The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-05-30
THESE ARE NOT sINEcuREs.
Places In the Government Service Which
Nobody Wants.

epidemic is an interesting study. 1t con-
stantly presents new phases. Few men can
resist the offer of a good place in the gov
eminent service; but, strange to relate,
there are offices which occasionally go beg
ging Some of these places are refused be-
cause they involve great danger; others are
too poorly paid to be deemed desirable.
Assistant Postmaster General Maxwell is
appointing an average of 100 new post
masters Of the fourth class daily, and at
least two-thirds of the appointments are to
fill vacancies caused by designations. This
change is true in smaller ratio during
the later days of an administration, even
when there is no fear of removal on account
of politics.
The postmasters of this class do not al
ways find their offices profitable, and they
resign because it is to their advantage to
engage in other business. There are thou
sands of these little offices in out of the way
places which it is hard for the government
to induce anybody to accept. A fourth class
postmaster gets no salary. He merely re-
ceives small allowance for Office rent and
certain expenses and is paid a percentage
on the sale Of stamps.
On the first $50 worth of stNmps that he
sells each year he is allowed the entire re-
ceipts. On the next 500 worth he receives
60 per cent. On the next $500 he is allowed
one half, and on all sales above $3.50 per an
mum he gets 40 per cent When the sales
reach point where they pay 81 900 or more
per annum, the postmaster is paid fixed
salary, and his commissions on stamp sales
cease. There are 10000 Of these Offices
which pay less than $40 year, and it is
consequently difficult in many instances to
get postmaster who will stick to his job.
Other departments also have undesirable
offices. There are corsulates and consular
agencies In out Of the way ports of the
world that few patriots seem to want. In
certain sections of Asia Minor there are
places of this sort which have remained va
can't for a long time owing to the fact that
nobody could be induced to take them.
Even the Persian mission, which pays
5000 year, occasionally goes begging,
but it is generally given to some one who
has plenty Of money and desire to see
that particular region of the earth.
Only a tewweeks ago Missouri man was
appointed consul to Vera Cruz, Mexico, a
place where yellow fever RACES perennially.
He declined it, although it is the best pay
ing post in Mexico outside of the capitol
He explained that while he was not going
into the service especially for his health he
had no desire to seek an untimely death.
The present consul, who has not yet been
relieved. had the yellow fever a few years
ago and has become acclimated But the
exigencies Of politics demand that new
consul be sent there to take his place and
incidentally to run the risk of an early TAX
ing off. Accordingly Kansas man has
been selected to expatriate himself and
court the dangers that the Missourian pre-
ferred to avoid
In some of the Central American states
there are places quite as unhealthy as the
Mexican port, and some difficulty is en-
countered at times in finding men who will
consent to risk their lives in a service that
is popularity supposed to be merely honor
airy, and which every candidate believes
ought to be pleasant and agreeable. Many
of the smaller places in our foreign service
are held by natives simply because it does
not pay an American to accept them.
The internal revenue service is sometimes
hazardous, and often it is difficult to get
good men for these places. especially in GER
tain mountain regions of the south where
illicit distilling is practiced. The pay of
these revenue agents is small and the duty
most dangerous The records of the inter-
nal revenue bureau show that in the dis
charge Of duty during three consecutive
years 25 agents wore killed and 40 wounded.
Under these circumstances it is not sur
prising that the service sometimes suffers
for lack Of men, and that the applications
for government jobs of this sort are exceed
ingly few.
There are undesirable places in the treas
ury department too. The life saving serv-
ice Is full of danger, and the pay is poor.
Along the Atlantic coast and around the
shores of the great lakes, where storms are
frequent and severe, patrol is placed each
night during the fall and winter months.
Each patrolman while on duty walks a
beat of five miles along the shore and
watches for signs of distress that may come
from vessels at sea or in the breakers. It
is his duty in the event of wreck or i'm
pending danger to sound the alarm and
call out the crew at the nearest life saving
station. He must walk this lonely beat in
all kinds of weather, and for this service
and the additional dangers incurred in time
of rescue he gets $700 year.
The lighthouse keepers, who are almost
constantly subjected to danger, receive even
less. Twenty miles south of Nam
tucket is the new South shoal lightship.
and it rides at anchor the year round in
region OF frequent storms. It is constantly
buffeted by the waves and often breaks
from it's mornings and is blown out to sea.
Last year the vessel made two involuntary
cruises of this sort, one Of them lasting for
IL DAVIS