The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-08
STILL FOR CIVIL SERVICE
Capt. III. A. Castle Says He Hasn',
Changed His Mind on That
Subject.

Capt. Henry A. Castle, sixth auditor
of the treasury. was present at the
meeting yesterday morning Of the
chamber of commerce. In response to
a request, he addressed the members.
He told his hearers something of
civil service as ne has found it at the
national capital. and also spoke briefly
on postal reform.
He said the civil service order of
President Cleveland. of 1896, might
have been too sweeping and gone too
far, but it would be folly now to dis
regard it. 1t should rather be given a
thorough test. He believed that not
all Of the government offices were sus-
ceptible to the civil service rule, as,
for example, offices containing oniv
two or three clerks. The rule should
have been more gradually extended,
but now that it was the rule. it would
be public calamity to have it abol-
ished.
There could be no doubt that the
privileges of Second-clasS postal mat
ter were being abused, but still it
would work great injury were the rule
OF 16 cents per pound adopted with a
sweeping application. The excuse .
the motive Of the intricate and extend
ed postal service was the educational
idea, and without that idea and apol-
ence of the postal service in it's pres
ent shape. The cost to the govern
ment for handling second class matter
was cents a pound, and the govern
ment received l cent per pound The.
chief evil was in the prodigious ton
mage of cheap novels and cheap litera-
ture with which the mails were flood
ed. The enormous growth Of this spe-
cfeS of Second-clasS matter had come
hJSn TO
that abuse, the government would find
opposition from the interested parties
the publishers and the railroads.
The railroads received from the gov
eminent from S2S,0O0,0OO to $50, 0OO, 900 q
year for the transportation of mail
matter, being paid by the pound. They
would 1naugurate opposition at any
threatened cutting down of their re-
ceiptS.
The money order system, with all its
popularity and usefulness, was clearly
outside any proper function of the gov
eminent and yet there was now a
proposition to expand it by establish
ing postal savings banks and the pos
tai telegraph. A total of $400, DOC. 900
passes each year through the money
order department of the postoffice.
and until recently there had prevailed
in his department a system of book
keeping which invited frauds - the
checking up of the debit side from
stubs only. If more work of the kind
were put on the government, the bur-
den might be more than could be
borne and the government might break
down under the load
Among the communications received
by the chamber was one from the
Manufacturers Association of Kings
and Queens County, New York. pro
testing that the mail service was being
ruined by the great flood of second
class matter, and urging that the
trouble be cured. The letter was re-
ferred to the committee on transporta-
ton.
Messrs. c. P. Noyes and R. A. Kirk
reported on the Omaha exposition,
which they said was a third as large
as the Chicago fair and deserving of
the aid Minnesota could give it.
The matter of extending the terri
tory for the free delivery of kilograms
was also discussed.