New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-11-02
GAIL HAMILTON SUMS UP.

BACK PAY"
While was uttering my few feeble REMARKS y"
Civil Service Reform overheard three ialnt pipi"sS
90 disseut from my facts The first perhaps hardly
amounts 10 so much / called for specification OF
an, hundred or of one of the thousands OF ofhces
that have boen made solely to provide places for
friends OF members Of Congress-" The gentleman
who made the statement has not fortified 1t with
speciiicotiOns bat some champion giIded on us
armor in an Exchange" newspaper and afnrmed
that 'in AroostcOk County daily mail las oeeh
nut upon route TO small plantation OF seventy
nine inhabitants and that assistants have been APP
pointed at 81 100 apiece annually to hcip the Gus
toms officers az Woodstock and Fort Fairfield, where
the work is light for one man. lheSe "P-
poiptments have been made on the representations
of the member of Congress from that DISTRICT iOi
tho purpose OF securing his reelection.
As evidence of National corruption confess 'n''
this mraignment of AroOstook County appears
somewhat gr0esque.
l. A community of seventy-nIne souls ngntins
for ,ifo in ArOostook County ought to have dairy
mail if they want 1t aud if their Representative did
not t,y rs hard as he could to get 1t Tor them lie
ought to be impeached.
.. This is Reform Administration whose reform
is thorough, radical and complete" and whose APP
nointmcnts are always made strictly 1Or
"merit" it is therefore impossible that the ARGOS
took County appointments could have beeh hiaue
on the representation of the member OF Congress
from chat district for tho purpose OF securing MS
reelection"
3. Assuming it to be true, it only shows the cor
RICHNESS of my point that the power OF patronage
has been greatly exaggerated, since the Aroostook
County member has failed of reelection.
But not desiring to rely wholly on moral con-
sciousness sent this paragraph TO the member from
Al. I 10 l-n
examination Eo replies that the " new Post once
referred to was established in Perham.
"Tho population instead of being seventy-nine is
over 800
"Itis one of the new State Townships that is
rapidly settling.
It's vote for Representatives 20 Congress this
GEAR was ffty-seven for Representatives to State
Legislature ffty-ninc.
The mail instead of being daily is tri-weeky'
Aud then lie add, what is best of all that he acted
upon the request aud petition of the settlers. ana
means 10 keep at il until he does succeed IN getting
them daily mail
In reference to the corrupt Custom House officer
at Fort Fairfield he says that " the statements
true in one OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES was appointment.
Milton d. league. He was appointed on the recon-
mcndation of Bingham of Boston. Jesse Drew has
"
that some one should be appointed to assist him. as.
since the New brunswick Railroad has crossed the
limo into the State OF Maine. extending some twelve
miles to Carbon, there was more to do than he
could attend to.
This Railroad is the principal means of con-
vcyIng TO market the produce of the fertile Aroos-
took River valley. Trains leave every day before
o'clock in the morning, and do not all arrive till
after 10 o'clock in the evening. All tho merchan-
dse going and coming over this road has to be
properly cleared or examined. and Custom House
officer must be present at the departure and arrival
of every train This is in addition to the usual
routine of business on the border, and sincerely
believe calls for hours, if not for more labor
than ono man ought to be required to give. So re-
ported special agent sent to Fort Fairfield by Mr..
Bingham to examine the matter.
8.
"The appointment at Woodstock is indispensable
10 the business of the country The New-Bruns-
wick Railroad is narrow gauge Nearly all freight
coming over it from the State of Maine has to be
transferred at Woodstock if destined to come back
again to the United States And Whenever 1t is
necessary to break bulk in foreign country, the
United States if the goods to come in duty free
has an officer to see that foreign goods are mixed
in and his salary is paiI either in whole or IN part
by the railroad At Woodstock the salary is paid in
part by the United States and in part by the rail-
road"
1t is something to have forced the Mcssrs. Re-
formers to locate their sink of inquity away up
under the ty-seveDth degree of north latitude,
where il was not unreasonable for them to suppose
they might have it all snug and comfortable 10
themselves But even here it seems they are not to
bs allowed to wallow without foaming. for their
cessp0ol of corruption turns out upon examination
to be a perfectly clear. clean mountain lake
In THE TRIBUNE of August H. Zone who
Knows" affirms that my paper on the English Civil
Service was evidently " written under total mis-
apprehension of the subject discussed. If it had
been written in 1869 it would have been correct,
but now in 1873 it is like an old almanac-very
much out of date
Admission to the English Civil Service was
totally revolutonized by what is known as Her
Majesty's Order i'll Council made June 4. 1870.
BY it all situations were thrown open to COM
petition.
1.-THE candidate does not need recommend from
anyM F. or Government officer. Such paper
would not be received or considered. and would do
him moro harm than good.
1.-THE examination is not such that any one can
mas it, Ii is the severest test of scholarship and
.rorkirg ability that can possibly be applied.
English Civil Service rules, like English laws
made to be applied. know whereof affirm.
got a copy of the Order in Council with the rules
made in accordance with it, L attended two civil
Service Examinations"
Aud One who Knows concludes this startling
array of evidence with the grave suggestion that
1 had ever heard of or seen the '0rder," should
uever have written my etter.and advises me. if do
not believe HIM. to write to the Civil Service Com
missioners London. for documents.
This is an admirable example of the lack of logi-
col thought which permcatcs the reform mind /, My
critic signs himself Conc who Knows" as if that