The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-12-15

their efforts to punish tho violations Of the
law. Prominent among the obstacles IL the
dimculty Of procuring legal evidence sufhcient
70 e warrant ma. ccnvicScn even in tho case Of
Your attention is called 10 the opinion Of the
supreme Court Of the United States explain.
1nS in judgment Of reversal in the case Of
Utah. The court refers to the fact that tho
1T n that Territory makes the suppression Of
prop!e Of fe modfyine that hat sUs
Of evidence which now makes Wife incompe-
tent TO testify against her husband. This sas.
passage a sct tSst IN t ts r sas
ritorfee Of these United States the fact that
. woman has been married to a person
Is witness upon bis trial for that ofiense.
further recommend legislation by which any
person solemni.ing marriage ID any Of the
penalties for neglect Or refusal. to de cen.
tifcate Of such marriage in the Supreme
Court Of the Territory, until Congress shalt
1sys ice ss
erto attended the efforts to suppress this in
1qu1ty. assure you Of my determined pur.
RSse 70 .eooperate With YOU i9 any lawful and e.
that end.
EDUCATION.
"A A4inoagn our system Of government does
NOT contemplate that the Nation should pro-
vide or support system for the education of
our people, no measures calculated to provide
that general intelligence and virtue upon
greatly depend have ever been regarded with
Indifference by Congress- or the Executive. A
large portion Of the public domain has been,
the cause Of education. There Is now q sre.
q the sales q public lands, or By some Oh:
work Of education. Many who now exercise
the right Of suffrage are unable to read
the ballot which they cast. Upon
who q, had Just from
the responsibilities Of citizenship in that por-
ton Of the country most impoverished by
war g have ~. BEEN Pleased to learn from the
there has been lately 9 commendable increase
Of interest and effort for their instruction, but
all that can be done by local legislation and
such aid rs can be oonstitutionaily afforded b.
the National Government. l would suggest
that, II any fund be dedicated to this purpose,
States according to the ratio Of illiteracy. as
BY this means those locations which are most
IN need OF such assistance will reap the espe-
The report of the Commissioner of Agricult-
ure exhibits results Of the experiments in
WuiCu u0ul DCR4ItIOcuL mas UcGu e0RdReO OIlrs
ing the past year, and makes important sug.
gestions in reference to the agricultural de-
velopment of the country. The steady in
csease Of our population. and the consequent
the pursuit Of husbandry, are giving to this
lance. The Commissioners suggestions
touching Its capacity for greater usefulness
deserves attention, as 1t more and more COM
mends itself to the interest which 1t was
created to promote.
II appears from the report Of the Commits
eioner of Pensions that since 1850 1884, orig
inal Pension claims have been filed, 5000 OF
pension roll. 7s,Sa have been rejected d" and
abandoned. being thirteen per cent. Of the
whole number Of claims settled. There are
pension claims, 2, 7Ol Of which were filed prior
to July l, 1850. These, when allowed, will in
volve the payment Of arrears from the date OF
from the date of death or termination of a
data obtainable it is estimated that fifteen per
pendns viii re be- eeecte Cd claims oa
doned. This Would show the prob
able detection OF AOW cases and
the probable admission Of about $4,000 claims:
all of which involve the payment of arrears Of
pensions: With the present force employed,
the number of adjudicatiOns remaining the
same. and no new business intervening, this
number Of claims 0@s.00O could be acted upon
in period fsix years, and. taking January
!, 1854. as q near period from which to estimate
In each case an average amount of arrears. It
for the first payment upon it the sum Of 81. $50.
Multiplying this amount by the whole number
of probable admissions gives $25O, OOO.OOO as the
sum required for first payments This repre-.
which were filed before July l, 1850, and are
now pending and entitled to the benefits of the
Arrears act. From this amount $3.50, O,O00)
may be deducted from ten to fifteen millions
for cases when, the claimant dying. there is no
person who under the law would be entitled
to succeed to the pension, leaving 4Sn ,0O0.0O
estimates no account has been taken of the
30, 800 cases filed since June 20. 1880. and now
pending, which must receive attention. as cur
aa " Sn the date s
the claim. OF this number it is now estimated
that efghty-six per cent. will be allowed, as
has been stated. With the present force Of
that it will take six years to dispose of the
claims now pending. It is stated by the Com
missioner of Pensions that with an addition Of
25O clerks increasing the adjudicuting force
rather than the mechanically, double the
amount of work could be accomplished,
go that these cases could be acted upon
considerations Of Justice which may be urged
for a speedy settlement Of the claims now on
the files of tha PcIision Office. it is no less inn
fully onethrl of the clerical force of the office
is now wholly occupied in giving attention to
correspondence with thousands Of claimants
whose cases have been ON the ties for the past
eighteen years. The fact that sum so enOr.
nous may b. expended by the Government to
meet the demands for arrears of pensions is
an ad.noi,;t;on to Congress and the Executive
to give cu.itioiis ns.der1ition to any s:mlar
project in the future. The great temptation
to the presentation of fictitious 81 inns afforded
by the fact that the average sum obtained upon
the rropricty of making SOM" special appro-
priation for the prevention of fraud.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
l advise appropriations for such internal
improvements us tine wisdom of Congress may
deem to he IF public Importance. The neces-
sity Of improving the navigation OF the MISS
sippi River justifi's special alinsion to that
measure for removal Of instructions which
now impede the navigation Of that great chali-
mel of commerce.
THE CIVIL SERVICE.
In my letter accepting the nomination for
the vice-Presdency sf,lt' that in my judy
ineiit '.no man should b al incumb mt Of an
office thu duties of which he is for any cause
unfit to perform. OF who is lacking In the abil-
ity. fidelity OF integrity which proper admin
istratiOn of such Office. demands. This sent;-
ment would doubtless meet with neral &c y.
vidcd upon the wisdom and imprsict'cahi ~ OF
the various refOrmatOry schemes which hav"
been suggested, and Of certain proposed reg'!-
latiOns governing appointments T. public Of
fee. The efficiency of such regulations has
been distrusted mainly because they hav.
seemed to exalt mere educational and abstract
tests above general business capacity. and
even special fitness for the work in hand. 1t
seems to me that the result that should I've
applied to the management Of the public scry-
ice may properly conform, in the main, IT, such
as regulate the condition of successful pri-
vate business. Original appointments should
be based upon ascertained fitness. The tenure
of Office should he stable: positions of respOr-
sibility should, 30 far as practicable, be filled
by the promotion Of worthy and efficient Off:
the punishment OF all misconduct should he
prompt and thorough"
The views expressed in the foregoing letter
are those which will govern my admnistrn-
ton Of the Executive Office. They are doubt
less shared by all intelligent and patriotic cti-
zens, however divergent in their opinion as to
the best methods of putting them into pract;-
cal operation.
For example, the assertion that original ap-
pointments should be based upon ascertained
illness ''is not open to dispute" but the
question how, in practice, such fitness can be
most enectually ascertained is one which has
for years excited interest and discussion. The
measure which, with slight variations In its
details, has lately been urged upon the atten-
tion Of Congress and the Executive. has its