Daily Kennebec journal., 1882-12-05

casion for congressional action, may be men,
TONED the neglect of the railroad companies,
to which large grants were made BY the acts
of 1862 and "a, to take title thereto, and
their consequent inequitsble exemption from
local taxation. sk Ef
ILLiIERAcr.
No survey Of our material condition can
fail to suggest inquiries as TO the moral and
intellectual Progress of the people. The
census returns disclose an alarming stat. of
illiteracy in certain portions of the country,
where the provision for schools is grossly in
adequate. 1t is a momentous question for
the decision of Congress. whether immediate
and substantial aid should not be extended
by the general government for supplement-
ing the efforts of private benefcence and of
State and Territorial legislation in behalf of
education.
INTERSTATE COMMERCE
Has already been the subject OF
YOUR deliberations. One of the in
cidents of the marvellous extension
OF the railway system of the country has
been the adoption of such measures by cor
pOrations which own or control the roads as
has tended 10 impair the advantages OF health
ful competition and to make hurtful discrim-
nations in the adjustment of ireightage
These inequalities have been corrected in
several Of the States by appropriate iegisls-
tion, the effect of which il necessarily
restricted to the limits of their own territory,
So far as such mischiefs affect commerce
between the States, or between one of the
States and foreign country, they are
subjects of national concern, and Congress
alone can afford relief
The results which have thus far attended
the enforcement of the recent statute for the
suppression of polygamy in the territories are
reported by the Secretary of the Interior.
1t 10 not probable that any additional legisla-
tion in this regard will be deemed desirable
until the effect of existing laws shall be more
closely observed and studied. | congratulate
you that the commits sioners nnder whose
supervision those laws have been put in op-
Grafton, are encouraged TO believe that the
evil at which they are aimed may be sup
pressed without resort to such radical meas
ures as in some quarters have been thought
indispensable for success.
The close relation of the general govern
ment to the Territories preparing to be great
States may well engage your special atten-
ton. 1t is there that the Indian disturbances
mainly occur. and that polygamy has found
room for its growth. cannot doubt that
careful survey of territorial legislation would
be of the highest utility. Life and property
would become more secure, the liability
of outbreaks between Indians and whites
wonld be lessened, the public domain would
he more successfully guarded and better
progress be made in the instruction of the
young.
Alaska is still without any form of civil
government Ii means were provided for the
education of its people and for the protection
Of their lives and property, the immense re-
of no o np mn ntsn N
settlements and open new fields for industry
and enterprise. The report Of the Com
missioner of Agriculture presents an account
of the labors of that department during the
past year and includes information of much
interest to the general public. The condition
of the forests of the country and the wasreful
manner in which their destruction is taking
place give cause for serious apprehension
Their action in protecting the earths
surface, in modifying the extremes
of climate and regulating aud sus-
tanning the flow of springs and streams is
now well understood and their importance
to the growth and prosperity of the country
cannot be safely disregarded. They are fast
disappearing before destructive fires and the
legitimate requirements of our increasing
population. and their total extinction cannot
be long DELAYED unless better methods than
now prevail shall be adopted for their pro
lection and cultivation. The attention of
Congress is invited to the necessity of addi-
tional legislation to secure the preservation OF
the valuable forests still remaining on the
public domain, especially in the extreme
Western States and Territories, where the
necessity for their preservation is greater
than in less mountainous regions, and where
the prevailing dryness of the climate renders
their restoration. if they are once destroyed,
wellnigh impossible.
CIvIL SERVICE Reform.
The communication which made to Con-
gress at its first session in December last.
contained a somewhat full statement of nv
sentiments in relation tn the principles and
rules which ought to govern appointments
to public service, referring to the various
plans which had heretofore been the snbJect
Of discussion in the nationel legis-
lature plans which in the main were
modelled upon the system which obtains in
Great Britain but which lacked certain of
the prominent features whereby that system
In distinguished felt bound to intimate
nv doubts whether they or any of them
would afford adequate remedy for the evils
which they aimed to correct | declared.
nevertheless, that if the proposed measures
should prove acceptable TO Congress they
would receive the unhestitatng support of
the Executive Since the suggestions were
submitted for your consideration, there has
been no legislation upon the subject to which
they relate, but there has meanwhile been an
increase in the public interest in that subject,
and the people Of the country apparently
without distinction fparty have in various
ways and upon frequent occasions given ex
pr,ssion to their earnest wish for prompt ani
definite action. In my judgment such action
should no longer be postponed. l may add
that nv own sense Of its pressing importance
has been quickencd by observation OF prac-
t,cal phase of the matter, to which attention
has more than once been called by my pre-
decessors. The civil list now comprises
about one hundred thousand persons, the
larger part of whom must under the terms
of the constitution be selected by the Presi-
dent either directly or through his own ap
pointees.
In the early years of the administration OF
the government the personal direction of
apnointmcuts TO the civil service may not
have been an irksome task for the Executive,
hut now that the bureau has increased fully
a hundred told. it has become greater than 1t
ought to bear. and it necessarily diverts his
time and attention from the discharge OF
other duties no less delicate and responsible,
-. .,;., in tho yerv patvee of things can