Daily Republican., 1889-12-24
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER


WAshiSGToN, ID. q Dec. 2l.-C Com
gress evidently means to get down to
cold business as soon a. they convene
alter the holidays, as yesterday Speaker
heed announced the formation o. the
different committees, ard over l, 900 bill
were Introduced upon call OF the
states, bills of all sorts and kiud and
snechng all kinds OF people. Several
were In regard TO pension legislation and
civil service. While beley no general
pension law will be psssed duriDg the
session, yet Congress- will evidently fol-
low out the suggestions OF the President
and enact and modify the present pen.
sion laws to secure pensions for those
veterans who rendered substantial SCR
vice to their country. AS 1t is a well.
known fact that many who bore the brunt
and burden OF the fight, yet we're not
wounded or disabled at the time iu any
| ol the battles Of the war, many of the
generation that has grown up since the
war very naturally Imagine that the
mNimed veterans did ali the fighting,
where's the reverse is very often the
case.
Now thete men who, white not wound
Ell, yet many OF them for three long years
endured all the exposure IND baidships
OF active campaigning, aud during that
time their naturally strOrg and robust
constitutions became Slapped with IT'S uu-
Gus disease, which under the exposure Of
the camp, bivouac ard battlefield gradu.
ally crtpt Into their syst me, and Low Is
| cropping out and showing itself in rheu-
mntism, diarl.ra and other disea,es.
which have become chronic. This great
Republic cannot afford TO he uugraieful.
nor has II been to its defenders; and it
shall not be said that an old soldier In
time OF peace is Ike chimney in summer
time.
The pension Office under Gen. Raurn's
business principles is getting down to
business. He hes called In forty clerks
who were detailed as examiners In tho
field. abol shed the Board or Review,
which was composed oil forty men, as.
signed eight OF the most proficient 10 the
Board OF Review, the remaining, who,
with the force called in, will make over
seventy clerks, who are to be assigned 10
the five adjudicating divisions, which
VIII add much to the efficiency of the
office.
The opponents of the present Civil Ser.
vice law have introduced over a dozen
different bills so far, aud are much
stronger to-day than at any me
since 1t went into ell ct. While It is very
douttiul II the law will be repealed there
is strong probab lily that 1t will be
modified In many ways.
Tie power of the three commissions
Will 10 shofn and the examinations much
timplitiei. There are now over two
thousand elegib!es Oh the different rOs-
ters, aud the applicants Tor examination
average about d teen hundred month.
The commission indirectly encourage all
who apply tor papers to undergo the
examination, while the chance OF receiy.
ing an appointment. IL they pass au aver
age Of 10, is of the remotest kind. Take
Ms an illustration Delaware, which is en-
titled, according TO the scheme adopted
by the commission on the basis of popu-
lation, 10 one appointment in each TN ee
made In the classified department al ser
vice. Now there has not bern a single
departmental clerk apportionei to Della
ware during the pr sent adniulstra ion,
and at the present ratio OF appo.nt nts
there are enough If eiigitl,s To dra
from to last mill ms OF years unless the
present Delaware credits die or resign.
1t is true Captain ID. L. Buckingham
was Appointed iu the Pension Bureau.
but he took the special examination,
which requires technical kuowl dye and
TO be well up In law. Such eligible, VIXEN
appointe are not credited 10 any State,
but are placed upon general Z, srer.
The examinations take place here every
month; many come from long distances
and ut considerable expense, thinking 10
many CASES that an examination Is equiv
alrnt to an appOiutu' at, and the number
has multiplied TO such an exIent that
Major Webster, the chief examiner, an.
hounced to the score of lady d. piicsuts
that there had not been an appointment
made from the gra1o which they were TO
be examined 10 Tor three years. SO II
goes, and what folly to urge those lar
away TO seek an examination.
The whole thing Is contrary to the
spirit OF our institutions, undemocratc,
and will have to submit 10 much modifi
cation. Il the object is TO secure as It's
advocates claim, greater efficiency in / he
public service, why not follow Post
mas or General Wauamaker's advice and
weed out those who are iucapacitated
from age and iD6rmlties, as he stated
that there are over tiIty such In the Office
OF the sixth auditor, but why he wants
more law to enable lin to drop their
names | cannot conceive, unless il is to
let them DOM easily by allowing them
one years pay. He has called upon III.
auditor Tor statement showing the time
lost by each clerk Ia the Bureau and u
result is awaited with conside able it,
tereet by large number of persons.
There can be NO doubt but what there
are many ehirks In office, and the chances
are that the Sixth Auditors office has no
more than Its proportion. Its probable,
however, that II thinning out ia ordered
the shirks Will continue In otilee, and
those who deserve some consideration and
leniency will be dism ssed.
This is the usual rule, Tor the simple
reason that 'iufi0oence Is now IS power. |
ful ae beio' dc wah." 1t is to he hoped
the inquiry may also extend to chief Uli |
cials, some of whom appear TO he absent |
from tibet. high priced desks very fire.
quently from sickness or other causes. |
But in the end Civil Service as at present |
administered will have TO < t, as the
bus ness man, the practical political |
worker, stands no chow to fill the 9.0U0 |
offices in Washington; he
cannot compete with the schoolmaster
and school boy just from college; he can
not tor the lie of him tell tue varlat ons
of the magnetic needle in sailing from
the Mozambique Channel TO the Straits
of Malebsr, or how many Rambo apples a
pale face boy with diseased liver aud |
jHundioed complexion can eat without
giving him the old-fasbioned be!lyache.
Practical business men are waited for |
depA -tmental work, not mere tAeor SIS. |
At come future tins 1 shall look up the |
different bureaus and give you my con
cluslons at length.
VIM. d. Sparks, of the Eighth ward,
was here last week working up all d
and meritorious claim he filed some ears
ago. 1t should '.e granted without delay,
as Sparks suffered the & ossest inin tic
ever knew pract.ced upon an officer Of
the U. s. Army. / slso met Zacharish