Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-09-12
THE BLUE BOOK"

The Official Register OF the United Statss Gov
ernmenfs EmpIoyes--HOw Statesmen Are Paid
IA Curious Study.
washington Special to the Cincinnati 1imes-Star.l
The government "Blue Book" which
is always issued just before new ses-
sion of congress comes in, is now being
prepared, aud will be given to the pub
lie in a short time. Il contains in each
issue the names of all government en-
pIoyes, with the date OF their employ
ment, the state of their birth, the state
from which each was appointed, the sal
airy each one gets, the name of the posi-
ton he holds, and the location where he
is employed. The "BIue Book grows
larger every year, or rather every two
years, for it is published at that period.
That of four years ago contained about
1000 pages in two volumes, that of two
years ago had at least l, 300, and the one
| for 1888 will contain, it is expected,
1900 pages
The book is curious study. There
| is, as has been thousands of times told,
constant rush for government position.
People will go TO almost any length for
government position. They come here
to Washington, and spend weeks and
months, and even years here. They
haunt public men and public places.
They are willing to undergo any humili
alton or suffer any agony of expense and
suspense TO get place. Failing In this,
they are willing to pay money for place.
Often advertisements appear in the
daily papers offering S100. $500, $500
and even $500 to any one who will Sc
cure them government appointment.
Others offer g considerable sum of
money IN hand and a large percentage
Of their salary so long as they hold the
place. From this one would suppose
that government positions were perfect
bonanzas, SO to speak, and that the sal
| aries attached to them were prlncely in
their proportions. A gentleman hole
| ing an important position ID the treas
ury was not long since asking of our
correspondent what a newspaper CORES
pondent might make in Washington,
and being informed in general terms,
responded, with an air of surprise,
"Why, that's better than government
position, isn't it o. That is the key to
the general view of a government po-
sition, as ascertained by three -fourths
of the people in Washington, and by a
large proportion Of the people outside
of the city and the government service.
In view of this general belief that the
government employe is a prince, the
''Blue Book" is extremely interesting.
The President, as everybody knows,
gets $4,000 year. Some people say
that the Presidents don't save anything
out of their salaries. That is probably
not true. There is no reason why
they should not. They have not only
their house rent furnished free, but the
| expenses of the White House, are paid
out of the public purse. An appropria-
ton for this especial purpose is made at
every session of congress. The Presi-
dent certainly ought to save money out
of his salary, and probably does. Pos
siblya few of the foreign representatives
Of this government save something out
of their salaries, but probably not.
Their expenses abroad are very heavy.
and much is expected of them, both So
cially and personally.
The ministers at Lodcon, Paris, Ber-
Lin and st. Petersburg get ST., 800 each;
those at Vienna, Picking, Rio de Janeiro,
| Yedd0, Rome, Mexico and Madrid get
$4,000 a year each; those at Guate-
rnaIa, Santiago and Lima, $40, 900 each;
these to Venezuela, Turkey, Sweden
md Norway, the Netherlands, Hayti,
the United States of Columbia, Belgium
and the Argentine Republic, 81 800
each; the consuls general to Rio de
Janeiro, Paris, London and Havana,
Sc, 900 each; the cabinet officers get
SIS, 600 a year each, and don't save a
cent Of it. They are really the most
poorly paid men, considering what is ex-
| pected of shem, in the government SER
vice. They are expected to entertain
early and often and on a grand scale,
and, instead of having everything fur
nished them as it is for the President.
they must furnish it all themselves. The
result is that none of them can save any
thing out of the $4,000 year which
they are allowed.
The collector of customs at New York
gets $12, 900 year, and should be able
to save something from it. The collec-
tor at Philadelphia, and. those at New
Orleans, San Francisco and Baltimore
get 81, 900. The commissioner of inter-
nal revenue gets Sc, 200, the general of
the army and admiral of the navy get
$l3, 500 each, the lieutenant general of
the army 81 ZOO, the vice admiral of
the navy SO, 900, the rear admiral Sc, 900,
major generals $1,000 each, and brig
| adler generals So, 800.
J The vice president of the United