Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1883-12-28
wAsnsNGsON LErTEx,.
Irrom Our IsEuier corrcrpvrdent.1


wAspISoroS. Dec. 22. 1888.
We ,re having juat nov pretty fair IL
iustralion of the sincerity OF the polite
ians Of either party on the suljec, Of civil
service reform. Each aide IL scoring the
other for doing precisely tlie same thing
The Democrats IN the Senate lecture the
Republican majority Tor turning out the
old officials who are Democrats, while
their friends over on the House aide have
already made n clean sweep OF the Repuh.
lican officers Of the las, Congress. The |
Senate Republicans put on n ,irtuous air |
and talked cf civil service reform al first, |
when In fact those who we're on the inside
knew that the only reason the Senate Off
GERS were not changed Mt once was the fear
OF trouble on account OF Gorl,am and one
or two aLsentees. So il is. Neither party
has any regard for civil service reform.
What the politicians want is the Offices
and they will have them when they get
chance. The enactment OF the present law
was forced upon them by public sentiment,
snd they are most heartily sorry for it, In
the departments Congressman are not as
potent as they orce were, and while u few
are glad to be relieved to some extent OF
the annoyance and pressure, others regret
the los" oil their influence in this direction.
Before the civil service law went into ef.
feet, II was common thing in the depart
mental circles to hehra clerk who wished
to be promoted, transferred or appointed
in some other department, say: "Well,
| Ill just fix that when my member Of Con.
gress retnrns to the city" Such remarks
are nat indulged in now, but II Treasury
ofhcia informs your correspondent that
Congressman are daily endeavOring 10 se-
cure appointments on individual account.
as though they were totally ignorant of the
civil service barrier. OF course those able
applicants are regularly referred 10 the
commission, "nnd," said my informant, "if
they yet mn appointment through without
complying with the law it's a frigid day.
Jus' now there is II great deal of schemng
going on in Congressional circles to evade
the civil service law iu the matter of de
partmental appointments, and although
the movement has not yet fully developed
il will heaome apparent enough after the
HOLIDAYS, when Congress is regularly in
session"
Whether the country will! hail with pro.
found satisfaction the advent OF another
National bankrupt law, depends some upor
what sort of a law il is. The principal
} hill now before Congress simply revives
the law which was repealed by act of June
Z, 1878, tho only modification being that
| I,a nj ~ h. al,
district courts shall he fixed salaries in
stead of by fees. This is good amend
ment, provided the salaries are not placed
TOO high. 1t will be remembered that the
fees paid to the court officers under the
old law, constructive and otherwise, gener
ally absorbed the poor debtors esl ate
leaving nothing to be divided up between
the creditors. II we re 10 have u bank
: rupt law. this hill is ms likely TO go through
as any other because it has been suhjecte,
to the scrutiny OF the courts in all il,
parts. and has been the instrument h,
which more than one Thousand millions %
:, dollars has been saved to the debt side .
: the business men OF the country.
u The Democrats in Congress are vsr,
. playful, and there Ia a good deal more q
;, the atmosphere Of relaxation about thei
cloak rooms than is to I've breahed in th
retiring rooms on the Republican side
When a Republican Senator gets tired q
business he goes over to the Democrats
# side to have some fun. The Democrat
d Senator's play practical jokes on one an
d niher, and perhaps the most persistent j.
i ker OF hat body is Senator Garland. NJ
e long ago Senator who owed Garland on
n for previous pranks, got hold of son,
e "ApriI fool" caramels and placed ther
carelessiy on his desk Garland spIed til
e deceptive chocolates, and carelessly saur
= iering by, picked ur one Of them, and sale
,e "What are these, SenatorW They al
p caramels. Take one" Thank yon. viii
" and he took one. Now, the caramel W,
= filled with soap. and the jokers ex pected I
il see Garland spit ont the naliseous stui
i That was where the laugh was TO come II
!" But Garland disappointed them. He al
mp the whole thing, soap and all, and ne,
er made sign. The perpelrator be
came frightened and ran out into tt
>, cloak room, exclaiming "Go,' Lord. +,
=" afraid the man il poisoned" ooh, VI
'e ne'den't be alarmed" said Butler, OF Somi
}. Carolina, "Garland's got an ArkansG
= stomach" To this day no one know
whether Garland tasted The soup or not.
'e Speaker Carlisle has been going ihroug
'e trying ordeal in the formation of III
p House committees, bnt nj this writing it
II understood the work is about complete
ii and rendy for announcement. OF cour,
re everybody is not going to he pleased, br
m The general impression is that the resli
'e will he about The hest that could be pr,
'e dnced. The holiday recess will exien
r over to the second week in January pra
~ ,irally whether it does nominallv or no
IL notwithstanding the absence Of gro
y manv Congressman next week il will he
. lively seasop here. rs The holiday seasO
y alwavs ia. and the business of ''peddlir
! cards" Ms u Senator's wife Expresses il, wi
j, he carried on IN considerable exten
= Usnally the departments clo-e for ha
ls holiday each afternoon Of Christmas weel
'r hat civil service reform has knocked III,
y. pleasant practice In the head and Il
II clerks viii this year get only ChIi.,mI
'r and New Years days. may take ho
+ day myself next week, the better to prep,
d for the hard winters work to follow.
Dom PEDRo