Mohave County miner., 1889-07-27
WARRINGTON LETT
Correspondence Of the MINER.


service law has put . partial stop \
nepotism In the government Offices. Tel
years ago man and wife could work a
adjoining desks and their child coul'
grow up and be trained for similar POI
ton. In those days even . policems,
raised his boy to be hearty and strong
had him enlist In the army st eighteel
and serve FIVE years and come back ant
be a policeman, under the fossilixsd Law
providing that police must be honorsbl,
discharged soldiers and sailors. This Law
was excellent at the close Of the war, ant
was intended to favor the voiuntee
soldier returning TO the duties Of peace
Now that the volunteer soldier is mid
die aged or old man, Congress refuses L
repeal the law.
Three recent appointments have caused
gteat comment AZ instances Of nepotism
One OF these appointments by James J
Morgan, Commissioner of Indian Affairs
of his wife as his private secretary, 1t Z
government salary Of 81 600. The second
is that Of the wife Of Mr.. Dorchester
superintendent Of Indian schools, as an
inspector Of Indian schools at six dollar
per day and expenses. The third is thai
Of the daughter Of Commissioner Tanner
az his private secretary at 1850 pei
annum. This last, the appointment Of a
school girl TO position that many ex
perienced ex-soldiers have failed to fil
satisfactorily, has the additional objection
OF being in bad judgment. The argu.
ruents against the appointments Of rela.
tives TO office are As old as the govern.
ment. Washington, Hamilton, Franklin,
all felt strongly on the subject, regarding
it as a dangerous movement, tending 10
create an aristocracy Of office holders.
That such was not the result long ago ID
a mystery, though such appointments as
these three show reassuring desire to
grab everything in sight.
Alluding to the civil service law Hon.
orable J. d. Taylor, Of Ohio, states tina.
he quite agrees with the Commissioners
in their statement that comparatively
few college bred men obtain positions
through the examinations. lie thinks
that they are evidently correct in stating
that the large majority have received
only common school educations. Tho
logic is easy. A college bred man, as
Bob lnsersoll says, cannot read with ease
ten years after graduation, the diploma
he won. His memory Of earlier studies
is DINNER. The exact longitude and
latitude Of some unimportant African
cape is forgotten; the date Of the battle
Of Jones' Cross Road is gone accom-.
panied by the rules for solving many
problems In arithmetic. Perhaps he
could solve the problems by algebra, but
the civil! service authorities do not allow
that. This college bred man may be a
bright man, quick to learn, rapid in exc
cution and have a ready command Of
lucid English, but because he does not
understand iinpracticable questions in
mathematics, he is barred by the civil
service rules, and yet only one govern
ment clerk in ten has 10 do with figures
at all.
The successful are Of the country
school teaoher class, slow, plodding,
dense race whose little knowledge is al
ways at finger ends; the fewer vegetables
the grocer has the less trouble he finds In
displaying them on the side walk in the
morning. "Beware Of tho man Of ono
book is always frequent with truth.
The man with the common schoo! edu-
cation, the term being used in its worst
sense, often succeeds where better man
fails. AS correspondent, large majority
Of these people make ignominious failures
and are transferred to positions where
the work is only that Of a copyist. Not
one in i've has any idea q PUNCTUATION,
qualifications being limited TO the com
monest branches.
Another class Of successful applicants
for government positions consists oi peo-
pie who take three to six months coach
ing for examination. When done under
teacher ths examination Ia merely q
test Of the ability Of the coacher instead
Of that Of his pupil. The knowledge
gained by such brushing up" being
intended for temporary use is only Of
temporary value and even then cannot
be thorough. The candidate hnds out
the general tenor Of the questions asked
and prepares himself accordingly. The
day after the examination he has dis
charged from his mind the knowledge he
never digested.
All this, and much more, says the
Ohio man. Thus the controversy about
civil service never dies, and hundreds Of
years hence men will still repose upon
the cracker barrels in the grocery stores
OF the future and wrestle with the subject
to finish. The Washington Post, sworn
enemy 10 ths systsIa, prints columns on
the subject every week, and equally zeal
Gus com mbatants who adhere 10 the fate,
rush blindly 10 the rescue and splash
around in ink as If their official existence
depended upon convincing the Post Of it's
error, forsetfql Of the lact u.st the Post
cannot alter the laws OF course all this
has mighty interest in Washington
where there are many thousand depend
ing upon the government for a living.