Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-12-14
San ERANo1sCo, DeO.s rs, 1870.

SAN tRAECISCO, UeCsalo, lotO. -
The withdrawal Of Mr.. Charles Nc
Lane from the Board Of Fire Commits
~sioners has caused o very decided
commotion In the local political world.
As the Neps-Lener remarks, In its
inimitably wicked way, "what little
good has been done by this cranky
political machine we wv to him, but
it was absurd to expect that a gentle
man addicted to soap and water, and
welded to clean linen and the cardinal
virtues, could longer leopard his good
name by remaining in such a body;"
and so Mr.. McLane appears to have
thought, for no sooner was the new
Commissioner indicted into office than
no rendered his resignation. and again
to quote from the Newsletter, LOT
left Sodom.'
A very small crumb dropped from
the official table will at any time start
our hungry pack Of otflce-seckers from
their uneasy privacy into fighting
.narling activity so 1t Is not to DO
wondered at that the unexpected prize
of a plump loaf, nicely buttered with
patronage and savory with plumber,
should make their mouths water and
their stomachs crave. Much less than
a Fire Commissionership would have
done that, so there is no cause for
establishment In the fact that the por-
ton of Montgomery street In front OF
the Bank Exchange has for the last
few days presented a lively appear
-ance, or that the run upon the services
of the "gcntlemanly ~barkeepers" who
preside ut that famous political hos
telry has been nearly as great rs dur
ing the temporary adjournment OF a
thirsty party convention. az
Although neither fees nor salary are
attached to the office, the opportunity
that the position gives for manipulating
the Fire Department during primary
elections renders it a desirable berth
both politically and pecuniarily, and
it can be easily made the stepping
stone to other official preferment. The
names of more than twenty different
gentlemen have been mentioned as
candidates for the vacant seat, but
to-day the number is reduced to four
or five. of whom Matt Cannavan and
j. j. Kenny, present member Of the
Board of Supervisors, are the most
prominent. The prize will probably
fall to one of these two. -
A Commissioner.rIddcn State.
1t is only when a fight like III
occurs for q vacant Commissionerslip
that we are reminded Of the existence
Of half those officers. The rest Of the
time they are wrapped IN such pro-
found oblivion, that, were 1t rot fol
the punctuality with which they draw
their salaries, we could believe them
to be merely ideal creations, without
any corporal form or. personiiication.
Figuratively speaking, they are only
the e~xhalations Of II corrupt LeglS-
lature, but once n month they resolve
themselves into most substantial cltl-
zens, and OH those occasions the State
Treasurer canS'ouch for their reality.
III would take q goodly column OF the
News to contain the names and titles
of half these gentlemen, but here are
Il few, scratched down rs my memory
recalls them: Commissioner to visit
Eastern Insane Asylums, n ,SO0-never
heard of since his departure supposed
to have been locked up by mistake in
some Of the asylums he visited. Note.
Another Commissioner will probably
be appointed to search for this one
Tide Land Commissioners (three OF
theml, 81. 500 each-duties, to draw
out big advertisements for the E1am-
liner, and once or twice a year hand a
list of salt marsh and tide lands to
Middleton & Son, with instructions to
sell by auction. Insurance Com
missioner, $4,000 duty, to make
n report biennially, his occupation
Save this being gone when the
Builders Insurance Company Yield up
the ghost. Inspectors of Gas Metres.
tees about $2.0O0-a s%inecure, held By
one Cornelius O'Connor, whose patro-
nymic was sufficient remuneration to
procure his appointment. Vaccine
Commissioner, salary unknown-This
gentleman will reappear with the
smallpox; Mt present he Is perda In
spector of Stamps, too, 50. 000-dutics,
to sign the names of Il. n. Cazncau
and W. II. Bell to n pay roll twelve
times per AMMAN. Montgomery Ave
nue Commissioners !three), &c. 900
each. City Hall Commissioners (three),
50, 900 each. Market Street Survey
Commissioners tthreeL fees probably
$4,000 eachl. I.aguna Survey Com
missioners (threeh fees about the same
duties of most Of these officials to
enrich said officials by private purchase
Of property to be affected at other
times to attend to personal interests.
State Fund Commissioners %lnine). $l2,-
600 each. Immigration Commissioner.
fees. Street Assessment Commission
crs ;ive). 90, 600 each. Sailor Boarding
house Commissioners three, $500
each ; that Is enough. If | was to run
through all the list you would have to
print \ supplement. for the iunumer-
able Bridge, Road, Slough, Bond,
Court, Park, County, Canal, Fish,
Pilot, Water, Funding, Port, Harbor,
River, Land, Levee, Capitol and the
Lord only knows how many more
Commissioners, would certainly over
run the limits Of your journal. No
wonder that the Code Commissioners
(%threel, $1,000 each-the only useful
ones by the way of all the vast army
say In their report. In referring to the
fees and salaries of these officers aud
the Acts creating them, that is. to eX-
hibit in bold relief all Of their dcform-
tiles, would consume too much time
and space. They are simply literary
curiosities and legislative monstros-
tiles. The surprise Is that a Legisla-