The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1883-03-02

Il
the Republicans are sssaying In tbs
matter Of the tariff bill. Last session
when they had abundant time they
shifssd the responsibility on a tarill
ecinn'isAiOn. and now. although. brought
| 70 . SENSE Of dnty BY ths lsssoa of No.
ssuber, they are fiislefing away the
twenty days remnant Of the pressn,
session In an effoft TO gain political
vantage and place tbe Democrats in Q
false position. If no tariff I'LL Is passed
the odium must rest on the party oi
the majority. The Democrats have
expressed their willingness to vote for
the bill proposed b, commission chos-
On by Republicans, and, on the party
having majority 10th in The House
and in the Senate, viii rest the con-
demnation Of wasted time and political
cowardice. have heard II said that
the Democrats will offer The senate bill
a. substitute, for the house bill when
1t shall have been completed, aud vote
for IL sOlidly. II this progromme IL
carried out IL 10 possible enough RepuL-
lican members can Le found 70 pass the
bill, but the interests which will be ar
raycd against IL arc diversified and
powerful. / do not zee how Congress
is going to accomplish anything, unless
doing nothing can be- called accomplish.
ing something.
There Is grave fOrobodins and even
alarm in nearly half the houses Of
Washington arising from q report that
Congress will pass . ILL adding one
hour 10 The days labor Of Govermen.
clerks. As it is now, the fiftsen thou.
sand Government clerks are required
to be in Office at 9a. m, and arc dis
mianed at 4 p. M, with recess Of from
thirty minutes 10 enc hoar ct noon. II
is proposed BY the bill to make the
hour Of dismissal 5 p. m, instead Of 4.
But the prospect Of having an additional
hour added 70 tho day = labor has great
ly alarmed these lsmpersd clerks, and
they have been rushing iAto print, and
rushing 10 ,hose msmbefs Of Congress
with whom they are acquainted in or.
der TO persuade them to vote against
the bill. The stock ATgarseht used by
them ID that mental labor !, IN ucb more
fatiguing than manual labor, bat, To
this it may DO truly said that Not one
clerk in ten is capable Of mental labor,
or is expected 10 perform work that re-
quires such thought or study as strains
the higher faculties. To those who
know the real condition Of things in
the Government Offices these complaints
seem very ridiculous. Here are $1,000
persons, supposed TO be working for the
Government, but they are without an
overseer, aud have been for twenty
years without an inspector. They ars
responsible to nobody, and they. come
a. near doing nothing from Christmas
to Christmas as any like number that
ever lived. wish the reader couls
have biids-eye view Of oil the em.
ployees in oil the Offices Of the u. s
Government. He would zee carptsd
and frescoed rooms, desks that cost sixt,
dollars, Luxurious chairs and lounges, ex
quisite writing paraphernalia, all the
equipments Of clerical SardsnapaIus
He would SEQ sybsrite clerks, male an,
female, reading, gossiping, smoking
neglecting the work which half thei
number could easily perform. | SAY
neglecting the work, for it is notorisu
that work in many Offices Is far in al
rears. The work is not great or di
fcult, but the workmen are incomp,
tent and idle, and have no one to kee
them employed. Take the Patent oi
fice.as an example. In this Office ther
are nearly one hundred and fifty Q,
aminsrs whose business II is to exsmin
inventions and allow patents upon sue
az appear to be new. Yet, owing
the neglect, idleness, and shrinking I
majority Of these examiners, man
inventors have to wait from ten week
to one year before their cases are e,
amined and passed upon. There seen
to be no way to make them do Il
/. work that they are paid with the il
ventors money to perform, for they ha'
= been appointed through the politics
influence OF certain Republican Sonato
: and members and they are entirely il
N dependent Of the inventor who pa,
L them. The Patent Office is not on
ID supported by the money which inve
l. tors pay for the examination of the
q cases, but it brings large surplus re-
re- re- enue into the U. s. Treasury. I'll
q .. net profit TO the Government from Il
a Patent Office was, last year, 1896, SO
: And the amount to the credit Of &
Patent Office accumulated since ls;
is $2,206,47l. Considering the ia
DO that the Patent Office is NOT only Sc
% supporting but contributes largely
st the revenues Of the Government, Il
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