Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-11-14

PREPARATIONS AT THE CAPIToL-OUE LCXURI-
OTIS LEGIsLAToRs-FG FRENCH ECONOMY AND
AMERICAN PRoDIGALITY.

| PREPARATIONS AT THE CAPIToL-OUE LCXURI-
OTIS LEGIsLAToRs-FRE FRENCH ECONOMY AND
AMERICAN PRoDIGALITY.
WASHINGTON, d. C., Nov. IL, 1879.
To the Editor of the Free Press AMI Times.
Yesterday took a look at the long desert
ed Capitol and found it empty swept and
| garnished, but not quite ready for the IT.
turn Of the evil spirits. The desks are not
in place in either the Senate or the House,
carpets are not down and the upholstery of
the seats in the gallery is not yet finished.
| Why should they be upholstered? 1t would
be more clearly rs well as more economical
TO furnish the galleries with plain wooden
seats. There is Il lesson of simplicity and
severity that our public servants are not dis
posed to learn. Certain public offices, like
that of Sergeant alarms of the Senate and
of the House, are supposed To be- more re-
muncrative through their perquistes than
from the ample salaries received by their in
cumbents. They have the purchase of
all the furniture and all the sup
plies Of the two most luxurious legislative
bodies that have ever existed. They buy
carpets, mirrors, chairs lounges, stationery,
toilet articles, etc, etc. the most elaborate
and costly furniture of the House and of the
Senate, Of cloak rooms, committee rooms,
bath rooms and restaurants. Hundreds of
thousands of dollars pass through their hands
annually, and it would be Il little remarkable
if some OF it did not adhere 10 their fingers
There are many corners for genteel crooked
ness, not only at the Capitol but in all the
departments of Government, and they az
gregate much greater loss 10 the Treasury
than the big dcfacations which occasionally
appear in the newspapers with much scnsa
tional emblaZonry of headline There are. !
perhaps, but two ways of reforming this |
abuse. One is To change human nature So that !
public officers will be- no longer avarcious
the other is 10 reduce appropriations until |
there will remain no margin for cNtravagant |
expenditure.
1t may he said. and with truth, that the
incidental expenses of the Government de
partmcnts are small things for what are
few millions to the United States aud its vast
riches? Yet electors are apt to Judge of the
larger items they cannot fully investigate by
this little one that has Irlped 10 light. II is
related that when the Tuilerics were rcfur-
nished under the First Empire, Napoleon l.
was astonishcd at the magnitude of the uphol-
stcrcr's account, and, To estimate it rightly.
looked at the price set down for some gold
lace tasscls appended 10 the hcll-ropcS. lie
cut one oil, and told an aide de camp to buy
one exactly like it i'll the nearest shop, when
he found that he was charged three times
more than the actual cost. lie sent for the
upholstcrcr. and offered him one-third the
whole the amount, intimalinS thai if that
sum were refused he would have every item
examined in detail and the offer was eager
~ accepted. The prosperity of the most
prosperous country i'll Europe is not
less on account of the superior
of her government than the match
css industry of her people. An admirable
runs through all the affairs of
France. Her civil service is much less cN-
penSive than ours. The pay Of employees is
based upon the kind of actual work perform
ri. Her army and navy, per man and per
ship. cost much less than ours. Ii is not |
possible To reduce our expenditures literally |
% French figures. but ii will be well for III
rs people in tins new dawn of prosperity, I
f We are able TO build deep and solid ON the I
.ock of public economy. The tendency of II
is to intoNicatc, hut surely eNpc- |
fence should teach us something. We ought i
q know that we are not only rich people I
,ut II people who stolidly tolerate certain /
mount of waste, high and low, from our I
.itchcns To our Capitol 1
Yours Nix. v