Abraham Lincoln and the California Patronage

Abstract

AMONG the thousands of office seekers that flocked to Washington early in i86i were some sixty or more Californians who came by the Panama steamer route, almost a month's trip, to present their claims to Abraham Lincoln and the new Republican administration.1 This delegation was not large in comparison with those from the Eastern states, but it was large for California, isolated as it was from the Atlantic seaboard. Washington could be reached at that time only after a long, tedious, and expensive sea voyage. The prospective rewards were well worth the effort, however, for only the more populous states of the East exceeded California in the number of Federal offices at the disposal of the victorious Republicans. A few facts and figures from the United States Official Register for i86i will give some idea of the richness of the California patronage prize.2 The Treasury Department alone had some 150 Federal employees in the state. Its principal activity was the collection of customs at the port of San Francisco. The head of the customhouse employees was the customs collector who received $7,900 per year. Immediately under him were three deputy collectors, each of whom received a salary of $3,I25, and seventeen other employees whose salaries ranged from $i,o8o to $2,500. In the appraiser's office of the customhouse were an appraiser general and two appraisers, each receiving $3,I25 per year, and fourteen other employees. The warehouse department had twenty employees, with salaries ranging from $900 to $2,500. There were eight weighers, measurers, and gaugers, receiving from $900 to $2,250. Twenty-five inspectors received from $I,368.75 to $I,642.50. Three employees on the revenue boat received salaries ranging from $900 to $I,642.50. Under the customs collector was a surveyor's office with a surveyor, paid $5,625 per year, a deputy surveyor, paid $2,700, and a messenger, receiving $I,170. Also listed under the Treasury Department were the naval office and the United