The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1901-11-29


for the general stan and supply depArs-
! ments, they should be filled by details
I from the line, the men SO detailed return
( ms after awhile 10 their line duties. II -
\ very undesirable 10 have the senior grades
/ OF the army composed OF men who have
1 come 90 III the positions by she mere tact
Of seniority. A system should be adopted
b. which there shall be an elimination
grade by grade Of those who seem unht
I to render the best service in the. next
/ grade. Justice to the veterans Of the
I civil war who are stiil IN the army would
seem 10 require that ia the matter Of re-
tirements they be given By law the same
! privileges accorded TO their comrades IN
! the navy"
/ Another recommendation which the pres
1 ident makes IN connection with the army
/ Is Tor the reduction OF the paper work
or the service, known 10 the pubic as red
/ tape" OF this he says.
/ Every effort should be made to bring
/ the army 70 constantly increasing state
| OF efficiency. When on actual service no
/ Work save that directly In the line OF such
/ service should be required. The paper
\ work In the army, as in the navy, should
be greatly reduced. What is needed is
/ proved power or command and capacity
g work well In the held. Constant care
IS necessary to prevent dry rot 10 the
4 ments."
He also urges the enactment OF legis-
/ latlon la connection with the militia and
national guard forces Of the nation that
/ they may be better fitted for active serv-
Ice In time OF war, and says;
Our militia law is obsolete and worth
less. The organization and armament OF
the national guard OF the several states,
which are treated as militia In the APP
preparations by the congress, should be
made Identical with those provided for
] the regular forces. The obligations and
duties Of the guard in time OF war should
be carefully defined and a system estab-
lished by law under which the method OF
procedure OF raising volunteer forces
should be prescribed N advance. II is ut
/ 81 IN fba aarnf nttf
I haste of impending war to do this salts
factorily IL the arrangements have not
been made long beforehand. Provision
should be made for utilizing IN the first
volunteer organizations called out the
training Of those citizens who have al
ready had experience under arms, and
especially for the selection in advance of
the officers of any force which may be
raised; for careful selection OF the Kind
necessary is impossible after the outbreak
He praises the veterans OF the civll war,
the war with Spain and those who have
rendered the nation valiant service in the
indian uprisings of the west and In the
Phiipplnes, and counsels continued GLIB
crafty in the nations dealing with item.
The Civil Service.
He recommends the enactment of iegis-
latlon that Will place under the rulings
OF the merit system many classes OF em-
ployes not now governed by III His rec
ommendation for this is as follows
recommend the passage Of law
WHlcn Will extend the CLASSIFIED service to
the District of Columbia or will at least
enable the president thus to extend III
In my Judgment all laws providing for
the temporary employment OF clerks
should hereafter contain provision that
they be selected under the civil service
He also wishes the merit system to OBJ
tain In the government service In the
colonies, and says:
Not an office should be filled in tho
Philippines or Porto Rico with any regard
nj lfatf .rs
ices, with any regard to the political, So
cial or personal influence which he may
nave at his command, In short, heed
should be paid to absolutely nothing sayo
the mans own character and capacity
and the needs Of the service,
The administration of these islands
should be as wholly free from the sus-
picion OF partisan politics as the admin
istration of the army and navy. All that
we ask from the public servant In tho
Philippines or Porto Rico is that he re-
fleet honor on his country By the way in
which he makes that countrys rule a
beneht 70 the peoples who have come un-
der 1t. This Is all that we should ask.
and we cannot afford to be content with
less.
other Recomme ndmtions.
Among other recommendations which the
president makes are those asking for leg
islation that will improve the consular sery-
Ice along lines outlined in bills introduced
at previous sessions and he SAYS that:
1t is true that the service Is now in the
cannot be permanently maintained until
the principles set forth IN the bills here
tofore submitted to the congress on this
subject are enacted into law
He believes the time has arrived when
the Indian should cease to be treated as n
member OF tribe, but as an individual,
and recommends breaking up the tribal
funds, putting a stop TO the ndlscriminate
permission to Indians to lease their allot-
ments and stopping the ration system. He
recommends also the establishment OF am
Industrial educational system, and an en-
deavor to encourage the Indians to become
cattle rasers rather than agriculturists
where their lands are unsuited to tfe latter.
He recommends liberal appropriations for
the Louisiana Purchase exposition and an
appropriation covering expenses incurred
by the Charleston exposition In removing
government exhibits from the Buffalo ex-
position to that at Charleston
Another of his recommendations is for
q permanent census bureau, as II would in
sure better, cheaper and more satisfactory
work IN the interest OF business, statistics,
economic and social science.
The Postal Service.
He calls attention to the growth Of tho
postal system and to the fact that the an
nual deficit in this department Of the gov
eminent service has been reduced to the
small sum of sS92s, 49, This, he says, could
further be increased and possibly surplus
shown but for the fact that many pubii-
cations are now securing the pound rate
as second-class mail matter which are not
entitled to the same under the law. OF
''The fun measure OF postal progress
which might be realized has long been
hampered and obstructed by the heavy
burden imposed on the government
through the intrenched and welI-under-
stood abuses which have grown In con-
nection with second-class mall matter.
The extent of this burden appears when IL
Is stated that while the second-class mat
Ter makes nearly three-fifths of this weight
)f all the mail It paid for the last fiscal
year only S,294,445 Of tho aggregate postal
-evenue of Sill 631 1893 IL the pound rate
)f postage, which produces the large loss
thus entailed and which was fixed by the
congress with the purpose Of encouraging
the dissemination of public information,
we're limited TO the legitimate newspapers
md periodicals actually contemplated by
he law no just exception could be taken.
That expense would be the recognized and
accepted cost of a liberal public policy de-
adopted for a tustihable end.
But much OF the matter which enjoys The
rate is wholly outside OF the
intent Of the law and has secured admis-
lion only through an evasion OF Its re-
uirements or through lax construction.
rhe proportion Of such wrongly included
natter Is estimated by postal experts to
lass mail III II be only one-third or one-
uarter the magnitude OF the burden Is
.pparent. The post office department has
low undertaken to remove the abuses 80
ar as possible by a stricter application
II the law, and II should be sustained Ia
IS effort"
The Chinese Difficulties.
lie calls attention to the satisfactory