The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-07-26
42,989 A,2O7 57,6O5 $1,000 9411!

| Leglslative...... 140 2s5 3l6 325 81
42,ss9 4,2O7 576O5 $4,000 94,11!
These figures are, indeed, startling. They
show that from 1873 to 1875, the civil EN-
ploJes of the War Department have been in
creased from 1866 to APO, those in the Navy
Department from 119 in 1871 to 10,105 il
1915, and those of the Post-office Department
from 41,346 in 1869 to 65,726. in 1875. Blu
figures may be made to lie. These were
Senator Merrimon was very careful to stat,
that "friend furnished the figures" The
study of the Biennial Register is neither prof
liable nor pleasant, but for the purpose of see
ing if Senator Merrimon had been practis
ing the tricks of Mr.. Wood of New York, We
nave devoted little time to several copies o.
this "Blue Book" We had scarcely entered
| upon this investigation when the matter was
taken up in the Senate by Messrs. Dawes Of
Massachusetts, and Cragn of New Hampshire
| MIR. Cragin first called attention TO the mos
notable increase of the civil list in the Navy
Department in two years. He finds by actual
count that the number of civil employees in
that department is l45 instead of 1O,IOj
as given by the exConfederate Senator! 1t
will take any one who can tell the difference
between civil and naval officer but few
| moments to make that count, and no one
can make more than 145 civil employees in
that department. This is accuracy! Why
the names of all the officers of the navy,
the naval cadets, the retired list-all will not
aggregate 10,105.
We cannot go through with all OF Mr..
Merrimon's inaccuracies but will make use
of statements made by both Senators Dawes
and Cragin respecting the increase of officers
in the postal service. By the figures of Mr..
Merrimon, the civil employees of the Post
Office Department numbered Al ,346 in 1869.
In 1875, six years later, the Senator's "friend'
makes the number 65,726-an increase OF
more than "a 900, which is incredible. How
is it to be accounted for? In this manner.
In the first place, in the Register issued In 1876
there are the names of secen thousand mail
contractors given by states. The Register of
1869 does not contain the name of con-
tractor. In the list of Maine contractors we
find the name of Mr.. Littlefield, our Clerk
OF the Courts three or four times, while
that OF the venerable stage contractor, v.
d. Pinkham Of Augusta, appears half
dozen times. Both are Democrats, yet Mr..
Merrimon counts the two as equal to ten
Republican officers, because their names
appear that number of times in the list |!
Again, in the Register of 1875, under the
head of special mail service there are
nearly two thousand names. These men
were paid sums ranging from fifty cents to
ten dollars for special and temporary service in
connection with the postal department. This
list does not appear in the Register of 1869.
Under the head of Especial mail agents"
there is list of employees numbering about
four thousand. This class is made up OF
those who carry the mails from depots and
main lines to the offices. They are paid from
S5 to $500 year according to the service
They have always been employed, but the
Register of 1869 does not contain one of those
four thousand names! Here are $4,000 at
least, of the increase accounted for in the
postal department. What has been shown to
be true of the Navy and Post Office depart
ments is true of Treasury and Interior.
To make up his 4,72O civil employees in the
War Department, Mr.. Merrimon or his
"friend' has added all of the officers of the
army and West Point cadets in 1875 and left
them out in all the earlier years.
The Register was intended to give the
names of those whom everybody would fix
upon as belonging to the civil list and officers
holding commissions in the service of the
United States. Until 1869 this plan was fol-
lowed but after that time some gentlemen
ambitious to make larger and complete VOL
ume, thought it might be convenient to have
the name of every man inserted who was en-
ployed at all by the government. By so do
ing he has added five hundred pages to the
work, so that every man who is employed a
day or week as mechanic appears as a fed
eral ofice-holder and goes to swell the ranks
of the army which the Democratic shouters
denounce because their names are not on the
official lists.
The fact that Mr.. Merrmon and his
friends have attempted to deceive the country
must be evident to all. 1t is no ordinary
mistake for ''friend" of Senator to insert
in the civil list of the Navy Department more
names than are on the navy rolls. The man
who does this is both fool and knave.
The ''friend" who lied so magnifcently about
the navy and the army civil list could hardly
fail to lose so good an Onnortnnitv for
fraudulent counting as in the thousands Of
names in the postal department.. The whole
thing is a fraud, and count of the names
in the Biennial Register will show it to be so.
1t is one of the Confederate lies of the
campaign. 1t is easily spoiled.