Testimonials and Presentations

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TESTIMONIALS AND PRESENTATIONS.

Every now and then the public are practically reminded that the traces of the Golden Age have not wholly disappeared, and that virtue and gratitude are not wholly extinguished by the money-grubbing spirit of the nineteenth century. Announcements are constantly made that “the admirers of Mr. So-and-so, anxious to exhibit their admiration of his sterling qualities of head and heart, have presented him with a splendid testimonial, consisting of” &c.

We observe that a delicate attention of this kind, paid to Mr. Gerard M. Stevens¹ by a Jury of the Circuit Court some years ago, has been the means of subjecting the recipient to some little annoyance. The practical and commonplace mind of Supervisor Bergen could not conceive of a donation being made without a quid pro quo received by the donors; such a word as gratitude is unknown in the vocabulary of the economist; hence the transaction is to be subjected to a rigid scrutiny on the part of a Committee of Supervisors.

Where the recipient has conferred real benefits on the community, we approve of a substantial acknowledgment of the same being made; but nothing can be more preposterous than the indiscriminate presentation of tokens of esteem and gratitude to Tom, Dick, or Harry; especially when, as is often the case, the contributions are bogus, the articles presented being purchased at the expense of the recipient himself.

But the meanest form of this testimonial humbug, is where the party receiving the gift stands in a position of authority over those by whom it is presented. In the case of General Nye,² for instance, referred to in another place, the getting up a subscription among the policemen for him is as boldfaced a robbery as any that ever they detected a Dead Rabbit³ in—for it is of course understood that any officer refusing to subscribe would subject himself to the illwill of his superior in office.

Of a piece with this are the contributions levied by target companies on candidates for office, and by teachers on the pupils of public schools. It is a disgrace on the Board of Education that they do not prevent the children and their parents from being blackmailed as they often are in this way. In our schools, and in every public office, it cannot but be dishonorable for an officer to accept gifts from those of lower position and smaller salary than himself; first because they cannot afford to reward him, and also because the relative position of the parties always creates a suspicion that the subscriptions are anything but free will offerings.

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