The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-07-09
I, a PAINsTAkiNo oFFIcIAL.



Postmaster-G General Villas has accom-
pIi.hed vast amount of work during
the, three months he has been In ofiice.
In no instance was the keen Judgment
of President Cleveland cxemplified
mere fully than in his selection of this
hai,d-working, capable official He
threw himself into his work from the
beginning with zeal and activity
that have been crowned with 3 grathy-
ing success. To this zeal and activity
he has combined excellent Judgment
and caution, earnestness, tireless indus
try and readiness to adopt, after careful
scrutiny, any new method which may
terld to simplify and facilitate the work.
inss of his department.. Like the other
members of the Cabinet, MIR. Villas is .
steadfast upholder of the true princi-
Piles Of Civil-Service reform, to which
the President is unalterably committed.
He found the department in q acondition
calculated to discourage aud dampen
the zeal of any reformer. It was per-
meated with the leaven of the notorious
Frank Hatton and the still moro notori-
GUS Brady, and was. if possible, more
Republican and Extensively partisan
than any of the other departments.
Like the cities of the plain. few just men
could be found in it, and Mr.. Pearson
was the only Lot who was considered
worthy of being saved.
Throughout the length and breadth
of the land were postmasters who OBJ
tanned their positions as the reward Of
party services and on the condition that
| they were to regard themselves as mere
electioneering agents when the good Of
the party demanded it. Democrats
were rigidly excluded, as matter Of
course. from this huge partisan ma
| chine.
Mr.. Villas. although naturally sur
prised at the magn tude of the evil he
was appointed to suppress, did not i'm
dulge in precipitate measures which
might have embarrassed the postal serv-.
ice and have done violence to his re-
form principles. He has proceeded
cautiously, examined each case care
fully before making a removal or an
appointment. and Consequently he has,
as far as he has been able to go. so far,
degree of efficiency and honesty which
would have been considered impossible
six months ago. Besides the excellent
| udoCiIdt HC ltdo ouUooloutC0 AVA COLl oG-
ton in the postoffices. he has stopped
several important leaks in the business
of his department. By a new post
age stamp contract he saves over thirty
thousand dollars year to the Govern
ment and seven thousand on postal
cards. In one item of sending Office
packages by mail he effected a saving
of S42, 1926. All this has been ac-
complished in the first three months of
his administration, and he proposes to
do great deal more when time and
famil arity with the workings of his
Office permit. He has been NOR
fiercely assailed by the spoilsmeu, prob
ably, than any other member of the
Administration, but they have failed to
move him a jot from tho plan of thor
ough reform he has mapped out for
himself Virginia is particularly in
debted to him for removing from her
shoulders the incubus of Mahoneism,
which derived all its oppressiveness
from the Federal patronage in the hands
of the apostle of reputation. The gem
eral cleaning out of Malone post
masters will enable the Old Dominion
to recuperate and meet the emergency
of financial difficulties now presented
before it. Mr.. Villas is the youngest of
the Cabinet officers, but he has given
ample evidence of ripe judgment and
caution which dism 'sses to vanishing
point a L dread of biunders. The post
Office department is in excellent hands.
l-AEJGlU AT0uS -