North Park union., 1900-07-13

(washington Democratic Letter.)
Warrington. D. c. June l6. 1900.
There II NO doubt but what Mark
Hanna runs the government. There
Isn't q department In Washington
which Ia not being operated for the
main purpose OF re-electing Mckinley
next November.
A particularly fragrant instance IL
just now engaging public attention.
There Is q bureau OF the treasury de-
partment known as the bureau OF STA
tistics. Its function IL to compile sta
tistics relative To commerce. imports
and exports. the movement of coin and
similar matters. For many years It
was under the control Of Worthington
C. Ford. recognized AZ one OF the prin-
cipal statisticians In the United States.
a man Of fine character and excellent
ability.
The position came under the civil
service law. and by law could be nlled
only by an expert statistician.
After Secretary Gage took office.
with great pretenses Us civil service
reformer, he gave Mr.. Ford assurance
of his high esteem and of his strong
desire that he should remain Mt the
head of the bureau Of statistics. With
in few months. however. Mr.. Ford
was forced to resign and newspaper
man named o. p. Austin. without any
standing whatever us a statstician.
was appointed to the place In clear vlo-
lation of the law. Mr.. Austin was ex-
tremely unpopular with his fellow
newspaper men in Washington for
having run for number OF years a
''scab" newspaper syndicate and for
having tried to get newspapers away
from his fellow journalists by what
they considered unfair methods. But
he had been OF service to Hannn
around Republican headquarters In the
campaign Of 1895 and that gave him
his appointment.
From the time he entered once the
bureau OF statistics was run for the
cole purpose Of getting up Republican
statistics. In every way that human
ingenuity can devise. figures have been
twisted. warped. distorted and garbled
In order to back up the Republican
position In favor Of protection OF trusts
and OF the gold standard.
Now Mr. Austin is crowning his ser
vice by employing the whole bureau.
with its stan of highly paid experts.
In getting up a campaign text book for
the Republicans. filled with pages Of
statistics and diagrams to prove that
the Mckinley administration Is the
greatest threc-ring circus that ever
crossed the continent.
His use OF figures Ia such as to make
the nine digits blush to look the multi
plication table In the face. The book
will be printed In the government
printing ONCE at government expense
and circulated through the mails at
government expense.
This little job will cost the taxpay-
ers nrst and last not over $4,000. a
mere drop In the bucket of Republican
extravaganza and misappropriation OF
public funds. but when any Democrat
hears a Republican orator quote from
o. p. Austin's book set of figures to
sustain any argument he may advance.
the Aforesaid Democrat may call to
mind the illuminating fact OF Its Or
igin and .fes content.
Hanna IL occasionally brutal even to
his own Slaves He recently informed
congressional committee that that or
ganixation ~culd have to raise Its own
campaign funds. az the national COM
mittee would need all 1t could get for
Its own purposes.
Hanna hasn't much Use for congress
anyway. particularly the house Of rep
resentatives. 1T wouldn't pass the
HannA-Payna ship subsidy bill and the
army reorganization bill. both Of which
he wanted. and II did pass the Mica
rngua canal bill. the anti-trust bill and
tho eiYht-hour labor bill. which he BIT
terly opposed.
So when Babcock was told to hunt
up his own funds he found himself in
the midst Of an arid desert with Mark
Hanna standing guard over every
water hole In sight.
There was but single prickly cac-
tus from which to squeeze few re-
luctant drops-the employees Of the
house Of representatives. Republican to
man. Babcock had these voted nm
extra months salary all around Just
DelOTe COHBreSS duyouiueu, anu tueh
set smooth and skillful agent at
work to make each employe give up 80
per cent OF that bonus. This would
have yielded about $4,000 despite the
fact that 1t was fragrant violation Of
the law against political assessments.
But there IL nothing so ungrateful as
government employe with an cleo
tion pending. especially when he fg
ures that the election is going against
his party. The employees are refusing
TO give up. They are saving their
money against rainy day. Almost to
man they figure that the next house
will be Democratic and that they will
lose their Jobs. So Mr.. Babcock's COM
mittee has had to call on each Re-
publican member OF congress as well
as each Republican candidate for con-
gress for special assessment. There
may be an occasional crumb OF con-
tribution fall from Mark Hanna's
trust-fed table. but II will not do Bah
cock much good. This business OF be-
ing jackal to the Mark Hanna lion is
a thnnkless task
The government has spent 100000
in Transporting troops and banda to
Rochester. N. y. to give Gen. Otis u
big military reception. celebrating his
retur. ffom the Philippines Gen.