, 1889-04-11
WASHINGTON LETTER.
march "a 1880

1903
when Mr.. Palmer dec lined 4 re
slection to the Senate tr ON Michi-
Tsn land he could have been chosen
Sishout any Oppositionl 1t was k.own
xith much regret here uiat he would
.ot make Washington ais perma
nsnt place of re ,idencr. though it
vas thought that as he owned a
house in the city, he would spend Il
fay month in our midst each year.
Tue nomination of Mr.. Palmer as
Minister TO Spain by President Har-
rison, and his acceptance of that
honor, will remove the genial and
popular ex-senator from " ashington
for some years al least to come. In
che six years that Mr. Palmer has re-
sided more on less IN Washington he
has made for himself very many at
cached friends He is one of those
lasn who to know l. - love. He Is
utterly without r~"t"nsC. Whit" Dig
pifiea at tie proper time, he CO IN
tue society of = iesy genial cnmpan-
lens be as boyisn and a. full of hui
Raor as it Is possible to conceive of.
4 man of extensive culture, he is not
pedantic, and ho has way of asking
questions and elicIting replies that
is very taking indeed. 1t must be a
pleasant incident in Mr. Palmer's
lie to return to Spain. He spent
some time there in his early man
hood. and he will be able to see how
shat nation has developed under a
republican and a monarchical gov
srnment. Mr.. Palmer will enjoy one
great advantage as the American
minister: he is able 10 speak the
Spanish language fiuently, and is
Vsll read in the literature of the
country. He will find that his IA
miliarity with the language of the
country to which he is accredited
will open every day to him, and he
will be able to easily aud aGreeably
prosecute those historical studies
which even during his busy political
life he has not altogether neglected.
The First Assistant Postmaster
General during the present week has
averaged $50 appointments day of
fourth-class postmasters. There are
in the service 24.0G0 postmasters of
this class. By q simple calculation
ID will be seen that If the First AS
sistant Postmaster-General can keep
up the pace there will be an entire
reorganization OF the fourth-class
p0stmasters inside of the next six
honths.
The work in this direction is great
ly facilitated by members OF con-
grsss. They send in recommends
tions in patches covering from a
dozen to twenty-five offices, and, as
tke Department has uniformly been
guided by the recommendations of
members in these appointments, the
duties of the First Assistant Post
master General in making the
changes is more of ministerial than
Of q discretionary character.
Some of the recent applicants for
postofices have peculiar ideas of the
BEST means of obtaining their de
sires. The application OF an Ala
bams man, who is after an Office
which yields yearly revenue of
800, is addressed to the President,
and contains this touching state
nent: 81 love my party very dear
ly." On the back of this application
- llON 10 Au-
other Alabama applicant who wants
$4,000 postoffice, seEds along with
his application cabinet photograph
Of himself, SO that the President can
see what manner of man he is.
The First Assistant Postmaster
General now makes all the appoi Mt
msnts in the Railway Mail Service.
These appointments have heretofore
been made by the Postmaster Gen
sral. The Railway mail Service is
now being reorganized, not quite as
rapidly as the fourth-class postmas-
ters, but the department is not go
ing to sleep On this subject. A num-
bar of congressman called upon the
superintendent of the Railway Mail
Service and presented list of the
Fetirements that they desire IN that
service. The records of the Office
will be examined to find the charac
Ter of the men who were dismissed
under Democratic administration,
and If their records prove good they
will be reinstated without further de
lay. The order by which the Rail
way Mail Service goes under the
Civil Service rules takes effect July
I, which leaves abundant time for
al applications for reinstatement to
be examined and acted upon.
From discussion of the advisable
ty OF increasing the salaries of sena-
tors and representatives, the idea
must be derived that Washington,
as compared with the other cities
OF the United States, is an extreme
ly expensive place to live in. Exactly
che opposite Is true. To those who
are accustomed or are willing to
spend large amounts on luxurious
living and entertaining, the oppor
tunity TO continue such expenditures
Is probably not denied. But in no
ether large American city is great
wealth, or heavy annual outlay for
domestic expenses, SO unessentiai
20 comfort and social position. r.