Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1885-06-12
Washington LETTER.
trrOm urRogalar oonespoudcp,.l

WASHINGTON, u. g., June 8, 1885.
The complaint that the civil service
commissioners have not 6xed the standard
Of penunnship high enough In the exam
ination Of applicants for public positions
~ n rist one and should be essentially
changed. II Ia ssid, and / believe II to be
true, that nine tentim OF those who pas
credilabie examination in the branches for
which there Ia no earthly practical use IN
the service, are entirely deficient In the
matter Of penmanship, which is the para.
mount qualification in oil Appointments
that come rough The civil service. The
handwriting upon some OF the public doc
nments emaDsiing from the departments
II simply exccrnbie, and wonid lie a com.
pIete disqualification IN any business pnr-
suit under heaven. Let ms have stand
ard for chirography, ne well M for gcogra-
ply aud botany.
Here is where good portion Of our tim.
Der goes: The matches used in the
United Stnies require every year an
amount Of pine wood valued at So. .29s, ,562.
The railroads nse in their locomotives
alone more than S5,000,000 worth of hard
snd soit wood. aud almost So 000, 600
every year for iies. When II is remem-
bered that the entire value of our pine
timber ia placed by statisticisns at only
100000, 600, IL will be seen that the IN e.
saiiaie maw of The railroad corporations
dcvonrs about one tenth OF the timber
crop yearly.
The auction sale Of the truck, rubbish
and refuse Of the Census Bureau which IA
aoon To take place. should inclnde tue Cen.
Rus Report OF 1880, which for practical
utility will he Of vastly more service to
the junk.de than to the general public,
think.
II the new officials connected with the
Pension Office desire to get theii hands in
upon the subject Of Investigations, I wonid
recommend us n good field for the business
the highly moral City Of Broiherly Love,
Philadelphia, where the pension agent Is
said to have been paying pensions TO nun
erous parties who haze been defunrt for
10! these many years, to say nothing Of a
small regiment of widows who have also
been the recipients I Uncle Sans bounty,
after they had tbrIflily prov ided themselves
The delay that pensioners upon The Gov
ernment are subjected to IN adjudication
OF their claims, is something of which they
have no right to complain. The granting
Of pension IL simply = donation-tne
magnanin,ons gift Of the Republic to those
| Of its defenders who have incurred some
kind of disability in the service. To pro.
lect itself against fraudulent pension
claims, certain kinds of evidence are re-
qnired in eaci, case, and all of this evi
dence mast he carefully sifled, weighed
and ndjrlged by men who are presumed
to be thoroughly impartial and entirely
dis Interested.
1t Is u somewhat sad commentary upor
the morals OF the population of the Dis
trict OF Columbia, when the President !,
said TO he looking elsewhere for men to ill
the District offices. know that. tile MI
| OF the capita must necessarily he impreg-
mattel with all sorts of political diabolism
but l really supposed that half a doze,
good men might be discovered somewhere
who would be competent and homes
enough TO fill the few Offices here.
| DON PEDRO.