The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1899-09-21
A Barnacular Attachment.

Barnacular Attachment.
Any one who visits Washington is
struck with the number of government
employees who apparently never do
A special dispatch to the
Globe-Democrat, stalwart republican
organ, under the head of civil Pen
sions" explains the matter by giving
us an instance of how it works. The
head of one of the great departments
gave the appropriation committees to
understand he could run his depart
ment better if allowed to discharge 100
useless and incompetent men. The APP
preparation was cut down accordingly
and the discharges were made. This,
however, not, as one would suppose,
end the matter: for the congressman,
whose pets they were and who were
being paid for boosting them into con-
gress, demanded" their restoration,
which was finally done and the appro-
priation restored to the old figures.
The dispatch says the government
can no more get rid of these drones
than a vessel can be permanently pro
tected against the barnacles; for the
"barnacles" have greater influence as 8
rule than the workers; so much infiu
ence that they can say to the congress
man, keep us in paying position
where we have nothing to do or we viii
look a man who can.
1t is bad on the taxpayers whose
congressmen's only fort is to keep mel
in office, many of whom are barnacle
equally incompetent with the congress
men themselves. AS congressman
won't allow the heads of department
to get rid of the membranes by dis
charging them, it Is now proposed t.
pension them out of the way. A mucl
cheaper plan, however, for the tax-pay
err is, to discharge" the congressman
who worries the heads of department.
into retaining the barnacles and til
committees into making appropriation
for them. Let their constituencies
know about itand they will do the rest
If republicans can't get rid of the bar
nacles without pensioning them let sil
yer democrats try their hands; if thes
can't, turn the populists or any othe
old thing loose on them. A party an
congressman whose popularity de
ponds on pensioning somebody will {
necessity finally disgust the other feI
lows who pay the taxes. The gol
standard is kind of pension to til
money lender and other creditors, an
the tariff and trusts a pension to manu-
facturers.
According to the dispatch there al
three propositions by those who col
cede that the only way to get rid of I'll
barnacles is to buy them off or pensio
them: One is that the other employee
furnish the Seeds. Another is til,
these furnish one-half and the govern
ment the other half. The third is tn
the government or taxpayer foot I'll
whole bill. And it is at the last alte
| native we will end if we start in on Il
civil pension business at all; for it wi
be argued that it is both unfair and
legal to take from the working en-
ploye any part of his wages witho1
his consent to pension the incur
ORANGES. Besides if an employee WI
gets $1,000 year can afford to give So
Of that to the barnacles he can afford
serve for 5000 leaving the rest in Il
hands of the taxpayer whom nobot
5 proposes to pension in his old age or
any other time.
One hundred men fight like cats (
q each $1,000 job and would be glad of
for only one year and no pension
r sight. And the man who grows old
: the Job should at the end have pc
/ sion of his own or go without one. '
!. have sympathy for those who grow o
a in government job at $1,000 year, b
e greater sympathy for those tax pave
who do not handle 5000 in a life tim
" and who may not expect pension I'll
o side the upper and better pay day.
g The pension proposed for those W
have grown old in comfortable wor
: comfortable quarters and at the col
" Portable salary of $1,000, is 5000 We
" which greatly exceeds the average pc
e sion of those men who faced bulle
e fatigue, the elements and $17 mont
t. The beteran should remember that Il
It people will object to investing all th
o have in pensions and that unjust a
n unnecessary civil pensions may in til