The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-07

ty to prevent the invasiOp of epidemic dls-
eases from foreign countries. ana III tunes
| of emergency like that of the past sum
mer, viii add to the efficiency OF the san
| itary measures for the protection OF the
people and at the same time prevent uh-
necessary restriction Of commerce CON-
| cur in his recommendation.
| In further effort 20 prevent the INVASION
| of the United, States by yellow teVer Ihe
| Importance OF the discovery OF the exact
| disease which, up to the present time, mas
| been undetermined is obvious, and 10
| iris end a systematic archaeological m
| Vestigation should be made. therefore
recommend that congress authorize the
| appointment of.aneomm3ssion by the Pres
| ident to consist of four expert bacterloio-
| gists one to be selected from the medical
off1cers of the marine hospital s&vice, one
| to be appointed from civil life, one to be
| detailed from the medical officers of the
army, and one from the medical officers OF
| the navy. .t.-n
| Union Pacific Sale.
| The Union Pacific railway main line was
| sold under the decree of the United States
| court for the district of Nebraska, on the
| first and second of November of this year
! The amount due the government consisted
| of the principal of the subsidiary bonds,
| S27. 236. 5l2 and the accrued interest there
on. $S1.l11 III 70, making the total indebt-
! edness $5S, AS 22S.75. The bids at the sale
covered the first mortgage lien and the en-
| tire mortgage claim of the government,
| principal and interest The sale OF the
| subsidized portion of the. Kansas Paclhc
| line upon which the government holds
| second mortgage lien, has been postponed
| al the instance of. the government to Dec.
! 10, 1897. .r..u.
The debt of this division of the Union Pa
cific railway to the government on Nov.
| l, 1897. was the principal of the subsid-
larry bonds $6,305, COO, and the unpaid and
| accrued interest thereon $6626. $50. 30, max
| ing a total of $l2929 go. So. The sale of this
road was originally advertised for Nov.
| 4, but for the purpose of securing the ut
| most public notice of the event. it was
| postponed until Dec. IS, and se&fhd adj
| Vertisement. of the sale was made. BY the
| decree of the court the upset price on the
| sale of the Kansas Paclfic will yield to
| thefr government $500 $50 over all prior
| liens, costs and charges. If no other or
| better bid is made the sum is all that the
| government viii receive on its claim of
| nearly $l3,0O0,000 The government has no
! information as 10! whether there will be
| other bidders or a better bid than the
| minimum amount herein stated. The ques-
| ton, therefore is whether the government
| shall. under the authority given it by the
| act of March, g. 1887, purchase or redeem
| the road if a bid is not made by private
|
| claim. To qualify the government to bid
| al the sale viii require a deposit of $780,
| 900 as follows: In the government cause.
| 100000 and i'm each of the first mortgage
| causes, 100000, and in the latter the de-
| post must be in cash. Payments at the
| sale are as follows: Upon the acceptance
| of the bid a sum which, with the amount
| already deposited, shall equal is per cent.
| of the bid; the balance in installments of
% per cent thirty, forty and fifty days
| after the continuation of the sale. The
lien on the Kansas Pacific
| prior to that OF the gov
| eminent on the 8Oth of July, 1897, prin-
| cipal and interest amounted to 81 PSI ASH
| The government, therefore. should il
become the highest. bidder, will have to
| pay the amount of the first mortgage lient
| / believe that under the act of 1887 it has
| the authority to do this and in the alb
sence of any action of congress, l shall
direct the Secretary of the Treasury to
| make the necessary deposits as decreed
| by the court to qualify as bidder and to
| bid at the sale a sum which Will at least
| equal the principal due and the interest,
| but suggest in order to remove all con-
| troversy that an amendment to the law be
Immediately passed explicitly giving such
| powers and appropriating 10 general terms
whatever sum is sufficient therefor.
! In so important a matter the govern
rnent becoming the possible owner of
| railroad property, which II perforce must
| conduct and operate, 4 feel constrained to
| lay before congress these facts for its
| consideration and action before the con-
| summa ton of the sale. 1t is clear to my
| mind that the government should not per-
| NIT the property to be sold at a price which
| will yieldjless than one-half of the prin-
| cipal of its debt and less than one-fifth
| of its entire debt. principal and interest
| But whether the government rather
than accept less than its claim, should be-
come a bidder and thereby the owner of
the property, / submit to the congress for
action.
Government Library.
The library building provided for by the
act of congress approved April Is, 1886, has
been completed and opened TO the public.
1t should be a matter of congratula lion
that through the foresight and snunifi-
cence of congress the nation possesses this
noble treasure house of knowledge 1t is
earnestly to be hoped that having done
so much toward the cause of education.
| congress Will continue 70 develop the
library in every phase of research to the
end that 1t may not only be one of the
most magnificent. but among the richest
and the most useful libraries in the world.
Civil Service.
The important branch of our govern
ment known as the civil service, the prac-
tical improvement of which has long been
subject of earnest discussion, has of
late years resulted in increased legislative
and executive approval. During the past
few months the service has been placed
upon a stlll firmer basis of business meth
DDS and personal merit.c While the right
of our veteran soldiers to reinstatement
in deserving cases has been asserted. dis
missals for merely political reasons hav.
been carefully guarded against. the ex>
aminations for admttance 10 the service
enlarged and at the same time rendered.
| less technical and more practical, and a
distinct advance. has been made by giving
a hearing before dismissal upon all cases
where incompetency is charged or demand
made for removal of officials in any of the
departments. The order has been made to
give to the accused his right to be heard !
but without in any way impairing the pow