The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-05-12

~ 70 SYSTEM has been devised
" by man which will prevent
i dishonesty. 1t is a humil-
iating circumstance, the
shame Of which is felt by every Amer
lean citizen. that among the carefully
picked employees of the independent
postal service which our government
has set up in cuba with great care
as an object lesson for the natives
were some capable of entering into u
conspiracy to steal funds which were
in their trust; but such experiences
are not uncommon; they occur with
frequency in the most thoroughly man
aged private business institutions;
banks, trust companies, stores and in
dustries all have to run a certain
meaure of risk with the imperfect hu-
man instruments which they employ;
the best that can be done is to use
every possible precaution and to let
no guilty man escape.
1t was to be expected that the first
slip discovered in the discharge by
representatives of our government of
their nduciary relations toward the
people of our new dependencies would
be seized upon with ghoulish glee by
opponents of the administration and
put 20 use as weapons against the pol
icy of expansion; and the expected
has happened. The Philadelphia Led
ger was the first to generalze pessi
mistically from one bad particular in
the conduct of affairs in Cuba, and
soon its chorus of despair will be
swclled by the voices of every oppo-
rent of Republicanism. THEORETICAL
ly," says the Ledger, there should be
no more difficulty in managing postal
affairs in a colony than in our own
country, the systems of keeping and
auditing accounts being the same, but
in practice the government is likely
to find a different class of men seek
ing colonial appointments from those
who get employment at their homes.
The slick carpet bag politician does
not go to a distant land for any other
purpose than to make money as quick
ly as possible, and hence the colonial
service administered by a nation Of
politicians is almost certain to be
worse than the similar service at
home. Great Britain has been sue
cessful with her colonies, but Great
Britain does not permit politics to
control or even influence her civil SER
vice. The men sent out to her colo
nies may look forward to a tenure Of
Office during good behavior; they have
an incentive to honest and faithful
labor in the hope of promotion, and
where their location is not agreeable
may if they have done their work
well, obtain a transfer to more agree
able surroundings. Our colonies are
not likely to be governed in any such
fashion. Politics will control the ap-
pointments, and the seekers OF colo
NAL berths will be those who cannot
get anything as good at home. Their
tenure will be uncertain, and many of
quickly, that upon their return they
may be more or less Independent of
government favor. The embezzlement
in the postal department of Cuba is an
indication of what we may expect 20
become frequent item of news when
we shall get carpet bag governments
fully established in our island posses
| sions."
AS a matter of fact, taking into ac-
count the necessity for haste in tor-
ganizing a postal service in Cuba
which resulted from the speed with
which war problems Of great magni-
tude were accumulated beyond any
mans control, the selections of men
for responsible positions in the Cuban
postal service were made with a great
deal more than the ordinary care, and
Postmaster General Smith has put on
record the fact that politics had moth
ing whatever to do with influencing
appointments. Men were picked out in
virtue of their exceptional fitness as
demonstrated in the service records