The Madisonian

From the Baltimore Chronicle.
WHY WAS MR. THOMAS MADE PRESIDENT OF THE CANAL COMPANY?

No satisfactory answer can be given to this question. There is not a man, we venture to say, of Mr. Thomas' acquaintance that will pretend that he is fit for the station. We desire to speak of him with perfect respect; but it is notorious that his habits utterly unfit him for the conduct of any enterprise requiring personal industry. He is, essentially, an indolent man—well endowed naturally, we confess, but long since gone to seed—incapable of long continued exertion, impatient of labor, and of an irritable and peevish humor, which forbids the co-operation of advisers or assistants. Why, then, was the salary of $3,500 given to him by the political votes of the State of Maryland, controlled by the Governor, and of the United States, controlled by the Secretary of the Treasury. Plainly and clearly as a reward for his partizan services—as pay for his votes taken in the politics of the State. Are these the proper motives of such an appointment? Should Mr. Thomas' necessities be made to influence the action of the Governor and Secretary in so important an appointment. The salary is enormous—greater than the emolument of most of the principal officers at Washington—nearly equal to the income of a seat in the Supreme Court. We challenge any man to examine the reasons that led to the appointment of Mr. Thomas, without condemning them as unworthy and insufficient. He has been billeted on the Canal Company—and, we predict, that his administration of its affairs will do more to impair its credit and retard the progress of the great enterprise which it has in charge than any event that has yet occurred in its history.