Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-04-20
MT. oARLIsLE.s WORK.
Eas-ness Principles Applied to National
Finances.

MT. oARLSLE'S WORK.
Eas-neSs Principles Applied to National |
Finances.
The secretary OF the treasury, in the |
brief period for which hehas had con- |
troll of the department, has conducted |
It II a manner that has distinctly |
strengthened public confdence as to his !
financial policy. while his general adj |
ministration has been marked by high |
degree of intelligence, sound judgment |
and practical capacity. He entered
upon his task with peculiar difficulties
left by the late administration, the chief
of which was general uneasiness in
the public mind created by the varied
and confused talk constantly issuing
from the officials of the department, to
which it must be said that the late sec
rotary contributed his share. These
utterances gave the impression, on the
one hand, that the department officers
felt themselves in a trying and possibly
serious situation, and. on the other,
were quite at sea as to how it should be
dealt with. To this Mr.. Carlisle has put
stop. He is known to have a clear
idea of his responsibilities to the pub
lie arising out of the unsound condition
of the currency laws; but he recognizes
ing conditions in the money market,
does not worry about them, does not
talk, especially in public, of them. but
quietly pursues his own way, keeping
the requirements of the treasury and
those alone in mind. He has, of course,
been fortunate in that the demand for
currency in the west has brought gold
into the treasury, while the higher
rates for money here have checked the
export of gold, but he is to be credited
with the quiet, sensible and reassuring
spirit in which he has met the situation,
for that has gone far to help on the res
toration of confidence.
In the matter of appointments and
the management of the department
service it is not unfair to Mr.. Carlisle to
say that he has shown clearer under
standing of the principles which Mr.
Cleveland represents and a firmer ad
herence to them than might have been
expected. of him. He was the first, and
SO far he is the only, head of depart
ment to cause the record of all applica-
tiOns for appointment to be opened to
the public, and that is a measure of
great Importance. and one that might
well be adopted throughout all branches
of the executive departments. The ap-
pointments made under him have been
of a high character and some of them
have shown conspicuous devotion to
purely public interests and indie
pendence of partisan claims. His
prompt and firm announcement that
the lighthouse and life saving services
should be kept entirely free of politics
and that those employed in them should
be judged entirely by their merits was
an ir1nrocSiva lesson in Soun6 b,cipoCS
administration. The plan he is clearly
pursuing, gradually and carefully to
weed out unnecessary or unfit en-
plOyeS, to cut off eXtravagant eXpendi-
lures and to hold the various branches
of the service to a strict business &C
cOuntability is in the same line. We
gave an instance of it recently in the
Information furnished by the treasury
department to the AL OwanceS''
made III connection with the Behring
sea arbitration.
1t is particularly fortunate that we
have the evidence which we possess of
the conservative and practical admins
tratlon of the treasury department, be-
cause it indicates that Secretary Car
Isle knows how to organize his work so
as TO leave him free for the proper study
and consideration of the more Important
duties that he Will have to- perform.
These will be complex and difficult.
The forces that tend to embarrass and
threaten the treasury in the mainten-
ance of gold payments have been
checked, but they have not been de-
strOyed, and cannot be by any executive
action. Later Mr. Carlisle will have to
deal with them. The tariff question,
both as to the effect of changes upon
the revenue and as to the safe and
thorough application of the principles
by the people, is one as to which the
guidance of the secretary of the treas
ury will be at once necessary and valu-
able. Mr.. Carlisle will be able to meet
the requirements of his high post in
these regards much more satisfactorily
to himself and with greater advantage
to the administration, the democratic
party, and the country, to the extent
that he succeeds in applying business
principles to the organization and con-
duct of his office.-N. Y. Times.