The Progress., 1893-01-28

ton has such vast interests, measured by
the amount of money or number of peopl,
! involved.
Great Britain would he an exception tC
this if all the operations of that empirl
were managed from the central seat Of gov
! ernment in London, but they are nc;
| Three-fourths of the empire is colonial, un.
der home rule, except in certain matters
| This is the only nation which does "busi-
ness" every year of $500, 00O,0O0 Fix an
adequate conception of sum Of money like
this in your mind, if you can. The chances
are you can't. The greatest business house
in the world, that of the Armours Of Chi
cago, handles million dollars a week; the
greatest railway system, the Pennsylvania.
including all lines, 50, 100000 a week.
Uncle Sans transactions in actual ex-
penditures reach the astonishing total of
about S10,000.O00 a week This amount
must necessarily increase as the wears 90
by. Not only is the country growing at q
prodigious rate, but the functions &C gov
eminent are being extended 20 fields un-
heard and unthought of a few years ago
The evolution of things is always from the
simple TO the complex. with corresponding
and constant reaction2ry struggle of all the
lty out of the increased complexity. So it
is IN nature and in all the affairs of man: SO
also In the great government of which our
good Uncle S4n stands as the figurehead.
Evidence or the order which permeatcs
every department of the government from,
highest 10 lowest is found in the fact thai
the transfer OF March next and the ensuing
months will be accomplished without fric-
cfC
smoothness that no one concerned with the
operations and not with the place holding
of the great organization would ever know
that change was taking place unless he
was told of 1t or read it in the public press.
Nothing will wait, nothing suffer, nothing
stop on account of the political revolution.
The taxes will be collected, the pensions
paid, the contracts let, the navy kept 20
ing, the army run on, the mails be collected,
carried and delivered; the books kept, and
all the infinite operations of government
continue as if ifnothing had happened.
The American people, greatly assisted by
the American press, have a way of making
a great ado over the filling Of few thou
sand Offices, and from the din and confu-
sion some persons gain the idea that a
change of administration means complete
revolution In the personnel of the govern
ment. OF the 10000 civil employees of the |
government probably 10000 will be at |
their work and drawing their salaries a |
year hence
In Washington, fer instance. where about !
Ia 600 persons work for the government and |
where the rewards of politics are popularity
to be bearing down the tree Of pat
'onage, no more than 1000 or 5000 changes
altogether are likely to take place during
he four years of the coming administra-
ion. Throughout the country the changes
ire not very great or rapid. Presidential
'ostmasters will step out as their commits
ions expire, and postmaste2s at some of
he minor offices az soon as their successors
an be agreed upon. -
But perhaps 10000 or more Of the 6O,OOO
in the country will not be dis
urbed at all, and the great army of letter
arriers, mail carriers, railway and star
QUITE agents will go on at their work as if
othing had happened. Compared to the
7hole number of public servants the num-
er affected by the political change is small
indeed.
This general truth only seems to en-
hasize the vastness of our governmental
lachine. Here is city of 10000 souls