El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-02-11
THE RUSH FOR OFFICE.
Nothing Like 1t Ever Before
Known.
Meantime Gar Reed Forbids the Starting
Up of Great Public Works That Would
Give Needed Employment Cleveland
and the Civil Service.

/
Up of Great Public Works That wouI
Give Needed Employment CIeveIan
and the Civil Service.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6.-[Special. Sen
ators and mem bers of congress who be1on
to the Republican party say they have new
er known such rush for appointments il
the government service as that which the,
are now experiencing. Their mails ar
loaded down with applications, and some o
them are of a very pitiful character. Mel
who have found it difficult to provid
bread for their families, men who hav
| looked in vain for work, hope their sen
ators or representatives may be able to fine
| something for them under Uncle Sam
| One senator said to me today: II dislike
| to open my mail. I do not claim to be
soft hearted man, nor to have more THAI
my share of human sympathy, but it j:
| true that am made very sad by this fooC
| of appeals for help which pours in upon me
| Men write to me, saying they will be glad
| to take anything they can get They Offer
| to come down to Washington and act as
messengers, to clean out spittoons and dc
any sort of mental work, just so it is work
and bread and butter for themselves and
their families. The most l can do for these
poor fellows is to write them all kindly re.
plies, holding out no hope to them, but
them on for their struggle against adver.
sity.''
Reeds Sense of Duty.
The foregoing is similar to the testimony
given by most Republican senators and
congressman. They attribute the phenom,
email rush for public place to the hard
times-to the fact that men who ordinarily
have all the work they can do are now I'm
able to find anything in the bread winning
limo r. &c.
of our statesmen if this government ought
not to adopt the policy pursued now by the
authorities of India, and followed often by
other governments, of starting up great
public works which will give employment
TO thousands of men. Instead of doing
something in this line, the policy of the
powers which control legislation here is
in exactly the opposite direction. Speaker
Reed, anxious to make for the house a rep
utation for economical appropriations, de-
clineS to permit any measure involving an
expenditure of public funds to come up for
consideration, relentlessly sitting down
upon everything except the regular appro-
priation bills, which are needed to keep the
government going.
If large appropriations could be made for
public buildings, if the river and harbor
works of the country We're given a fair
amount of money with which to carry on
the improvements, If the Nicaragua canal
could be authorized, there would be much
more employment for the mechanics and
laborers. But Mr.. Reed, acting from
sense of duty, in which he is as sincere as
man can be, refuses to permit any such APP
preparations to go through the house
There are public men who think this policy
"a mistake. They believe the government
should be more liberal with its expendi
lures, especially in those which make work
for the common people in times of depres-
sion and commercial inactivities than in
good times. Labor is then cheaper. The
government can get more for its money.
In addition to this, it can help the people
tide over a period of hard times. 1t is safe
TO say that if policy of making liberal
appropriations for public building and
public works had been pursued by the past
congress and by this one, 100, 600 or so, 600
men might have been employed on govern
ment operations, thus reducing by so much
the congestion of unemployed labor COM
peting against other unemployed labor |
But such hue and cry has been raised in
this country against large appropriations |
that politicians and leaders of parties dare |
not take the responsibility of opening up |
the doors of the treasury even for the most |
wholesome and proper purposes.
CIeveland's italian Hand.
So great is the pressure of Office seeking |
upon Republican members of congress that
a desperate effort will be made to induce
President Mckinley to suspend parts of the
civil service order recently issued by Presi-
dent Cleveland. The Republicans claim that
President Cleveland waited till the Demo
Gratis had filled the public offices with men
of their own party faith before issuing his
orders, and that many of the men who are
by these orders placed under civil service
protection never passed an examination,
and are not entitled to be held in their
places under the guise of civil service re
form. Great the pressure is it is not |
probable President Mckinley will do any
hing of the sort. Here again public opin-
on interjccts its pressure. Without ques-
lion the educated public opinion of the
country is in favor of through reform of
he public service. 1t would have the pub
ic service divorced from politics.
Peace Reigns.
1t is already apparent that the new ad-
is going to make an effort to
1opulariZc itself with the country. Major
Mckinley has been exceedingly careful in
his cabinet, and he has from the
irst insisted that harmony in the party
md harmony between the various branches
# the government should be aimed al in
very step authorized by him. Major Nc
\inley has genius for bringing men to-
,ether. Evidence of this is found in the
act that Senator Sherman and General
AlSer are TO SlU IN the same CABINET. They
AVE been enemies ever since 1850, when
ieneral Alger was candidate for presi-
ent against Mr.. Sherman and pursued
ONE methods to Dhich the Ohio senator
trongly objected. Bit peace reigns at last
he Mckinley administration probably
vlll be noted as the peaceful administra- :
ion, as the business administration. l do
lot violate any confidence when l say that !
lajor McKinley's ideal president in many
aspects is Mr. Hayes. Nor do l ovcrstate
he fact when l say that among thought
III public men the administration of Mr. |
laycS is now regarded as one of the very
est the country ever had. Major McKin- !
y was IL warm friend of President HAYES :
nd knew that Mr. Hayes got along as we'll
S he did by turning the great departments !
f the government over to their chiefs and J
Gliding them responsible for whatever oc-
urred. President Mckinley intends to do !
lie same thing. )
1t probably has not escaped the observa- >
of -