The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-19

public gets plenty Of that form Of instruc'
tion FREQ. Thus the powerful support Of the
Hon. WILLIAM j. BRYAN is already &C.
cured. The Secretary Of Public Buildings
is to assign by lot to the employees Of the
Government rooms. apartments, and resi-
dences Gin such a way that the various
ages, classes, races, int sexes shall be able
to live together in peace and harmony"
The Secretary of Public Buildings will have
his troubles. The Secretary OF Public
Farms will set up and manage Government
farms IN various parts of the country.
Where will the Secretary Of Agriculture be
thenf The Secretary of Public Commune
cation will reduce telegraph rates to ten
cents for thirty words n telephone rates
to four dollars n year. He will also let
every voting precinct have a "public wire
service" in UGH IN artistic and exact man.
ner that "the same shall form one gigantic
whispering gallery laid beneath the surface
of the earth" And SO a happy day is pre-.
pairing for the Hon. WILLIAM MORRIS
STEWART Of Nevada, the Hon. WILLIAM
VINCENT ALLEN of Nebraska, and all the
other time-defying IONS Of eloquence. The
upper air is already murmurous with their
vibrations. The replication Of their sound
Is soon to fill the hollows of the earth.
1t will be one of the duties Of the Secre-
tary Of Public Elections to fine or imprison,
or both, every voter who neglects to vote.
The Secretary of Public Education is to
provide facilities of edueation to everybody
who wants to be educated. Out of q just
regard for health, however, no student in
the Government schools Is to be permitted
to study more than three hours a day.
Pupils who Insist upon being paid for 60
Ing to school shall receive a regular salary
from the Government by means Of the Sec
rotary. 1t will be seen that education will
cease to be the cheap defence Of nations,
but there will be n good deal more money
in 1t for the educated han there was in Mr..
BURKE's time. The Secretary Of Public
Amusements will take care that the coun-
try gets plenty Of free entertainments, in
doors and outdoors. The Secretary of Pub
lie Hotels must build and conduct public
hotels and eating houses all over the coun-
try. 1t is not clear whether all citizens are
to eat gratis at these Government inns.
If they are. the army will have to be pro-
digiously increased. The Secretary Of Pub
~ LuuIuTltS Will mdluIdlu puDllC lduu-
dries, and 80 manage them THAT the water
in the tubs will be changed with every new
lot o. clothing." To the author Of this bill the
most sublime general conception is not diff
fcult and the meanest detail is not trivial.
The Secretary Of Public Libraries is to
organize and maintain a free public library
in every Post Office. The Secretary of Pub
lie Periodicals must furnish free periodicals
to his countrymen, but no provision seems
to be made for paying a salary for the read
ing of the same. The Secretary of Public
transportation will make q passenger tariff
at a rate not exceeding one mill a mile n
freight tariff at a rate not exceeding a mill
a ton a mile. Nothing is said about paying
passengers M ~consignors Of freight, but
an amendment will fill up this r~egrettable
chink in the chrysolitc. Among other de-
partments too numerous to be more than
mentioned here are banks, documents, cleo
trio light, fisheries, forests, gas, insurance,
inventions, merchandise, mining, peniten-
~tiaries, printing, statistics, surveying. and
warehouses. In short, the plan is grand
and comprehensive, and puts to shame all
the feeble, piecemeal schemes for adding
this or that department to the Cabinet.
Compared with all these little, unmeritable
patching measures, the bill is as st. Peters
to a doghouse.
Mr.. PErTIGREw, as modest as he is con.
~sistent, declines to assert for himself the
honor Of having produced this masterpiece.
He attributes 1t to a Mr.. JAMES SELDOM
CowDoN, a Virginian. Mr.. JAMES SELDOM
CowDoN may be the choicest ~satirist of this
age, and must be so accounted II he is the
author of this bill. and II he framed it as n
sarcasm against the various propositions
for charging the Cabinet and extending
the meddlesome activity Of the Government.
But the Hon. RICHARD FRANKLIN PETIT.
GREW is a serious statesman. Whether he
made this bill or merely allowed it to bask
in his radiance, 1t must be regarded as
his most memorable achievement.