The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-05-09
LIKE The SWAMP BEETLE,
The Orlce.Seeker is CirclinS Around the
Flame Singing His Wings.
AMOS CUMMINGS .TRIKIEG PICTURE.
The Round Of the Departments 10 . Weary
One for the Cougressnan-The Great
Flood of Aspiranis Go to the
White Hou.e.


4 Its soft, balmy atmosphere Is once more
| laden with perfume. Its magnolia ana
tulip trees are In bloom. Its newly leaf
ed trees again shadow It's smooth ave-
| nues, and It's parks and circles are fresh
| ened with roses and beds OF rare nOweTs.
All is life and animation. SparrOwS
twitter i'm the marble piinths Of the Corin-
| THAN columns adjoining the Capitol. and
robins dart here and there over the bright
green sward below the marble esplanade.
The aeolian notes OF the red-wlnged
blackbird hoat above the Botanic Garden,
anu The hOarse Cawing of crows Is nedru
as they wing their flight from their feed
ing grounds along the East Potomac 10
foosts in Virginia. Grim beetles, uglier
than nelgramltes, fly TO the city from
neighboring swamps and encircle the elee-
trio lights at night. casting ominous shdd-
ows over the payements.
Natures spring awakening spurs wheel
men to renewed activity With $40 miles
of asphalt and macadamized roads al
their command, they shoot over tne
ground like swallows on the wing. Girls
and boys, women and men, they troop
around the street corners IN platoons ana
divisions. At night from the plateau al
the capitol their tiny lights gleam III
all directions. They sprinkle PenhsyiVa-
MIA avenue like tire flies. us sldewalNs
are carpeted with shadow fret-work by
the briIliancy of the electric light dell
cate tracery thinning every tresh twis
and leaf in the foliage above.
THE OFFICE-SEEKER.
Nor is nature alone animated. Up from
the South, East and West springs the OF
hceseeker. Like the swamp beetle, lie
has seen the efulgence OF electric Hghls
effected on the Sky, and he is here circills
around tn, flame, smuggling his wings. lie
makes fully as much noise as the crows
and blackblrds, and is quite as active as
the robin and sparrow in gatherihs
straws TO thatch his nest. Yet his pres
ence has not restored the era of prosperi-
~. The ominous sign Furnished rooms
to let" Is more thicky s0wn than ever.
There are more houses TO let and for sale
to-day in Washington than ever before
The office-seeker IS poor. FIFTY Genus
night seems TO be his limit. A rev or me
wealthy are quartered at tho hotels,
which are fun 10 Overlooking. but the vast
majority are seeking the cheapest Ious-
ings.
Most OF the choice places are already
pTe-empted, and there appears 10 De no
others. The civil service law stands Ike
q stone wall confronting the army OF
place hunters. They cannot get over IT,
under IL or around it. They must drive
themselves against 1t. AT places the wall
IL weak. and appears to be giving away.
The most OF these weak places are SAID
to be in the Treasury Department.
Things are different in the Navy De-
partment. There Gov. Long, OF Massa-
chusetts presides with true dignity, at
tending 10 the duties devOlved upon MIN,
undisturbed by the splashing I'm the pool
OF politics. With the apostle OF civil ser
vice as his assistant the rules are not app
to be disturbed or the law violated -,
In the War Department Gov Alger, OF
Michigan receives his friends with uiodhe
smiles lie has trusty Lieutenant IN the
lion. George -. Meikeljohn late mem
her OF Congress from Nebraska. pop
ular man In the House Meikel-
jihn is particularly acceptable to
members Of Congress. who nave
dealings with the War Depart
ment. The plums in this depart
ment. however. are very few, and are
mostly gathered by army officers.
STATE DEPARTMENT.
Grim John Sherman, patient, tenacious,
and brainy. sits upon the tripod In the
State Department. The smaller consul
lates. which were formerly perquisites OF
the Secretary OF state, are now choice It'd
bits OF civil service reform. Where va
cancies occur, under President Clevelands
order OF 1896 they are filled either by
promotion or transfer. Aside from this,
persons who have been In the service
have preference. New applicants are ex-
amined in the State Department with spe-
cial reference 10 their fitness TOR The
Office Ii is under cover OF these exam
nations that the spoilsmen may gather
a small harvest
In the Department OF Justice spring
opens brightly for Mr.. Joseph Mckenna,
are very few indeed. The new Attorney
General is greeted by scores of his late
Congressional associates, and they always
leave him with a CHEEKY feeling. The
spoilsmen besiege him night and day. with
varying results.
Cornelius y. Bliss. with Gladstonian
face, occupies a corner of the patent office
building as Secretary Of the Interior The
rush upon him for places has been unpre-
cedented. Under his predecessors. Geor-
gians had overrun the department. and
were In a strong majority The condi-
lions. II is said, warranted extreme
changes. A score of old soldiers have
been restored ana the wedding process
still continues. Calm and thoughtful. the
New York merchant has proved a patient
listener, but he seems sadly out of place
in the Department of the Interior. The
crowd OF applicants. however. has been
very importunate. and he has been COM
PEELED TO close his doors at p NJ.
Across the street Postmaster-General
Gary is enthroned. He is the only Cabi-
net officer with four assistants. and he
needs them all. This Is the busiest OF all
the departments. Postmasters through
out the country OF every grade are being
changed quietly and expedtiousy, all
under the operation of an order made dur
ing Mr.. Cleveland's first administration.
II gives each postmaster a four years
term from the lowest to the highest. The
ante-room of the Unconstitutional is
filled with congressman from the rural
UlStriCIS. All. OF tOuISts INTENSELY llltItSl-
ed i'm the success Of his administration.
In an adjoining room will be found their
clerks. copying the list Of the postmas-
tiers i'm each district. paying special at
tention TO the date OF their present APP
pointment. The congressman thus learns
when the term of office Of each postmaster
in his district expires, and is in shape for
a future campaign.
FOR THE FARMERS.
Last OF all. but not the least In i'm
portance IS the DEPARTMENT OF Agricul-
ture. Here sits bluff and hearty James
Wilson OF Iowa. He contrasts strongly
with his predecessor. Office-seekers give
him little annoyance. Book sewers and
seed packers are OF the past and not Of
the present. All seeds are now packed
and shipped by contractors. Mr. Wilson
has begun his work in a systematic and
vigorous way. He IS earnest in his en-
deavors TO develop the beet sugar indus
the prevention OF hog cholera During his
entire public life he has managed and d.
rected his own farm and has a practical
knowledge OF all the farmers needs and
necessities He believes in the distribu-
ton OF seeds. and will gladly further the
efforts of Congress In this direction.
Every seed that is distributed under his
direction will be seed worth planting and
outstanding. The old soldiers are being
gathered under his wing and rapidly re-
stored 20 their former positions.
The departments are the little eddies In
which office-seekers congregate. The
|. great food pours toward the White
House. The Eruption has been simply ap-
kindness and urbanity. His bearing is al
nave nolitc and no one leaves him with