The Springfield herald., 1900-01-26

passionate eloquence claimed tn,
closest attention o. every auditor.
Senator Morgan, as chairman of til,
Senate committee OH inter-oceanic ca
nnls, has presented Il written repOr
upon the Nicaragua canal bill. The re
port says: "As II provision for the ma
val and military defense of our coun
try, whether insulnr or continental
this canal is Indispensable, and the
closer Its location is made to our states
on the Gulf OF Mexico the more eff
cient will be It's protection to our
coasts on the Atlantic and Pacific.
Pearl harbor in Hawaii. and the har-
Dor of San Juan In Puerto Rico are the
true military defenses of the canal
against attack by European or Asiatic
powers and they give IL more secure
protection to its eastern and western
outlets than any fortress. however
strong. that can .,e located nt or near
Its connection with the sea. Measured
by the income of the Suez canal. ut Il
corresponding cost, the Nicaragua ca
nal should yield, with equivalent rates
Of tolls, at least twelve per cent. on
S140, 0,OOO.OOO. II Is too severe IL tax up
on credulity to ask the adoption of the
precarious water supply nt Panama in
preference to the two grand lakes of
the Nicaragua route. one of which is
100 miles long by forty-iive miles broad
and affords nearly seventy-fve miles
of fresh water navigation for the lar
gest ships. as part of the canal route.
and together they supply more than ten
times the water needed to supply the
canal line from Lake Nicaragua to
both oceans. We owe 1t to ourselves
and to the whole world that whatever
canal we shall build and control on
the isthmus of Dnrien shall be us open.
free and neutral to all nations as Its
corresponding gateway. the Suez ca
nal"
The sixteenth annual report of the
United States Civil Service Commits
sion has been submitted to the Presi-
dent. The report. while containing
much information of value concerning
the operations of the commission dur
ing the year. denls with n number of
subjects of general public interest. The
remarks of the commission on the i'm
portance of merit system in our
COLONEL possessions; the need of max
ing some disposition of supernnnunted
employees; the Improvement shown in
the reduction of the percentage Of re-
moyals throughout the service. result
ing from the requirements Of the law
and the order of the President of July
%, 1897, looking to Its enforcement,
and the advantages to be gained by
the classification of the force Of the
library of Congress and the municipal
service of the District of Columbia, de-
serve special attention at this time.
The report opens with Il preliminary
statement In regard to the extent Of
the classified and unclassitied service,
from which 1t appears that there are
approximately 5000 classified po-
uit
sItions; of the latter. 71,OOT are Occu-
pied by fourth-class postmasters. There
are 19.44G positions in the executive
service in the District OF Columbia.
and more than 10000 distributed
among the states and territories. The
commission states that the eNpendt-
lures for salaries for the entire service.
classified and unclassitied. is approx
mately S104, 600, 600 per annum, II large
increase having resulted from the war
with Spain. The total number of ap-
pointments made during the year on
certificates OF the commission was
9,05G.
The correspondent of the Chicago
Record, who is n Republican. criticises
his party as follows: II looks as II all
the reciprocity treaties negotiated by
Mr.. Kasson under the DinHley bill
would be hung UP by Congress as an IL
lustration of human Seltishncss and the
Inconsistency of the Republican party.
The platforms of the st. Louis conyen-
tion and other previous conceptions in
fSrvent terms demand the application
OF the principle of reciprocity to our
foreign commerce. The Presidents in
augural address and messages to Con
cress advocated it. The speeches OF
the spell binders throughout the last
campaign described the beauty and ad
yantages of reciprocity In trade, and
promised great results If the Repub-
lican party were allowed to negotiate
treaties. The late Mr.. Dingley and his
colleagues Of the committee of ways
and means made n great demonstration
to deceive the public, and Inserted what
they called n reciprocity clause In the
last tariff law, which was framed so
that it should be imperative, but Mr..
Kasson skillfully managed to make
something out of it and concluded ar
rnngements with France and the Brit
ish colonies in America, while Mr..
Buchanan made an excellent trenty
with the Argentine Republic, which
gave sugar, wool, tobacco, fruit and
some other things from those countries
an advantage of twenty per cent. less
than the ordinary duties imposed upon
such merchandise. Although the ell
tire trade of all the countries mention
ed is but drop in the bucket when
compared with the total imports of the
articles mentioned. every interest that
is affected demonstrates and demands
that the treaties be rejected. The wool
men of Ohio are perfectly willing that
we shall have reciprocity on fruit and
tobacco, bu. they object to reciprocity
on wool. The tobacco growers of Con-
necticut. like Artemus Ward. are WILL
Ing to sacrifice all their first wife's re-
lotionS for the benefit of their country,