The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-11-05

to the political collector and he in turn
gave them receipts. Their contribu-
tons amounted to considerable money
in the aggregate, and the average lndl-
vidual assessments were fifty dollars.
After receiving quite sum of money,
the question was raised whether or not
the law had been violated, inasmuch as
the money had been paid in and the re-
ceipts given in a government building.
1t was finally decided that inasmuch as
the Indian Office is in the Atlantic
building and the flag is floating over it
it is a government building and the col
lections were in violation of the civil
service law. Thereupon the collector
returned every dollar to the clerks and
recovered the receipts which he had
given. Eat that same night the col
lector hired coupe and drove to the
residences of those government clerks,
again collected the money for campaign
purposes and gave the receipts in re.
turn. You see, the law was thus avoid
ed and the political end accomplished
at the same time, just as if there were
no law upon the subject. 1t seems that
no law Ctlu NC illcO5 oLllClSAtiy OlLldAA5
to control the actions of politicians.
But to return to the government serfs
in the departments. During this last
week of the national campaign, there is
very little official business being trans
acted. The clerks are more interested
in reading the daily papers and the ed
itorial comments of celebrated editors
than they are in their work. From nine
O'Clock until about eleven every day,
the clerks open their official mail, fold
and brief it, and then lay it aside for
consideration later on. It matters not
to them that the citizens who write to
the departments are entitled to prompt
replies The citizens can wait for a few
days, unless there happens to come an
order to make certain work Especial"
In that event, the clerk attends to that
business only, and when it is done re-
turns to his newspaper. After reading
the daily news, the clerks in each room
land there are from two to twenty in
different rooms) devote their time to
comparing notes and gossiping concern
ing political probabilities. Some of
them interpret the signs of the times in
one way, and others give the same facts
a different coloring. The horoscope is
read by these serfs of the republic as
thought were kaleidoscope. In gov
eminent Offices, as in cities, hamlets,
villages and townships, facts are viewed
from the standpoint of good and bad
digestion, active and torpid livers. To
some of them the sky is roseate, while
to others it is black and heavily over
cast, without even a silver lining to the
murky darkness of overhanging polit-
ical clouds. In one room in the treas
ury department to-day found enough
divergent views" expressed by the
clerks to fill the campaign textbooks
of both the old parties. The conduct of
leading politicians was taken up and re-
viewed in a manner which was refresh
ing, mainly because of it's freshness.
These poor fellows are surrounded by
narrow walls. They stand in the val
ley, and cannot see the glories of a
mountain top or sea coast sunrise.
Their horizon is circumscribed. Their
views are mainly the results Of intro
spection and unconscious hope rather
than disinterested logical conclusions.
But they express themselves with mani
festations of their intense interest in
current events and the prospects for the
immediate future. Then, at the close
of each conversation, it is tacitly agreed
among themselves that nothing will be
said outside of Office concerning their
views and expressions. The govern
ment clerk does not talk outside of his
Office where the world might hear him
He simply shudders
SMITH D. Fry.