The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1889-02-15
washington Letter.
(From our regular correspondent

the town, especially of Mr.. Edgerton him
self. Mr.. Edgerton says, "The civil ser
vice laws have never been enforced during
this administration. and the President has
never made a thorough attempt to enforce
them. Mr.. Thompson, whose nomination
the President has sent to the Senate, Will
not be confirmed, and if Mr.. Oberly is
nominated lie will not be confirmed.
These two men are incompetent, and po-
litically dishonest"
1t has been known for a long time that
President Cleveland desired Mr.. Edgerton
to resign, but it was not expected that he
would peremptorily remove him. The
bargain, if bargain it were, between the
President and Messrs. Thompson aud
0berly, seems void of purpose. And how
Oberly came to consent that Thompson
should be nominated instead of him is a
question. Oberly had the first claim, as
ever since his retirement from the Civil
Service Commission he has desired to fill
the vacancy his retirement made, if he
could only get Judge Edgerton removed.
The only possible solution is that Thomp-
son was more acceptable for nomination as
being more respectable.
Oberly is one of the most marked repre-
sentatives of cheap and dirty political
tricksters that ever disgraced any admin
istration. His oily repulsive manners and
his hypocrisy are as characteristic as his
unblushing impudence when occasion Of
fers. He brought a pack of hungry relatives
and heelers with him, and found them
places. He did not hesitate to claim zeal
Gus friendship for civil service, while he
took every possible means to degrade and
disgrace it, | know the 0berly tribe, and
/ can warmly endorse them for ignorance
and greed.
COMMISSIONS Edgerton, righto or wrong in
this case, represents the better element of the
Democracy. lie is seventy-six years old,
and was in Congress and an advocate of
| civil service reform in the days of Pierce
and of Fillmore. His appointment was
well received by both parties and, though
his methods may be slow, there is no doubt
ing his sincerity. He is a man of educa-
ton, and his practical talents are exhibited
in his business measures. If, as is now
proposed, President Harrison should ap-
point him the Democratic member of the
Commission, it will be a heavy blow at
Cleveland. In fact, how the whole affair
can be regarded as other than a bad blum
der on Mr.. Cleveland's part, l am at a loss
to understand.
The tariff calculations furnished by the
Treasury Department to the Committee on
Ways and Means reached the Committee
on Saturday and were Immediately rushed
off to the printer without consideration or
review. They will be in print, however,
by tomorrow, and the committee will
probably report bill to the House this
week. Chairman Mills is busy on what
he denominates a showing of a few of the
incongruities of the Senate bill. The Re-
publicans in the committee will probably
submit a detailed report, but will merely
recommend that the House concur in the
substitute of the Senate bill for the Mills
bill.
The Window boom for the Treasury
portfolio seems to have fallen to the
ground. and that very large and loose
jointed individual seems TO be doomed to
remain in political retirement, at least so
far as any chances in the next Cabinet are
concerned. The latest Cabinet slate made
in Washington is: Secretary of State,
Blaine; Treasury, New or Mckinley; War,
Alger; Navy, Wanamaker; Postofice,
Platt; Interior, Thurston; A~ttorpey-Gen-
eral, Estee; Agricultural, Miller.
On Saturday Minister Phelps arrived in
New York, and is expected in Washington
tonight. He states that he will neither
confirm nor deny the story that he left
England because no Minister was sent to
this country to succeed Mr.. West, and he
refuses to talk on the Samoan question,
thus leaving the American people to get
out of the difficulty as best it may, with
out the light of his daring intelligence.
This is wrong in Edward j. Phelps. He
is kind enough, however, to inform a wait
ing and anxious world that he has not re-
signed. Resigned, of course not. A green
seaman's grip in the shrouds is discounted
by Minister Phelps grip on office. He
will hold on as long as possible.
The superintendent Of the Washington
Monument proposes to close the stairway
leading to the top of the structure to visi-
tors and restrict tourists to the elevator.
The purpose is to arrest the vandalism
that threatens to disfigure the interior of
the monument beyond redemption. Even
nov the stones that can be reached from
the stairways are covered with names,
doggerel verses and even vile, suggestive
drawings from the pencils of visitors. The
memorial stones are in many places badly
defaced by chipping. The vast size of the
interior makes close watching impossible.
WESTON.
There are sixty persons in the Warren
county Jail at Belvidere. The Sheriff re-