Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1870-12-16

quired is confirmed by the report of the commits
sion. They recommend that the number be re-
duced to thrty-two, and the aggregate tonnage re-
that it will be practicable upon the proposed basis,
to reduce the total number of officers, pilots,
petty officers, and men from 266 the number then
in service to 1861 and the actual expense of main
tanning the SYSTEM not including appropriations for
the construction of new vessels, from 81 46 400 to
S9s3,639, making saving OF more than sSOo.OOO
suit of careful and comprehensive examination
of the subject by competent men, and while it is
the present purpose OF the department to act upon
it. am of opinion that it should receive the legs
lative sanction.
Ondhe 9th of July, 1869, n convened Board of
& Of of be
Revenue Marine. The board is composed of Cap
tains Faunce and Slicer, of the Revenue Marine,
and Captain Patterson, of the Coast Survey The
examination has not yet been completed, as only
a small number of officers could be detailed for
examination at the same time. One hundred and
ten Leutenants have been examined, Ten First
Lieutenants nine Second Lieutenants and six
Third Heutenants were reported for removal, and
have been removed. The vacancies thus made in
tons and the vacancies in the lowest grades will
be filed by qualified persons selected at large
The examination of the remaining officers Will be
continued.
r MARINE HOSPITALS. t.
The condition of the Marine hospitals has been
improved during the past year. This result is
VI. q. ..
Generals office, who has visited nearly all of them.
and through whose advice many important changes
have been made. No appointment has yet been
made of Superintendent, under the act of the last
sessions The authority therein granted to appoint
a superintendent is desirable although the salary
does not appear to be sufficient. l, however, rec
ommend such alteration of the law as will perm
the President to detail surgeon of the army or
navy to perform the duty of Superintendent with
out amy addition to his other than his h
department could have the benefit of the services
of Dr. Billings, or some other competent surgeon,
with less expense than would be involved in
larger appointment, even with the present salary.
Five of the principal ports of the country, New
York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Baltimore and
Philadelphia, are without hospital accommOda-
tions, and provision is made for the patients by
contract with hospitals private parties. The De-
partment is in possession of very desirable hos
pital at New Orleans, known as the Sedgwick Hos
pital, and / earnestly recommend. the passage of
an act by which the building may be transferred to
the Treasury Department for marine hospital, and
the land on which it stands. AT the last session, the
attention of Congress was called to the subject OF
transferring Davids Island, at New York, from the
! War Department to the Treasury Department for
the establishment of Marine Hospital. This rec
| concentration is now respectfully renewed. eas
THE ALASKA SEAL FISHERIES.
In compliance with the act of July I. 1870, in ref
erence to the seal fisheries, proposals were issued
and bids received for the exclusive right to the fish
cries for the term of twenty years. The phraseol-
Ogy employed in the act warranted the interpreted
| ton that the contract should be awarded to the
Alaska Commercial Company, if their proposition
wasa as favorable to the government as that of any
other party, and upon that basis the contract was
awarded to that company. copy of the contract
| and of the papers connected Herewith, will be
transmitted to Congress. About $4,000 seal skins
have arrived at San Francisco the product of the
| year 1869, which the owners have paid one dol
lar each. as required by the sixth section of said
! act. 4eft 1919
consider It my duty to call the attention 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 proper salaries but the salaries
attached to many of those created at the organiza
ton OF the government are insufficient. AS a tenn
porary means of alternating the admitted evil Con-
gress has. fromtime to time and for many years.
nually made an appropriation to be used at the dis
erection OF the Secretary for additions to salaries of
officers in the department In the nature of the
case this is disagreeabe duty for the Secretary to
perform. II is usually unsatisfactory to the par
ties interested and the result has not the sanction
and support incident TO system Of specified sala
ries established ., sw, At the, present time the
sum of SCI 500 is s, Suited by the Secretary in his
discretion. After a Sdreful examination of the
subject find that an additional appropriation not
exceeding $4,000 year will be sufficient to pro-
vide adequate salaries for the officers of the Treas
ury Department.
EXAMINATION OF CLERKS.
The act of 1858, In regard to the examination of
clerks has been observed by this department, and
sideration, however, whether it would not be
wise to provide by law for examining board,
Ine majority or whose members should not be
officers of the department to which the clerk is
to be assigned in case of appointment and APP
proval. This system should also be extended to
the principal custom houses and revenue offices of
the country. By such an arrangement a definite
security would be taken for the
character =, and qualifications of clerks, as
Without as ae h se eaa oS n Se cba1ge or s
duty. It is well understood, however, that no
can furnish security that the person
examined Will prove satisfactory upon trial,
and there should always be a speedy and
easy method of removing such persons from
office. l do. not therefore accept The idea. that
in this department should be changed. Indeed,
1 believe that the present tenure of office fur
nishes the most security which the people of the
the nays viii na the ee aasass' and
properly performed. The work of the
Treasury Department does not differ essentially
and the merchants counting rooms and there is
no reason why the tenure of office should
be permanent In one case that does not apply with
equal force in the others; It does happen, prac
ticay, 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 and tradition that is essential to the
performance of their duties.
a TREASURY DEPARTMENT FORCE.
Excluding the employees of the Bureau of En-
CRAVING and Printing; and the messengers and la
bOrers, there were 2143 officers and clerks con-
nected with the Treasury Department at Wash
lngtOn on the ISL DAY OF November, 1871, and OF
these 1,4S9 were in Office the 4th day of March,
1869, leaving 654 as the total number of appoint
ments made since that time. Previous to the war
the business of the, departmentwas SO small that
ON the list of March, 1861, only 433 persons were
employed, and of these 81 are now in the service
One has been in office fifty years, one over
thirty-fve years, seven over thirty years,
twenty-five years. ten over twenty years; fourteen
over fifteen years, and twelve over ten years.
These statements show that the changes in the de-
partment are not so numerous as to deprive the
service of the knowledge derived from experience.
On the other hand, the Introduction of new men
secures additional energy and efficiency.
ERRORS POINTED OUT.
Two errors prevail in the community in connec-
ton with the subject One is, that under Repub-
ncan government, every man has a right to an
that Of the people to elect and to have appointed
to office, persons best qualified to perform the
work. The other error is that offices in the Treas
ury Department are prizes which the young men
ally, it is misfortune for young man who pos
sesses even ordinary capacity for business or labor
to remain permanently in the public Offices of this
city. 1t is, however, true that many of the most
valuable clerks in the Treasury are young men
who are pursuing professional studies, or who,
having completed their courses, remain from one
to four years in the department. with the purpose,
by industry and economy, Of securing small
life else where. system Of life tenure would ex-
cude all these men from the service, unless they
choose 70 accept it as permanent pursuit, which,
IN the MAN, would be an injury to them and to the
country. am also fully convinced that any more
permanent tenure of Office would materially i'm.
par the efhclency of the revenue system. There
are many thousand men employed in the
customs and internal revenue service and how
ever careful the preliminary examination might
be, the evils which impair their EFFICIENCY
YOU'D undou6teely exist. No system of examina-
uon could exclude all those who are dishonest or
VINO under the pressure of necessity or the offer of
wealth., might yleld to temptation. 1t often hap