The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-03-13
EARLY TO BUSINESS.
some SURPRISING CHANGES AT THE
WHITE HOUSE.
The President Makes an appointment fcT
O'Clock a. m. and Keeps It.
Civil Service Sayings-Bay-
ards Messsage-CapitaI
Cuttings.

WASHINGTON CITY, March l3.-Secretary
Lamont has reduced the number of clerks at
the White House and also heightened the
hours, and now everybody is required to be
a t work at a. m.
Lamont's ntlmation that he believes the
forces in tbs departments may be similar re-
duced has startled everybody The clerks
in the departments have always resisted
every attempt to lengthen their hours of
work with a vigor which people who see
them at their desks or IN the streets would
scarcely believe they possessed. Two years
age when Mr. Cannon, OF Illinois, tried TO
introduce into the legislative, executive and
Judicial appropriation bill clause lengthen-
ing the hours in the department, from 9 a.
m. to p. M, by only an hour, he called
about his ears perfect cyclone Of clerical
indignation, The local papers here were
filled with protesting communications for a
week or more, and scores aIsl more OF gov
ernment employees threatened to stop their
subscriptions because their views were not
published
the president is a hard worker himself,
and he believes in giving ana getting & full
days work for full days pay He sur
prised all Washington by making an ap-
pointment with an urgent statesman for s
o'clock in the morning something hereto
fore unheard of in this sleepy city.
keeping it, ard everybody in
Washington knew about it within
two hours after his visitor left. A
performance of that kind by public official
being considered sensational here, subse
quenb caller suggested to him that he had,
perhaps, best go slow in such radical innova-
tions, as he might find it wearing on himself
in this latitude, although he might have
found it easy enough in Albany. "Oh, |
guess not" he replied. Three or four hours
sleep does me'very well"
To gentleman who spent nearly an hour
with him Thursday morning, President
Cleveland said that he was going to render
government service less enticing than
it has been heretofore. In other words,
he proposes to make the hours of labor
proportionate to the pay that is received.
His action in cutting the clerical force in
the White House exactly in half is regarded
as an indication of what will be done in the
departments after the administrative ma
chine gets fairly to running.
A correspondent Of The Cincinnati En-
quirer telegraphs his paper as follows:
Dan Lockwood said to me:
"The more men press Mr.. Cleveland for
Office the less likely they are to got it. He
will not stand importuning. He looks on it
as a weakness, which is possessed only 10y
weak men 1t is one of the traits of his
character which l regard as a good one
His career as governor showed another trait,
which is that of standing by his friends.
hear from Washington remarks made by
the president to gentlemen who have called
on him, which shed some light on his inten;
tions. To a Republican he said: u am in
earnest in what have said about civil SER
| vice, and mean to give effect to my declara-
ton"
A delegation who called on him to recon-
mend certain appointment was told there
| is no vacancy in the office they sought to fill
An application for office was told: You
must remember as well as l that there is a
| tenure of Office act
A Democrat senator who went to him on
the night of March 5 to urge a change in his
decision to give two cabinet places to New
| York used all his arguments up only to be
met with the reply: II will consider what
| you have suggusted." In telling me of it tire
| senator said: II looked at Mr. Cleveland'S
| face and jaw as it closed on that sentence,
and | saw that no human power could move
him. / went out and told our western friends
| that they might as we'll give it up"
At the capitol Thursday, it was said that
| Secretary Bayard has announced, in very
| positive manner. his intention to adhere tl
the strict letter of the civil-service law. He
| sent his messenger into each room of the
state department with the proclamation tC
the clerks that they need have no fear Of
losing their positions through the mere
| change of administration, as he did moi
purpose dismissing any one except for neg
lect of duty.
The day for holding the second of the two
weekly cabinet meetings has been changed
from Friday to Thursday, and the cabinet
met at noon ON Thursday pursuant to the
new arrangement. All the members were
present, and the session lasted for three
hours. Appointments and various Other
subjects, prominent among which was the
Oklahoma matter, was discussed
After the cabinet meeting the White
House was thrown open to the public and
the president held popular reception in The
| east room.