The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-12-15

pOAuLLclll, even Wll0 the present sal
r ary. Five Of the principal ports o
! the cOuntry-New York, New Or
= leans, San Francisco, Baltimore, an,
Philadelphia-are without hospita
accommodations, and provision i
: made for the patients by contract
: with hospitals or private persons. Th
= War Department is in possession o
a very desirable hospital at New Or
, leans, known as the Sedgwiek Hospi
: tai, and earnestly recommend tn
passage Of an act by which the build
: ing may be transferred to the Treas
. ury Department for a marine hospit
al, and an appropriation made 70
: the purchase of the land on which i
: stands. AT the last session the atten
. ton of Congress was called to the sub
= ject Of transferring David's Island, a
New York, from the War Departmen
to the Treacury Department, for thu
establishment Of a marine hospital
This recommendation is now respect
fully renewed.
THE ALASKA SEAL FISHERIES.
In compliance with the Act of JULY
l, 1870, in reference to the seal fisher
les, proposals were issued and bids re
eeived for the exclusive right to thG
fisheries for the term Of 20 years. Tht
phraseolOgy employed in the Ac
warranted the Interpretation that th,
contract should be awarded to th,
Alaska Commercial Company, iftheil
proposition was as favorable to the
Government as that of any other par
ty, and upon that basis the contrae
was awarded to that Company. A
copy of the contract and Of the pa.
pers connected Herewith will bs
transmitted to Congress. About S..
900 seal-skins have arrived at San
Francisco as the product Of the veal
1859, on which the owners have paiC
81 each, as required by the sixth sec,
ton of said Act.
AN INCREASE OF SALARIES RECON-.
MENDED.
I consider it my duty to call the at
tentiOn of Congress to the inadequacy
and inequality Of the salaries Of the
officers in the Treasury Department as
!. fixed by law. The offices recently
established are supported by propei
salaries, but the salaries attached tc
many of those created at the organiz-
alton Of the Government are INSULT
cient. As q temporary means of al.
leviating the admitted evil, Congress
has from time to time, and for many
years, annually made appropriations
to be used at the discretion Of the
Secretary, for additions to salaries OF
officers in the Department. In the
nature Of the case This is a disagreea-
bic duty for the Secretary to perform;
is usually unsatisfactory to the per-
sons interested, and the result has
not the sanction and support incident
to system ofspecified salaries estab-
lished by law. At the present time
the sum of S21, 500 is distributed by
the Secretary in bis discretion. After
a careful examination of the subject
| I find that an additional approDria-
ton, not exceeding $4,000 a year,
will be sufficient to provide adequate
salaries for the officers of the Treasu-
ry Department.
THE EXAMINATION OF CLERKS.
The act Of 1853, in regard to the ex-
animation Of clerks, has been ObseIv-
ed by this Department, and with ben
eficial results. 1t is worthy Of con-
sideratiOn, however, whetherit would
not be wise to provide by law for an
examining board, the majority of
whose members should not be officers
of the department to which the clerk
is to be assigned, in case of appoint
ment and approval. This system
should also be extended to the princi-
pal custom houses and revenue offices
Of the country. By such an arrange
ment a definite security would be
taken for the character and qualifiea-
tiOns of clerks, as far as they can be
ascertained or tested, without actual
service in the discharge of official du-
ty. 1t is well understood, however
that no examination can furnish Sc
curity that the person examined will
prove satisfactory upon trial, and
there should always be q speedy and
easy method ofremovings persons
from Office. / do not, therefore, ae-
cept the idea that the tenure of Office
for the clerks and employees in this
Department should be changed. In
deed, believe that the present tenure
Of offices furnishes the best security
which the people of the country can
have that the business of the Govern
ment will be efficiently and properly
performed. The work of the Treasu-
ry Department does not differ essen
TALLY from the business done in the
banking-hOuses and merchants
cOunting-rooms, and there is no
reason why the tenure ofoffice should
be permanent in one case that does
not apply with equal force in theoth-
ers. 1t does happen practica ly that
there are in the Treasury Department
and in every Bureau and office of it,
men who have been connected with
the service for several years, and who
possess all the knowledge derived
from experience aud tradition that is
essential to the perfOrman- Of their
duties. Excluding the employees ofthe
Bureau of engraving and Printing
and the messengers and labOrers,
there were 2,l43 officers and clerks
connected with the Treasury Depart
ment at Washington on the first day
of November, 1870, AMI of these !, ,4S9
were in Office on the 4th day of March
1859, leaving 654 as the total number
of appointments made since that
time. Previous to the war the busi-
ness Of the Department was so small
that on the 1st of March, 1861, only
433 persons were employed. and of
these, 81 are now in the service. One /
has been in Office over fifty years, two /
Others over 40 years, one over 80 years !
seven over 80 years, one over 25 years |
ten over 20 years, fourteen over Is /
years, and twelve over 10 years. |
These statements show that the |
changes in the Departures are not so |
numerous as to deprive the service of |
the knowledge derived from experieee. |
On the other hand, the introduction |
Of new men secures additional energy I
and efficiency. Two errors prevail in |
the community in connection with the |
subject. One is that under a repub- !
lican government every man has a 1
right to an Office. This is in no sense |
true. The only right is that of the |
people to elect and to have appointed /
to Office persons best qualified TO per- |
form the work. The other error is /
that offices in the Treasury Depart /
ment are prizes, which the young |
men Of the country may wisely seek. |
HOW THE CLERICAL SERVICE Is PER-
FORMED.
Speaking generally, it is a misfor-
tune to young man who possesses 4
even ordinary capacity for business or
labor, to remain permanently in the 4
public offices Of this city. 1t is, how
ever, true that many Of the most val
liable clerks in the Treasury are young
men who are pursuing professional
or who, having completed the
course, remain from one to four years
in the Department, with the purpose,
by industry and economy, of securing
q small amount Of money with which
to commence active life elsewhere. A
system of life tenure would exclude all
these men from the service, unless
they chose to accept it as a perma-
nent pursuit, which in the main would
be an injury to them and to the cOun-
try. I am also fully convinced that
any more permanent tenure Of Office
would materially impair the efficiency
Of the revenue system. There are
many thousand men employed in the
Customs and Internal Revenue service
and however careful the preliminary
examination might be, the evils which
now impair the efficiency would un-
ioubtedly exist. Nosystem of exam.
nation could exclude all those who
ire dishonest, or who, under the pres
,ure Of necessity or the offer Of sudden
wealth, might yield to temptation. 1t
1ften happens-and il would happen
1nder any system-that men are
-ound who are honest. temDarate and