The San Francisco call., 1898-01-06
COCKRELL
 CRITICIZES
 SHERMAN Requests Made in His Report Declared PresumptuOus. Asked That Certain Posi- tiOns in His Depart ment Be Excepted. The Senator Says an Effort Is Being Made to Tie the
 Presidents Hands.
WARM WORDS OF ALLEN.
Declares the Civil Service Law Is E Hiss and a Byword Among
 the People.
Special Dispatch to The Call.
Can Office, Riggs House
 T1

Washington, Jan. 5.
 The presentation of replies of the members of the Cabinet to the res olution calling for information as to the application of the civil ser vice law to the various depart ments of the Government, together with the consideration of the bill es- tablishing a bureau for the twelfth census, precipitated a sharp civil serv- ice debate in the Senate to-day. Gull lom of Illinois, the author of the reso- lution, thought that modification of the law ought to be made. as the authori- ties had drifted far away from the or iginal intention Of the authors of the civil service law. Allen of Nebraska charged that the law was openly and daily violated, and said 1t was a hiss and byword among the people. Cockreu of Missouri declared that it was pre- sumptuous in Secretary Sherman to make recommendations to Congress that certain positions in his depart ment should be excepted from the classified service. when the President had full authority to make the excep- tions he recommended He thought an effort was being made to tie the Presi- dents hands. Davis, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, gave notice that he would. next Monday, and daily thereafter, move that the Senate consider in executive session the Ha- waiian annexation treaty until it was disposed of finally.
 There was only a small attendance in the Senate. Allen of Nebraska spoke on the immigration bill and de- clared in favor of consular inspection of immigrants.
 Teller of Colorado spoke at some length in support of the idea that the Census Bureau should not be a parti- san bureau, and that its employees should, therefore, be placed in the classified service. He was particularly anxious that honest, competent men should perform the work of the next census, because he had knowledge of intentional misStatementS and inten- uOnal fraud that had been perpetrated by one statistical department of the Government in making out that the worlds production of silver was S10,- GOO, 900 larger than 1t actually was He was prepared, he said, to establish this statement, if necessary, to the satiS- faction of jury. If the men whose appointment is provided for by this bill are competent they ought to have the protection of the classified service. Properly administered, said he, the civil - service law is wise measure. It has, however, been badly abused and thus brought into diSrepute. Civil service has come to stay in this country. It will stand, and only reasonable modi- f1cations of it's application will be made Some notifications may be de- sirable.
 Chiffon of Texas, in an extended speech, in which he discussed the work of previous censuses and indicated the enormous amount of work, unnecessary andirrelevant, that had been performed declared that it was a scandal to have issued so many volumes as seemed necessary to cover the work of the cen- SuS of 1880 and 1890. He expressed a hope that the efforts of the gentIernan from Maine (Hale) to reduce to req sonable proportions the topics to he handled by the twelfth census would be successful.
 Quite unexpectedly the lively civil service debate was precipitated inst at the close of the session. Cartar io charge of the bill, said that he wouId have the measure printed with amend ments that had been offered to if and for that purpose would consent to have 1t temporarily laid aside He then moved that the Senate proceed to con sideratiCn of executive business.
 Pending the passage of that motion the Vice President laid before the Sen ate the reply of Secretary Sherman to the Senate resolution requesting infor- mation as to the application of the civil service law in his department
 Cockrel of Missouri was on his feet instantly upon the conclusion of the reading of Secretary Shermans com lnunication.
 Coming from Secretary Sherman, who served long years in Congress. thls communication must be regarded as very remarkable document" said he The President himself, as Secre- tary sherman well knows, has ample authority to modify the law in accord ance With the recommendations of his Secretary of State. The extension of the operation of the law has been made from time to time by executive and not by legislative action. For a Secretary of State to come to Con gress for such relief as MT. Sherman requests, when his own chief. the Pres ident of the United States, has full power to act, is presumptuous"
 Allison of Iowa said that in making his reply Secretary Sherman had sim ply complied with the explicit request of the Senate, and he had the resolu- ton read to show that it called for recommendations or suggestions for notifications that Cabinet officials might have to make. Allison did not think that Senators ought to criticize members of the Cabinet for furnishing to the Senate precisely what it had asked for
 Cockrell thought it was a catch" resolution which had been framed by