does not permit faith- 

 ful party work to be always rewarded by appointment 

 to office, and to say to them that, while Democrats 

 may expect all proper consideration, selections for 

 office not embraced within the civil-service rules will 

 be based upon sufficient inquiry as to fitness, insti- 

 tuted by those charged with that duty, rather than 

 upon persistent importunity or self-solicited recom- 

 mendations on behalf of candidates for appointment. 



"When the New York Legislature assembled, 

 January 6, 1885, Mr. Cleveland resigned the 

 governorship of the State. (See UNITED STATES 

 and NEW YORK.) 



CLUB, a private association, of which the so- 

 cial element is the distinctive feature, with a 

 common purpose and common expenses. This 

 definition of the modern club distinguishes it 

 from political, scientific, religious, or other so- 

 cieties in which the social element is second- 

 ary to the real or the professed objects of the 

 organization. 



Political clubs were very numerous and in- 

 fluential in France during and before the Revo- 

 lution, which indeed was in great part brought 

 about by their agency, and after which they 

 were suppressed. The true social club, with 

 political or artistic objects, more or less definite- 

 ly pursued, has flourished in England since the 

 time of Addison ; and it is in England that the 

 clubs of the present day have attained the 

 most perfect development, and during the 

 present century, though several of the English 

 clubs are older than this. 



Club-life forms an important and permanent 

 feature of the social life of the British capital, 

 where nearly a hundred clubs exist, with a 

 very large and influential membership. They 

 are entirely maintained, as a rule, by the en- 

 trance-fees and the annual dues of members. 

 These, in the more important clubs, range re- 

 spectively from $100 to $200 and from $35 to 

 $50. For these payments the member becomes 

 one of a carefully chosen society, numbering 

 from a few hundred to over two thousand 

 members in the larger clubs, which have in- 

 comes ranging from $100,000 to $150,000 per 

 annum. He has the use and privilege of a pala- 

 tial club-house, with restaurant, library, con- 

 versation-rooms, and works of art, and in addi- 

 tion certain opportunities that are scarcely 

 within the reach of private fortunes, the club- 

 houses being frequented by the most prominent 

 men, and thus forming a social exchange that 



does not elsewhere exist in London, unless it 

 be in the House of Commons, which has been 

 wittily but not very accurately defined as "the 

 best club in England." 



In the United States, owing to the smaller 

 number of independent and permanent fortunes 

 and the consequent lack of a leisure class, clubs 

 do not constitute an important feature of social 

 life unless in a few of the larger cities. Even 

 there few of the clubs are firmly established or 

 free from debt, the usual reason of the pecun- 

 iary embarrassment being that the restaurant 

 is expensively managed and poorly patronized. 

 This feature, one of strength in the English clubs, 

 is one of weakness in the American, mainly be- 

 cause of the different ideas entertained in the 

 two countries respecting the function of the 

 club. In England it is considered as existing 

 to increase both the comforts and the econo- 

 mies of living, and it is an example of the co- 

 operative system on a large scale in respect to 

 the restaurant and other supplies furnished. The 

 aim of the management is to furnish all such 

 articles to members as nearly at cost or whole- 

 sale price as possible, making no profit out of 

 members, but paying all the running expenses 

 of the club by the receipts from annual and ad- 

 mission fees. Another system prevails in the 

 American clubs, which generally seek to make 

 a profit out of the members on all articles 

 that they consume. The result of this sys- 

 tem is a smaller membership, and consequently 

 higher annual fees, a smaller attendance, less 

 use of the restaurant, and consequent pecun- 

 iary embarrassment in the majority of cases. 

 In the leading clubs, both of London and of 

 the United States, the average admission-fee is 

 about $140 ; the annual dues average about $40 

 and $50 respectively. 



Weekly, monthly, and annual meetings are 

 held at most of the stronger clubs ; and the 

 doors are constantly open for the accommoda- 

 tion of a class of members, not numerous in 

 this country, who make a home of the club- 

 house and pass a large part of their time within 

 its walls. 



Membership in the leading clubs is much 

 sought after, and there is considerable diversity 

 in the manner of the election. The leading 

 ways of election are: 1. By ballot at a club 

 meeting ; 2. By the decision of a committee on 

 admissions ; or, 3. By ballot of the club upon 

 such names only as are recommended by a 

 committee on admissions. The last method 

 is preferred in many clubs, as intrusting the 

 investigation of the candidate's availability to 

 a private committee charged with this duty, 

 while yet the formal decision is made at a full 

 meeting of the club. In this way the candi- 

 date's qualifications are more fairly and deliber- 

 ately canvassed than in any other ; while the 

 name of any candidate who may fail to receive 

 the recommendation of the committee is sim- 

 ply passed over without action on the part of 

 the club, and finally dropped from the list of 

 candidates, which is kept posted in the club- 



