Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1880-09-22
From our regular correspondent
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WAsHIsaIos. u. Q, Sept. 10,

OF seasons seem 10 apply to US, The
absenlees are returning N dIoyes and
Washington begins 10 he itself again
Probably there Is no city In the uni
verse deserted by 50 large n proper
ticn Of Us population during the sum
mer months, Congress is gone, with
all iis employees aud attaches, and
the other departments Of lhs govern
ment run In about hall their forae,
One half remains while The other
goes, thus dividing time between
them until all have had n holiday. OF
course these oyer-worked government
clerks need n couple Of months est,
They work rs much as four or five
hours day during the remainder Of
the year, some Of them-and some Of
them don't. II Il one ol the campaign
cries Of the radical party that the
Democratic Congress has crippled the
government by cutting down the force
In some Of these departments aud r.
fasing to appropriate money for 40
many fat salaries, But II Is all bosh.
| am pretty thoroughly acquainted
with the vorkingr If all the executive
departments, and can state with a
good deal Of emphaticncss that in
nearly every one Of them the force Is
still unnecessarily large, with numer'
Gus sinecures here sand there that
might well be dispensed with. ! know
one fourteen hundred dollar clerk who
says he is employed to lit the paper
weights from one position to another
on his desk, and he is no exception.
There are many Others whose services
are Just about as extensive, There
may be one or two bureaus, IN some
OF the departments. where the clerical
force is none too large, or not large
enough, but TO meet this some of the
idle ones should he transferred ilom
other bureaus Of the same department.
But il anything proves that we
have a great many more officials in
our civil service than there is any
need OF, it is the spectacle now pre-
scented all over the country. Of thou
sands of salaried officers OF the gov
eminent absent from their posts and
deyoting the time for which the peo-
pie pay them to campaign work for
the radical party. 1t is estimated that
the aggregate salaries of the officials
thus engaged amount to over three
million dollars. Cabinet ministers,
heads of bureaus, chiefs of depart
ments, foreign ministers. collectors,
district attorneys, marshals, and off
clais of all kinds are thus employed,
while the business Of the government
is neglected. Iflhere is any need of
all these officers they should be at
their posts attending to the duties for
which they are so literally paid, but
if they have no duties demanding
their attention, their positions should
be vacated The people at large
know very little concerning the ex-
tent to which this abuse is carried,
and that, too, under an administration
which started out with such extraor-
binary professions Of Il "pure" civil
service.
Since the Maine ELECTION there has
been marked change In the demeans
or Of the office-holding Republicans
about Washington. For thr past two
or three months the general bearing
of a numerous class OF Republicans
here, towards Democrats, has been
characterized by a con,emptuous lnso.
lence, a naughty, domineering, mas
terful tone, impossible of description
and not easily endured. Such terms
as 'rebel,' and ''roppe'head" have
been their staple Of Talk, and at the
time of thu grand Democratic ratii-
cation meeting here, three weeks ago,
one Of them snee'insly said TO Inc
that the large illuminated letters y. S.
over the platform should be taken
down and G. S. A. put up. / did not
answer him. I feel, that his day, and
the day for that sort CT talk was about
done; that in the triumphant election
of Hancock iasolence aud blgotry
would DO s.lenced. Already these
fellows begit IN read the handwriting
on the wall, and their manner is per-
modified. For men who new,
er saw line OF battle or did anything
but curse rebels at a 1000 mile range,
while sneaking behind fit salary to
question the loyalty Of Democrats
who proved their patristism on the
field, and lo sneer at the supporters OF