New-York tribune., 1899-06-12

there was no authority OF law ana no
when installed there was no la" anu ~
.e,,r,a,,on for n private secretary. Nevertne-
=. ,roup,;v appointed one, and had the
salary NJ $1,000 charged against the war ree
.onr,a,ion In this he merely followed
precedent s ,,ron
rhan ha nroceeded to infringe further upon
81. ,.w Ho established new precedent o'
creating the hitherto unhea-d-of office OF con-
sdential clerk at $1,000 year. This was Ino'e
~, . x.ar hefore the war broke out. lhe's
was m emergency" no press OF addit'o"a'
worry Secretaries Proctor. Elkins ana Lan'oi''
nod ALI got along comfortably with priNa'e
,.crstarv only A place was wanted. that was
all This confidential clerks salary IKE tho' VI
sbs orirafe secrcfary ros paid out oI 'se ""
~eoords onoropriafion II was done through
~. assv conoplaisance Of Major (now Generap
roo~ca w Davis then a bureau chief. on whose
al, the now officiaI in the Secretarys ONCE was
.,rr,.d Before Private Secretary Squires anu
r,oresen,,al Clerk Mason could draw their pay
.s.,o- Davis had 10 certify that the roll was
.orrec, and the payment a legal and proper one
.f.,or Davis consequently certified TO wna'
c,ser,v was not true at least twelve tiHes
vaar This sort OF bureau laxfty soon germ"
r.tes into full-blown Carterism IL IN SIMPLY
another form Of Lydeckerism The Secie'"''
want 70 blame; he was told this was the Tvs
lar thing I'm the War Department Anu 81 -
was . .o
perhaps Major Davis's readiness thus ~
s.,va the Secretary explains the mystery Oh
this subsequent unexpected elevation u '"e
rank OF brigadier-general. He was not III ~
tion once during the entire war; ala not se'
down 10 Cuba until after the enemy mad all
been transported back 10 Spain. Yet AFTER the
nuster-out of the volunteers he was AT once
reappointed brigadier-general under the reor-
ganization, TO the exclusion or some OF tne
officers who sword in hand. had charged at
the head of their troops. Then Flghting Guy
Henry the hero of two wars was renewed anu
General Davis put in command OF Porto RICO
AS Davis does not hail from Michigan, this
singular piece OF good luck Is by some people
explained upon the same rule.
A hcgr dffcrrdrd mdcr "eneIOcncU' press
nrc. a provision was slipped into the proper
hill creating the two new offices of private
secretary and confidential clerk. They then
emerged into daylight. They now secure their
monthly pay without illegal certifcation. This
illustrates one Of the methods of War Depart
ment expansion.
The war emergency" opened the door TO all
sorts of thimbe-rlgglng win appointments uH"
the appropriations. and with Congress itself
for that matter. The emergency" atd-to-the-
Klondlke episode Of 1897. when the Secretary
had military agents and experts hunting the
world over for dog teams and reindeer. was
entirely outdone. One Of the Secretary's De-
troit friends. George II. Hopkins. was immedi-
ateIy commissioned a major and assistant ad-
jutant- general Of volunteers and detailed as
the secretary's personal aid" which office he
still retains. although the war emergency Is
past and other volunteers are mustered out
This was a new precedent. and probably by IT
another life-tenure place was created 1t goes
without saying that hereafter every Secretary
will expect to have personal aid to look after
his comfort during state progresses.
1T IS TO LAUGH"
Isn't IT.? At least II would be If 1t were not
so conforndedly serious. Such scatterbran
energy and misdirected effort. such reckless
waste Of money. are enough 10 make Edwin
NJ. Stanton turn over in his grave. And on
top OF all the country is asked What of it?"