The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1880-10-08
wAsnIxGrOS LETrra.
tFrom our regslar correspondsnt.)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 1870

ber, and for once tho calendar divi-
sion OF seasons seems 10 apply TO us.
The absentees are returning In droyes
and Washington begins 10 be itself
again. Probably there Is no city in
the universe deserted by SO large II
proportion Of It's population during the
summer months. Congress Is gone
with all It's employees aud attaches,
and the other departments Of the gov
ernment run on about half their force.
one half remains while the other
goes, thus dividing time between
them until all have had holiday.
or course these over worked govern
ment clerks need couple months rest.
They work as much az four or five
hours day during the remainder Of
the year, some ofthem-and some of
them don't. II Is one of the campaign
cries Of tho radical party that the
Democratic Congress has crippled the
government by cutting down the
force In some Of these dcpareimnts
and refusing 10 appropri ile money
for 81 many fat salaries. But It Is all
bosh. | ann pretty thoroughly ac-
quainted with the workings Of all the
executive departments, aud can state
with u good deal of emphaticness that
in nearly every one Of them this force
Is still unnecessarily large, With nu-
merous sinecures here and there that
might we'll be dispensed with.
know one fourteen hundred dollar
clerk who says he Is employed 10 lift
the paper weights from one position
10 another on his desk, and he Is no
exception. There are many others
whose services are just about rs ex-
tensive. There may be one or two
bureaus, In some OF the departments
where the clerical force Il none 700
large, or not large enough, but 10 meet
this some OF the idle ones should be
transferred from other bureaus Of the
same department.
But If anything proves thAG we
have a great many more officials IN
our civil service than there Is any
need Of, Il Is the spectacle now pre-.
scented all over the country of thous-
siu,is of salsried officers Of The govern.
mcni from their posts and devoiing
the time FOR which the people pay
them Ia campaign work for the rad
icil party. 1t Is estimated that the
aggregate salaries Of the officials thus
engaged amount Ia over three mil
lion dollars. Cabinet ministers, heads
OF bureaus, chiefs of apartments, for
eign ministers, collectors of revenue,
district attornies, marshAls and Off
cials Of all kinds aIe thus employed,
while the business of the government
Is neglected. II there is any need of
ait these officers they should be at
their posts attending To the duties for
which they are 80 literally paid, but
II they have no duties demanding
their attention, their positions should
be vacated. The people at large
know very little concerning the ex-
tent Ia which the abuse Is carried, and
that, too, under an administration
which started out with such extraor-
binary professions of ''rure" civil
service.
Since the Maine election there has
been marked change in the demean-
or of the office holding Republicans
about Washington. For the past two
or three moaths the general bearing
Of numerous class OF Republicans,
towards Democrats. has been charac-
terized by Il contemptuous insolence,
Il naughty, domineering, masterful
tone, impossible of description and
not easily endured. Such terms as
HrebeP and "copperhead" have been
their staple of talk, and at the time
Of the grand Democratic ratification
meeting here, three weeks ago, one
of them sneeringly said TO me that
the large Illuminated letters u. s.
over the platform should he taken
down and c. s. A. put up. Ididnoi
/ answer him. felt certain that his
, day, and the day for that sort of talk
was about done; that In the triumph
ant election of Hancock insolence and
bigotry would be silenced. Already
these fellows begin to read the hand.
r writing on the wall, and their man.
ner Is pereeptlbly modified. For men
{ who never saw a line of battle or did
anything but curse rebels at / 200
mile range, while sneaking behind a
fat salary to question the loyalty oi
Democrats who proved their patriot
ism on the field, and to sneer at the
supporters of General Hancock is mos
too much.
This class of Republicans have Q
way of assuming that this country
belongs to them, and that the Repub,
, llcan party is the government.
Their organ in this city speaks of the
departments as athe Republican sub