Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-04-06
From the Boston Journal 4th.

PUT OUT TIE LIGHTS-DENOCRA7 TIC
"For WAYS that are dark" commend us
to the selfish, perverse. mischevous poll
cy pursued by the democratic House OF
Representatives. The order which Sec
rotary Bristow has been obliged to issue.
cutting off the use of fuel, lights and water
in all public buildings. on account of the
failure of this years appropriation for
those purposes, must be carried into effect
Immediately. We understand that at the
Boston Post Office, the Custom House, the
| u. S. Court House and the Marine Hospi-
tai the lights will have to be put out to-
night Most persons can apprehend
something of the effects of such change,
but only those who are familiar with the
service in the Post Office and Custom
House can have any idea of the enormous
obstruction of necessary work, OF the re-
sulting Inconvenience and injury to the
whole community, caused by closing up
all operations at nght-fall, particularly at
this season of the year. when so large a
part of the most necessary work is done
by gaslight. All the trouble to the mails
caused by damage to railroad tracks or
other disturbances of which we have had
any experience is but triae in COMPARE
son with this threatened evil, which may
be protracted according to the incalcula-
BILE insensibility of democratic House of
Representatives.
For there is where the whole thing
comes to. More than three weeks ago
Secretary Bristow notified the Appropri-
atoms Committee of the House OF the ex-
act condition of ctfairs which has now
reached its consummatiOn. The appro-
priations for fuel, lights and water in the
Government buildings were fast running,
and the time when they would fail alto
gether could be readily calculated, and
the House managers, of course, knew as
we'll as anybody that no other appropria-
tions could be drawn upon or anticipated,
and hence that the Secretary of the Treas
ury would be absolutely compelled to issue
the order which is now received. But the
politicians who control the House majority
were all engrossed in other matters.
They could not afford time to attend to
the necessities of The people and
the needs of the public service, because
they had some forty investigating commit
tees out in every direction, beating up po-
litical game. Perhaps at the very moment
Secretary Bristow sent in his notification
they had strack upon the track of that
wonderful mule claim, by which it was
hoped to destroy his reputation. At any
rate, they paid no attention to his sugges-
ton, but kept on in their reckless pursuit
of political capital. until the whole Post
Office service, together with other branch
es of the public service (the water at the
Marine Hospital, for instance. is to be cut
off, thus crippling that noble charity and
endangering the lives of its inmates), is
paralyzed throughout the country, involv-
ing inconvenience, vexation, injury and
damage, to an incalculable degree to all
classes Of people.
The nation can now see some Of the
fruits of the democratic policy. The
masses can now take the measure of the
men and the party that aspire to get con.
lrol of the Government. If, with their
present limited power, they utterly ignore
the obvious demands of the public service,
in their crazy greed of partisan advance
ment. and recklessly throw the whole Off
cial machinery out of gear, what might
not be expected If the whole Government
were placed in their graspP This timely
warning, however, will serve to put an
extinguisher upon any such danger.
tba l.,