The Washington critic., 1886-03-11
TOO MANY QUESTIONS ASKED.

Aoo NEh-N 4kSNLbs
Secretary Manning has asked to be
excused from appearing before the
House Committee on Banking and Cur.
rency, saying that the work of his de.
partment will not permit him to spare
the time which his attendance at the
Capitol would require. Recently Post
master General Villas, in reply TO res
olution of the House asking for infor.
nation upon certain subject, said
that he could not furnish 1t because he
had not sufficient force of clerks to
warrant his taking many of them from
their regular work and putting them to
searching the records and compiling
the information desired. Secretary
Manning and Colonel Villas are right
in what they have done.
Among the many other abuses that
Congress is guilty of there is none
greater than the system of calling upon
the heads of departments for all sorts
of information upon all sorts of ques-
tions, which. when furnished, is worth.
less to the public, and in most cases of
no Importance to those directly inter
csted in having the resolution of in.
quiry passed. Ask any officer of any
department if this system is not an
abuse and waste Of time and he will
most emphatically answer in the affirm.
ative.
We will cite only one class of such
inquiries. When a Member wants to
secure public building for his dis
trict, he will ask for all sorts of stats
-Gcs. connected with the national bust
ness within its confines, what tax is
paid, how much mail is handled and
how those statistics compare with all
other districts in which there are pub.
lie buildings. To answer these in
quiries takes much work and time.
And yet RESOLUTIONS of inquiry" when
they contain nothing squirting at poll.
tics, are as readily granted as leaves of
absence.
YESTERDAY Senator Pugh replied to
the speech made the day before by
Senator Edmunds. He differed from
the Vermont Senator in everything ex-
cept one. He heartily indorsed all that
Mr.. Edmunds said about Mr.. Thurman,
and called him "the greatest and the
purest American statesman now liv-
ing" This remark, like the praise
of Senator Edmunds, was applauded
by the galleries, and will be applauded
by the country at large. Mr.. Thurman
is about the best contented public man
in the United States. He is not ham
pered by politics, and has the good
will and admiration of whole nation,
excepting, perhaps, a certain Demo
cratic faction in Ohio
THE vARIEGATED weather that Gen
eral Hazen furnishes this devoted coun-
try can be explained, perhaps, by the
variegated assortment of purchases
made by that officer for the Signal
Service. According to Comptroller
Maynard these purchases included
horses, rugs, carpets, water color draw
ins of birds, $500 for Pullman car
and many other irregular investments,
aggrcgating half million of dollars.
A man with such unique collection
ought to be able to bring about as many
different kinds of weather as Virgil tells
us were from time to time let loose
from the cave of the winds, and do it,,
too, with the utmost facility and dis
patch.
THERE has been decided picking
up in the cotton market in New York,
as that staple is now the king of all
speculations in the metropolis For
many months there has been compare
tiyely little doing in cotton because of