The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-11-20

WASHINGTON NEWS.

The secretary of the interior and assistant
secretary jerks last Tuesday heard the ar
gument in the case of the Northern Pacific
Railroad company vs. Milford Miller, on
appeal from the decision of the commission
er of the land office The matter at issue
is of great Interest to railroad m tnagers, as
it invulv>s the right Of withdrawal, on the
part of tie government, of lands for ind=n-
nifty purposes. The commissioner decided
that such Withdrawals were illegal, and re-
voked the order withdrawing Lands included
in the indemnity grant 10 the Northern Pa
cifc. Fir that decision the railroad ;om-
pany appealed TO the secretary.
OF the Indian question Gen. Sheridan
says; 81 would recommend that each family
I've given and located on $40 acres now pro-
vided for them by law, In case of actual
8 ,ttlemeut the government should then con-
d ,inn all the balance'o each reservation at
81. 25 per acre, and with the proceeds pur-
chase government bonds, to be held Ill trust
by the interior department, only giving to
CuC lHoISuS JStt Ou CHC
bonds for their support. Let this money
then be distributed the same AS the money
appropriated each year hy congress. This,
then, woud be more than is appropriated
bs congress, and would take the question
for the annual appropriations for Indians
out of con 3ress." Gen. Sheridln adds: II
ctnn"t a..fte with Gen. Miles in his ideas
regarding iisian territory, or his confidence
III the ab.i6y of the Indian to make himself
self-supp"rtlng in so short a time. All our
experience heretofore does not warraat such
contid.lce, and such opiuious should be re-
gartesl as individual rather than representa-
tive of the army. The permanent control
of the luoiaus is not desired by the army az
large.
The president is evidently disappointed
IL his new civil service commissioners. The
principal reason for changing the old board
was that he believed he could more readily
impress upon the members his OWE ideas of
Improvement in the administration of the
civil service law. The old board had prac-
tically created system, and had become ac-
customed to a certain routine in the per-
formance of their duties, anu were thus less
liable to adapt themselves to any change; so
ut was decided to get new members, whose
balance of power would be al the same po-
iitical faith as the administration, and who,
was thought, would readily become i'm.
bued with the presidents views. The pres
ident believes that there should be broad
er construction to the law than now obtains,
and that other qualities, besides that of
merely being able to answer correctly ser
les of questions, should be taken into con-
sideratlon in the matter of selecting persons
for appointment. Fitness for position, Ca
pacity for handling men, and technical
knowledge of the duties required, were as
necessary in the Sterling Gaze as high rank
in written examination, and hence all the
names of those who passed examination
were submitted to the collector. This should
b. the course in all cases, and certiiicatiun
should not be confined to the four highest
ON the list. This is the presidents idet
and he has so publicly expressed himself.
<4uo ySO GHc iGW commissioners nave taken
occasion to say that their action in the Sterl-
ing case, so far as relates to certifying the
whole list, is not precedent of what they
will do IN the future, and hence the presi-
dents disappointment over the fact that the
members have failed to grasp his idea upon
the subject of civil service teform
One of the first measures to be introduced
in the house when Congress meets in Decen-
Der will be a resolution censuring the Post
master General for his course in declining
to pay American steamship companies
money which congress voted to them as
compensation for carrying foreign mails
The resolution will. no doubt, lead to a
thorough discussion of the meaning and in
tent of the act, which appropriated S40O, 0CO
for carrying foreign mails in American
steamships, and at the same time will give
Villas an opportunity to explain the reasons
which induced him to set, his own Judge.
ment against the conclusions reached by
congress. In the senate similar resolu.
!. tion will be introduced, it is thought, by
Senator Frye, to whose efforts the passage
of the appropriation was due last winter.
The prospects are that Villas will have a
lively time with congress.
The statement is published in San Fran
c isco that the Oregon Railway & Navigation
company definitely refuses to become pa.-
ty to the traffic agreement and combination