St. Paul daily globe., 1893-02-28

Sluuy OF L'llS matter, MI. HerDerC was
the one man above all others for the
place, and Grover Cleveland saw it
clearly from the start, and had it not
been for the difficulty in making the
proper locations of the various places
the selection of MIR Herbert would have
been announced much earlier.
Expected of Carlisle.
James Guthrie, of Kentucky. is con-
ceded by all historians to have made the
| abeSt head the treasury department has
ever had. Hamilton, Wolcott and Gal
latin, in the early history of the govern
| ment, are great names, and McCul-
loch and Manning and Chase
loom up as grandly in the period since
| 1860, but at least one of these would
never have occupied the post had Mr..
| Guthrie consented to accept the Office
! at the hands of President Lincoln; for
| Mr.. Guthrie had managed the finances
| of the country SO we'll under President
| Pierce that Mr.. Lincoln was ready to
| overlook his politics and name Guthrie,
and not chase for the second place
| Oh the list Of presidential advisers.
! And John G. Carlisle, the next secre-
| tary of the treasury, is made of The
| same kind Of material as James Guthrie.
| OF the other members of the cabinet so
much has been written that the coun-
| try feels pretty we'll acquainted with
| them. All are men who indOrSe Mr..
| Cleveland's views and methods of do
| ing business, and great results will be
| expected as result of their united ef-
forts during the next four years.
s.Lije'' VIII Go to st. Paul.
In the course of the next six months
| st. Paul army circles will be reinforced
| by Mai. HalfOrd, the old private sec
| retary of the president. Daring the
| conference Of the Behring sea commits
! sion at Paris Maj. Halford will fill the
| position of disbursing officer, but this
will soon be completed, and then, after
making short tour on the continent,
| Maj HalfOrd will repair to st. Paul.
With him Will come his charming
| daughter, Miss Jeanette. lnasmuch
| as his duties as pavmaSter in the army
| do not require his residence at Fort
| Smelling, Maj. Halford will take
| house in st. Paul. ''Llje" is gentle
man of engaging manners, and will be
regarded as decided acquisition to the
| social circles of the Sanity City, where
| army officers have always been so hand
| Somely treated.
Refuse to Answer.
If the Democratic congressman have
| anything to say in regard to the matter
| there will be few of the Republican di-
| vision chiefs in office two days after the
| Inauguration of Mr.. Cleveland. At the
| present time 1t is almost Impossible for
| a member of congress to get any infOT-
| nation out of any OF the departments in
| regard to the dates on which the official
| terms of poStmasterS and other govern
ment officials will expire. This is par
| ticularly true of the postoffice depart
| ment whether by order of "Holy john
| Wanamaker or because of inherent and
native meaneSS OH the part of the men
| who owe their Offices to the stock-job-
| bing Sunday school teacher from Phila-
| delphia.
| Nearly a week ago Democratic MEN,
| ber from the lar West was asked for
| information regarding the date of eX-
| piration of the term of Republican
postmaster of city of considerable
| size. There are many candidates for
| the place, and the member has be EN-
receiving no end of letters regarding 1t.
| In order to post himself on the matter,
he dropped line to the postoffice de
partment making the inquiries he de
sired answered at once. a week has
passed and no answer has been re-
ceiyed, and the congressman is on the
warpath and will not rest until he has
the scalp of every man in the depart
ment who has anything to do with these
matters.
In this very incident is found the
strongest kind of an argument against
the civil service rules, and every man
who has business before its departments
which brings him into contact with the
clerks is very apt to become ''SpoIls-
man." as man WHO believes that the
party in power should have its
Friends on Guard
is called. Under the civil service regu-
latons the departments are filed with
many incompetent and careless clerks,
who know that they have nothing to
fear from change of administration.
The fact that congressman are begin
ming to see this was demonstrated
by the action OF the house in
attempting to lengthen the working
days of the clerks. This proposition
was defeated in the senate, but it will
come up again hereafter and may be
passed. 1t has been thirty-two years
since the departments have had com
plete cleaning out, and the public service
shows it. There is no reason on earth
why nine-tenths at least of the clerks
now in the service should not be changed
every four years While the offices they
hold are not desirable in pecuniary
men and women all over the country
who would like to spend year or two
at the national capital. The talk about
the service being impaired by such
changes is the pureSt rot. Nearly ali
the work performed by clerks i'll the
various departments is of the machine |
variety and can be picked up in a day |
by school boy or school girl.
And III 80 cases out OF 100 the govern
ment would be doing the clerks an act |
of kindness by turning them out of
Office at frequent intervals. On their
meager salaries nothing can be saved in |
this most expensive city, and the longer |
they remain the less fitted are they to |
take up any regular occupation in life. |
There are men here in the departments |
hanging on from year to year who |
might be able to do something for them |
selves if thrown back into some legiti- |
mate calling. As things stand now this !
can not be done. and nearly all the office
holders in Washington will not know
from experience that the control of the
government has passed from the Re-
publican to the Democratic party.
In this the secretary of the treasury
does not agree. After having filled his
department with broken-down poiti-
clans from the North and carpet baggers
from the South, Mr.. Foster has sent in
report to the senate recommending
that
No Removals Be Made
except for cause He eXpatiates at large
upon the success of the merit system
and urges its continuance. This system
requires the marking of each clerk a
good deal as a school report is made.
Hardness. industry and general con-
duct are TO be taken into eonsidera-
tion and these reports are to he
Eas fcar ,nEi1 |