Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1862-03-29

clerks in those Offices. 1t no, for the purpose
of aiding the present incumhcnts 10 discharge
their daily duties in accomplishing the r'gu-
lar business OF their Offices, but 10 bring up
the Lack wo,I. 1t is hot in their power to do
it without laying aside entirely the daily bust
ness of their offices. They have by unremt-
ting labor KEEP, up the business of,heir Offices,
and this they intend TO do in the future. All
they ask is, that the department will furnish Il
clerk for one or two years. or SO long as is
necessary to accomplish the back work. Con-
rrcss, some two years ago. approrTia', the
sum Of $4,000. for the express purpos" of
bringing up aircarages in the OLYMPIA office
and for some cause OF other, the Commission
or has forbid or Withheld its application to
this purpose, probably decn.inS that !, WAS an
unnecessary waste of money on the part of
Congress.
Congress also appropriated $1,000 for the
survey of the boundary line between Oregon
and this Territory, which runs lhro' the mos,
dcnec!y populated portions Of our country,
and through or near the furnishing city of
Walla Waila. The failure 10 have the line
definitely fixed is suhjcoting cur people and
those o! Oregon to great inconvenience, and
so far as tla, vicinity is concerned greatly
embarrassing our courts OF Justice. The law.
as we understand il. places the appropriation
at The joint disposal OF the Surveyors General
of Oregon and Washington: but when they
propose 70 Let the contract. they are forbidden
to do so by the department.
Many of our oldest settlers have been ask
inc Tor the public surveys To he extended
over their neghborhoods, in order that they
may perfect their titles to their donation
claims, and yet the very insignificant appro-
priation of $1,000 has been cut down by the
present Comini,%-iouer to $1,000. While we
are willing 10 bear our portion of the priva-
tons incident to the present condition of the
country, and are in favor Of reducing the OK
pendiurrs of the Government, in every way
compatible with the public interests, we pro-
test against having our great leading interests
on this coast neglected entirely, to save far
Mr Hmc being, fifty or q hundred thousand
dollars TO the treasury. This course of the
land department is still more rnaccountaLlc
when it sundcrstood that Oregon and Wash
ington will furnish an addition to the circu-
lating medium of the nation Of forty or fifty
millions i'll gold during the current year.
TO show how little regard or attention is
paid to our interests Us connected with the
land Office in this district, we only need refer
to the facts. We are informed on undoubted
authority that not ono dollar has yet been re-
ceived by the present incumbenis as salary,
although three quarters are now DUE and that
nothing has been received for payment of rent
and other incidental expenses for eighteen
months past and what is more remarkable is.
that although they have Frequently written to
the department on the subject they have not
received a reply in explanation, Or even an .,c-
acknowledgement Of the receipt of their letters.
/ his tr atmcnt is so different from that cx-
tended towards the Surveyor Generals Office.
the letters Of which are promptly answered,
and ihe accounts, properly certified, are
promptly paid and when we consider that
both Offices are under the control of the same
bureau officer, the matter is still more incom-
prehensblc Perhaps the Potter invcstga-
tons now being instituted in the departments,
with the view of purging them of traitors, may
furnish an explanation.
1t is said that the surveying department of
the land bureau is under the immediate con-
troll of that veteran clerk, Joseph Wilson, and
hence the perfect system and punc,uali'y that
characterizes the intercourse between the Sur
veyor Generals office, and the department.
If We are correct in our conjectures as to the
cause of this cupable neglect, we doubt not
but that our Delegate and Senator Nesmith
will be able to have the evil remedied. In
the meantime we would suggest to our Reg
lister and Receiver the propricty of addressing
their next communication on the subject of
salary and incidental expenses to either the
Secretary of the Interior or the President.
II the exigencies of the Treasury are such as
TO justify the denial Of clerk to bring up
the large accumulation of back work. long
since provided for by Congress, the President
will not tolerate The Withholding Of their paw,
and the eouriesics tue them by the depart
I.cni.
A correspondent cf the Portland Tnes
wiring from Dragon Guieh. salmon river