The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1883-04-10
SOUTH KENTUGKIAN.
ADVERTISING RATE.
WASHINGTON LETTER.

mas peeh unusually quiet in
washington for couple of weeks
past and at such times very little
thing creates a'sensation. The COL
ored man Brown, who was recently
kicked out Of a place in one of the de-
partments because he refused to he.
come the body-servant Of his supe-
rlor officer, has had good deal of
notoriety. His chief required that in
addition to his regular duties asa
messenger for the department he
should attend the said chiefs. resi-
dence morning and evening to black
boots, make fires, shovel snow, groom
the horses, and such little trihes. AS
Brown was paid by the government
this arrangement would save Mr..
chief the expense of a servant. The
messenger, to use slang term.
"kicked," and refused to do menial
service in the chiefs household.
Then Brown was discharged. Fool
ish Brown! lie should have attended
to the household duties and let the
department run itself. Then there
would have been no complaint.
Brown was entirely too conscientious.
He ought to have known that his
first duty was to his chiefs family
not to the department. Every. Office
holder in Washington entitled to
messenger uses him the messenger)
as private servant. There may be
exceptions, but do not know of any.
Take the Supreme court. Every one
of the nine judges has his body-ser-
want paid for by the government.
The servant hangs around the Su-
preme court few hours every day,
but he deyotes himself to the house,
hold of his particular judge, and he
knows better than to refuse to do
whatever he is directed to do. Near
ly every bureau and department has
its horses and carriages. They are
used by the official families for shop
ping and social purposes, and big
livery bills are thus saved. These
abuses run through every department
of government. Congress is by no
means exempt. Every chairman Of
committee has his clerk or secretary
paid by the government. What does
this clerk. Why he attends to the
correspondence of the member and
looks out for his private letters, his
seeds and his documents, and draws
his salary from the government.
The list Of names mentioned" for
the vacant Postmaster-G Generalship is
quite formidable assto numbers, and
reads like an extract from m0rtua-
ry record. A couplet or two from
the obituary poet of the period would
make it complete. Nearly every one
of the gentlemen included has "gone
to meet the politicians who were
happily, and let us hope permanently,
buried under the avalanche of votes
thrown upon them last fall. There is
Filley and Window, and Robeson,
and Ferry, and about dozen ex-con-
gressmen in the lot-all former lead
ers in the stalwart ranks, whom it is
taken for granted must be provided
for by the Executive in some way,
now that the people have turned them
out One name among those suggest
ed deserves more than passing notice,
not only because there is danger that
the President may consider it favor
ably, but because it is put forward
under false pretenses. That is the
name of Mr.. Hatton, whose friends
ask for his promotion in the name Of
civil service reform. The essential
principle of that reform as regards
promotion, is that it shall be based
on seniority and merit. The latter is
indispensable, and Mr.. Hatton has
none of it. His open and impudentt
hostility to reform would make his
appointment an insult to public in
telligence if it were made in the name
of reform, and his narrowness, greed,
and lack of any sense of propriety in
the office he holds are conclusive evil
dence of his brilliant unfitness for a
higher position. Yet it is believed
that his chances are about first as
matters now stand. He is boss of the
Administrator organ here.
Crowds attend the Star-route trial
and the courtroom becomes so stiff
ing at times that even Judge Wylie is
forced to complain. During the win
ter many ladies attended, among
them Mrs. Dorsey and number OF
her friends, but they have rather
thinned out of late. New interest
was awakened this week, however,
by the additional indictments found.
The sly Kellogg is caught at last. 1t
was generally believed that his es-
cape from indictment a year ago was
through certain political influences,
as his absence from the senate would
have broken the Republican majority.
There is much curiosity felt here to
see whether Kellogg's usual adroit
methods and brass-mounted assur-
ance will prevail to get him out ofthe
present scrape. lie has been hereto
fore fortunes favorite in the matter
of getting out of corners, but no man
can be always in luck. The capital
| l.......,o, N, tba firct nf its gemi-an-