Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1888-01-28
n


Cleveland as q Clerk-No Chance
for Dakota.
Special Correspondence Of the IxriR.OoRAx.l
WASHINGTON, Jan. %, -Clevela nd is a
clerk; his cabinet officers are hired men;
his hired men are clerks. Arthur, Gar
field, Hayes. Grant, johnson, Lincoln,
Buchanan. and all the rest were states
men Of greater or lesser degrees oil dis
tinction. Cleveland 10 a" clerk. Ever
since he entered the white house he has
performed clerical duties Of a character
which should Re left to subordinates.
He has required similar service of his
hired men, aud all Of them have been
submissive to his narrow-minded within,
except Whitney, who il sstatesmanlike
enough to know that menscan be had at
from $1,000 up, who are able to do clerl-
cal work and do it we'll al himself, and
glad ofan opportunity to so labor. Villas
is SO thoroughly trained into the Glove.
land way of thinking that he works very
hard to earn his salary. In the post-of-
flee department ho always looked over
the papers in the appointment Of letter.
carriers, when Col. Bates could have
done much better without his supervi-
sion. Ho always looked over the ap-
pointments in the railway mail service
when either Jameson, Grant, or Nash
could havo done better without his in
reference. He dominated tho money
order system OF this country when
DIR. Mcdonnell knows moro about
the business than Villas, or a reg
ofsuch men; besides being one
of the most broad gauge, big-minded
men In the republic. Thus. from one
end Of the department to another, Villas
superintendsd every thing. His subor-
dinates were neve trusted with the
management Of affairs, except In a very
limited degree. The general public
might suppose that such hard work IL
commsndable in q cabinet official, and
that will be one OF the claims made for
this administration during the next cam
paign. Let me toll you, as one who
knows by actual departmental expert
and knowledge Of affairs in sxecu-
tive life, that that sort Of work is any
thing but commendablo. I am led to
give this information, in extenso, by the
most recent action of the secretary of the
interior. As 500 Us he gets we'll settled
in Lamar's place Mr.. Villas proceeds to
take under his own wing the land office
appeal cases which have been attended
to faithfully and we'll by Mr.. Muldrow,
of Mississippi. It ought not to require
q great deal OF knowledge Of business
affairs in order to understand that that is
a bad movement. Muldrow ia as good .
rs Villas, Is al Trustworthy a gen-
tleman, and an old time Democrat. He
knows all the p%rscedents of the depart
ment. and the practice in particular
Of cases. OF these things Villas
10 ignorant, and therefore less competent
than Auldrow whom he has thus set
aside from his arduous labor. Besides,
1t takes all Of the time of one good man
to study and master and decide upon
these appealed cases. Tho secretary OF
the interior ought not to look into any of
those cases except such as are brought
especially to his attention and made
special" BY his present action, MI.
Villas has weaken himself. Ho cannot
give that attention to his duties which a
man in his position should give. He
cannot properly consider land Office,
pension office, patent Office, Indian Of
fec, and other official cases which arc
necessarily brought to the secretary of
the Interior by the subordinate commits
sioners and chiefs. A cabinet officer, If
a statesman and a counselor Of a presi-
dent who Is q statesman, will devote lis
time to matters pertaining to the general
welfare Of the nation. He will soar
aloft like tho eagle and view the entire
landscape o'cr from intellectual heights.
instead Of burrowins into some little
bill like = mole. Postmaster General
Dickinson promises to make a different
sort Of cabinet officer. He 10 more OF a
business man after tho Whitney typo.
Ho is broader. Villas. in thus depriving
himself of the aid Of his best man, and
in putting the screws upon all others,
will make himself unpopular. + knoV
him we'll, and know him to be we'll
meaning, earnest, energetic and pos
sesscd of tender heartedness as we'll as
superior ability In some directions. But,
that does not alter the facts above stated.
If he were to take time to become per-
sonally acquainted with his su%bordinates
at their desks, as Frank Hatton and Bob
Lincoln used to do, he would get better
work out of the employees, and make his
own and the administration Of his chief,
q great deal moro popular. These are
non-partisan facts which tho people
ought to know.
There is nothing In tho way OF news
but bad news for Dakota today. In tho
first place 1t is very clear that there will
be no bill before either house of ION.
gress which will pass the other house
Dakota as . whole, or as two
states, or as south Dakota. 1t 10 impos-
sibls to get such q bill through congress-,
and if one were to go through Cleveland
would probably refuse to sign 1t. The
from Aberdeen are wasting
their tine. If they would have heark-
ened unto the words of wisdom which
were sent them weeks ago, both through
bureau Of correspondence and
through their personal friends here in