Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-09-02
w,x WHO LIKES WORK.
!. Durham, the First Comp
1b4'9' troIier OF the Treasury.

the First comp
N.'' troIier OF M Treasury.
.g4vGroN, Aug. 2S.-Milton john
Iersem. of Kentucky, First Comp
sg aftbe Treasury, who has been nut
IT, the official doye-cots of Washing
'"' .,rir, the psst few weeks, is as ode
ION odd-looklng as his predecessor,
81" IN .Ram, Lawrence. There is a
gus. amily resemblance in their oddi-
,,ouob. Both dress queerly, both
te'' .csnaper fame, and both covet the
r. .fGoyernor. am afraid, o that
'-' o,t of Office entirely, that poor old
as-sroe a given up his hope Of being
L-rror of Ohio. II he hasn't, he Will,
'o'- ,ri1l have to. But Durham feels
W .bo confidence that he could
~ n, tqe thought that he Will some
9ss' Governor OF kentucky. To that
jA, v-blLp he keeps n Of his bright
sD.' ,..onIv Fixed on the rascals still In
e'es be ke4ps the other nc less strictly
lo".S r%oltties of his State. Nor are the
"a" 90 i55us necessarily divergent. II he
wv an in his good work OF cutting of
wee ss beads and checking reckless eX-
Nroosnca. he will get nearer the goal he
I" hafore him than if he spent his
., N~ire-Dulling and p~ipe-laying. Old
n,rram is a conspicuous figure wherever
~ sDuesrs. He is more than six feet tall;
as thin and as straight as a hop
-,s. he has a smoothly shaVen race, ana
small, round head, covered with
r. brown hair. His hands and his face
slo1 oe weather-beaten as the most
so,v.banded son of toll could desire.
I Ta I93oEs i'm mis- long-tailed velYet-coilared
lIooce Prince Albert like q stOck-raiser
SG4dm HE Kentucky bluegrass region.
Van ~ have to look into his bright, wide
iar.ara ewes to see his intelligence. When
A. rold.rmmed sp~ectacles drop down on
ho ard Of mis- nose and he smiles sweetly
,,vou from under them. you see mis- face
r"sbosf and then YOU discover that he has
a., once a good and shrewd expression.
ne fact 9s old Durham is a canny old
nwver. popular, ! should think, with the
rsonle. but not with the politicians, and
Hat is why, / fancy, after having served
his district faithfully in the House for
several terms, he has not been able, in
.nita of vigorous efforts, to get back
osain. When he was in the House he
nTovad himself an honest and able man,
ritb 3 GOOD nose for shams and frauds,
er5 a yery convincing way of expos
Inc them. He was a very valuable
Lieutenant. if, indeed, he was not a
CaDtain, or say yer a Colonel, in the gal
Iqnr fight against the reckless and wicked
mon who for wears used the Republican
Marty to pull their plumber out of the
treasury. He is a man of the Holman
Extraordinarily thrifty, econom-
ical Censeryative-useful. if not very Or
pamental. Secretary Manning is ex-
remelv fortunate in having such a mar in
he most important Office IN the Treasury
4 Department. The power in the First
comptroller is little understood. 1t is
lwavs underestimated. Even old Law
ynce, with his exalted ideas of its pre-
0%g2tiyes. did not oYerestimate the i'm
mrtance of his office. The First Comp
roller Is in the line of his duties-in the
control Of the accounts passing through
bis hands-supreme. he is more power
tl than the Secretary of the Treasury
himself. Old Lawrence used to liken his
powers to those nf the Supreme Court Of
4 he United States. he was not far
wrong. The FIRST Comptroller of the
Treasury has the almost absolute control
Of millions upon millions Of the peoples
money. An honest man will save the
Government hundreds of thousands OF
dollars in the course Of his four
year term. A dishonest man could
make almost as much. The salary
nj the Office ought to be more than
the $1,000 per mum now given; not that
large salary guarantees honesty, but
that no other official in the Treasury De-
nartment has to work 80 constantly and
30 lab%Oriously, Judge Durham likes work
almost as much as did Judge Lawrence.
he mas not begun, as yet, to turn out every
month or two, like Lawrence, a volume
containing a report Of his decisions, la
0aled list Durham" or I'D Durham" but
he'll at his desk at s o'clock in the morn
ing, and while he does not stay there all
dag, as Lawrence did. drinking a pitcher
Of milk and eating a sandwich for lunch,
ne is not absent much Of the time during
lac Gay. he is a temperate man, of high
" moral and methOdical habits, and is al
together a dangerous foe to the corrupt
lonlsts who are now trying to whistle his
aselQsures down the wind as of no prac-
dcal Importance.