The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-04-06
A WONDERFUL MACHINE.
THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE OF THE
UNITED STATES.
vastness of the Postal system. with It's
10000 Employees -One-ffth Of the as
900 Soldiers Are Officers-The Many
Branches of the Treasury Department.

10000 Employees one fifth of the 2s,-
900 Soldiers Are Omcers-The Many
Branches of the Treasury Department.
Especial Correspondence
WASHINGTON, April 1.-Everybody has
heard of Uncle Sam. Sometimes he is called
Brother Jonathan Uncle Sam is the omnip-
otent, omnipresent parsonage of this city.
Everybody here looks up TO him, depends on
him, works for him, lives off him. But it is
not alone in Washington that Uncle Sam is
| a leading citizen and prominent business
man. His activities extend throughout the
realm, TO the foreign lands and upon the high
seas. II you have fallen into the error of
looking on Uncle Sam as a tall gaunt, whit
Ting fellow, of small consequence except in u
fight or a Fourth of July celebration, there
is one book published here which will set you
right. If you want to gain an adequate idea
of the immensely of the business which Uncle
Sam carries ON, of the multifarious fields of
his activity, give n half hours study To that
volume in which he keeps the names of his
employees. This book, which is printed in
two parts, each nearly as large AS "Websters
Dictionary" is likely to amaze you. While
Office seekers by the thousands are consulting
Uncle Sans Official Register" or blue book
for descriptions of the places which it is their
ambition to FILL the reader who loves his
country and wishes To know something of his
government of its magnitude, its ramifica-
lions, its curioSities will do well to leaf these
9, 200 broad pages with me.
Here is the great Capitol, in which the
countrys interest centers from day to day
The blue book tells us that when congress is
in session thousand persons work in this
vast pile-76 of whom are senators and S33
representatives and delegates. To serve each
senator are three other persons nearly, or 200
in all, while the more modest house gets along
with 225 assistants. The greatest library in
America is here, too, besides three lesser Ii
braries, one for each house of congress, and
the law library. Thirty-five policemen guard
this building. Half dozen men are EN-
ployed to take care of the senate stables-not
the Augean stables of ancient history-but
the stables in which are kept the horses used
by riding messengers. Seven men are kept
more or less busy repairing the senatorial
furniture. Forty men are employed to take
care of the public documents which members
of the house send out to their admiring con
stituents.
vast work shop is a simple thing compared
to the other departments which he maintains
At the White House great deal of power is
compressed within very narrow limits and
exerted by very small number of persons,
but the long, low pile of buildings near by
is the seat of wonderfully varied activity.
Three thousand persons are employed in the
treasury, and from it 1900 Others employed
elsewhere in the capital or throughout the
country derive their authority or employ
ment. Thus it appears the treasury's army
is really as large numerically as the army
proper but see what it is Uncle Sam requires
these II 900 persons to do for him.
Three thousand five hundred persons collect
his internal revenue taxes from thousands of
distilleries, breweries, tobacco, cigarette and
cigar factories
More than 1000 persons collect the duties
which he levies on imports arriving at hun
dreds of custom houses.
Two hundred persons are directly charged
with taking care of his millions of money Oh
hand in this building.
Three hundred more take care of the many
other millions which he intrusts to the care
of sub-treasurers in nine large cities.
Not satisfied with his tremendous income
and vast accumulatons, he keeps thousand
persons busy manufacturing paper money
here in Washington and as many more coin
ing gold and silver money in his five big
mintS.
He is in the building business on a large
scale too, as is witnessed by the fact that his
chief architect has 300 assistants scattered
throughout the country supervising his con-
tracts and 800 persons he regularly employs
to take care of his office and court buildings
outside the city of Washington
He is an alert old fellow, who likes to make
sure all that is due him gets into his treasury,
and to watch the smugglers he maintains
feet of floating detectives called his revenue
marine in which forty steam vessels, nearly
all carrying guns are manned by crews num-
boring $50 officers alone, to say nothing of
seamen This feet patrols the waters of the
great lakes and seacoast harbors in the Gus
toms service but to make sure of collecting
all his whisky beer and tobacco taxes hun
dreds of detectives are constantly employed
on the land.
He is in the life preserving business too,
and employs ninety life saving stations, EN-
ploying 400 surf men.
He employs more than thousand men to
keep his lighthouses and maintain signal
lights on sea coast, lakes and rivers.
He hires 80 men to inspect steamboats,
throughout his dominions, he surveys the
coasts and makes charts for the use of mari
ners he maintains marine hospitals, and does
so many other things under the authority Of
this treasury department, in which 1000 per-
sons are employed to keep the books, that
it is not easy even to mention them.
He has another great department which he
calls the interior Let us see what he does
here.
In examining and issuing patents to the
fruitful inventive genuises of America he
employs 600 persons.
The pension business is his particular favor
tie, and to attend to this he employs nearly
1900 persons, not counting pension agents
employed in other cities.
He is rich enough to give us all farm, and
in his big land Office in this city he employs
$50 persons, besides 800 in land Offices located
all through the west, and 100 chief surveyors.
He is fond of Indians, and employs 1850
persons to take care Of them, feed them and
educate them.