The Holly chieftain., 1900-01-26

| and earnestness. even for him, and his
passionate el0quence claimed the
closest attention Of every auditor.
Senator Morgan, as chairman of the
| Senate committee on inter-oceanic ca
nails. has presented a written report
upon the Nicaragua canal bill. The re-
port says. LAS provision for the ma
I val and military defense of our coun-
| try, whether insular 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 its 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 attick by European or Asiatic
powers and they give more secure
| protection to its eastern and western
outlets than any fortress, however
strong, that can be located at or near
| its connection with the sea. Measured
by the income Of the Suez canal, at a
| corresponding cost, the Nicaragua ca
nal should yield, with equivalent rates
OF tolls, at least twelve per cent. on
| $40 O0O,O0O. 1t Is too severe n tax up
on credulity to ask the adoption of the
| precarious water supply at Panama in
| preference to the two grand lakes OF
| the Nicaragua route. one Of which Is
| 100 miles long by forty five miles broad
| and affords nearly seventy-five 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 Darien shall be as 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. deals with number of
subjects of general public interest The
! remarks of the commission on the i'm
portance of n merit system in our
COLONEL possessions; the need of max
| ing some disposition of superannuated
employees; the improvement shown in
| the reduction of the percentage Of re-
| ing from the requirements of the law
| and the order of the President Of July
| 81. 1897, looking to its enforcement,
and the advantages 10 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 a preliminary
statement in regard to the extent of
| the classified and unclassified service,
from which it appears that there are
approximately 5000 classified po-
sitions and 107 900 unclassified po-
sitions; of the latter, 11,OO7 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 expendi-
lures for salaries for the entire service,
classified and unclassified, is approx
mately $104, ,000, 900 per annum, a 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 Republican. criticises
his party as follows: 1t looks as II all
the reciprocity treaties negotiated by
Mr. Kasson under the Dingley bill
would be hung up by Congress as an H.
lustration of human selfishness and the
inconsistency of the Republican party
The platforms of the st. Louis conven-
ton and other previous conventions in
fervent terms demand the application
of the principle of reciprocity to our
foreign commerce. The Presidents in
augural address and messages to Con
gress advocated it. The speeches of
the spell-binders throughout the last
campaign described the beauty and ad-
vantages of reciprocity in trade, and
promised great results II the Repub-
lican party were allowed to negotiate
treaties. The late Mr.. Dingley and his
colleagues of the committee Of ways
and means made great demonstration
to deceive the public, and inserted what
they called a reciprocity clause in the
last tariff law, which was framed SO
that 1t should be imperative, but Mr..
Kasson skillfully managed to make
something out of it and concluded ar
rangements with France and the Brit
ish colonies in America, while Mr..
Buchanan made an excellent treaty
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 en-
tire trade Of all the countries mention
ed isSbut n 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