St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-04-18
Gbe Californian.
PRESS COMMENTS.
Here's Reform for You!


when am going home?" repeat
ed Representative Cannon to a
Washington Star reporter recently;
I'm going home just as soon as
every postoffice in my district is run
by republican
I'm the Sweet BY and BY.
The Boston Herald makes out that
constitutional prohibition will be de-
feated; this is almost as conclusive
as the bet of $50 offered by western
man that nobody will get to heaven
without being immersed. In both
cases we can tell better later on
[Greenfeld, Mass, Gazette.
Conflict of Legal A authority.
The Newport Express says that
the need of national legislation on
the liquor question was illustrated
there very forcibly recently. a guam
tity of liquor seized for violation of
the customs laws was sold at auc-
ton by United States authority, and
at the same time the state law for
bids such sale Here is conflict of
authority which ought to be RENE
died. The United States government
is not SO poor but that it could af-
ford to destroy liquors seized in pro-
hibitiOn states rather than stand as
an open violator of state law Rut-
land Herald.
Action of the Vermont Delegation.
The action of this delegation has
very much more than local interest.
The senator who presided IS the
chairman of the judiciary committee,
to which all of the Presidents judi
cial nominations are referred. An
other member of this delegation, Mr.
Morrill, is the chairman of the COM
mittee on finance, to which the NOM
nations to financial Offices are refer
red, The principle agreed to by the
Vermont delegation will be exceed
ingly distasteful to the delega tiOns
of other states, viz: that incumbents
of presidential Offices shall be permit
ted to hold them for four full years
from the time when they entered up
on the discharge of the duties of their
Offices, without regard to the date
when they may have been confirmed.
The adoption of this principle by
President Harrison will greatly sim
plify the office-seeking problem, will
relieve the pressure upon the depart
ments, the White house, and the con-
gressmen, and will do much to empty
the Washington hotels and board
ing-houses The Vermont delegation
has, unquestionably, taken a notable
step i'll advance in the recognition of
one of the principles of civil-service
reform. The offices to which they
propose to make this principle appli-
cable include some which have been
classed as appertaining to the per
sonal staff of the executive, and as,
therefore, subject to immediate re-
moval without just cause for COM
plaint.-[ Washington Letter in New
York Evening Post.
"Knows How to Run the Machine."
The political leaders were right
about the New York post Office If
change was to be made it was for
the purpose of putting the post office
into politics again, and the man to
be put in charge of it should be a
practical politician. Mr.. Van Colt
is just the kind of man that is
wanted in the place. He has been a
boy" himself; he has been q district
leader and knows how to run the
machine. He has been fire COM
missioner and knows all about the
distribution of patronage for the sat
isfaction of party claims y OF
course, he will have to let the subOr-
dinates do the work, as any new
man would, but when it comes to
making changes, to filling places,
and all that, with an eye to the good
of the party, he will have the skill of
an expert politician in accomplishing
the purpose. He knows about party
services and the way of rewarding
them. If the post office was to CON
tinue to be conducted on business
principles, Mr.. Pearson would obvi-
Ously have been the man to conduct
it. If it was to be converted into a
political machine we know of no bet
ter man than Van Colt to take
charge of it. He will make a very
poor postmaster and the dete-
rioratiOn of the service is inevita-
BILE; but the administration is con-
sistent; we know where to find it.
There is no civil-service reform mon
sense" about it. Any pretense on
that score hereafter can only excite
laughter New York Times, Ind.