Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-12-04

portance, and has so thoroughly con
Vinced the people at large Of the ad
Vantages of business methods III tn,
management of government depart
ments that his countrymen ere rov
lmbued with the belief that no relne;.,
OF the condition of affairs at the wal
othce can be expected until ne is placed
IN charge thereof. and that he is The
only statesman qualified to assume ths
chancellorship Of the eXchequer.
The war in South Africa and all the
troubles which it has brought i'll its
tram have served to bring nome TO the
| English paople the various defects OF
thelr government administration. ia
an extent which they had never real
| lZed before. A frequent remark which
falls from the lips OF Conservative and
Liberal business men alike is thar If
any commercial or industrial con
| Germ were to he run according 10 the
methods now in vogue in all the gov
ernment departments, save the one di
rected by Mr.. Chamberlair. it would
find itself in bankruptcy before twelve
! months had elapsed What. indeed.
| the mercantile and manufacturing
| N"tsoNo III IISldllt toIuGlnn IN tlCII
present government is it's absolute ig-
nofance and disdain OF even the mCst
elementary business principles. The
latter they insist are indispensahl-. lr
efficient governmental administration
and by way of demonstration they
point to ,he United States.
of all European sovereigns there are
none more progressive, wide awake
nd in every sense of the word mod
ern than Emperor William. Ii is
therefore only natural that the same
i''ea should have already occurred to
him. and ii on this account that he
has recently appointed to the post of
minister of commerce for the kingdom
OF Prussia a successful Hamburg
merchant. entirely devoid of political
ahtcctdents and of official experience.
but upon whom he relies to introduce
INTO his department those business
principles and methods by means OF
which he attained fame ana fortune
al the mercantile world OF course.
N" appointment is regarded as revo-
lutionary by tn" Prussian bureaucracy.
which constitutes an even greater
blight ana obstruction to the prog
do The so-called red tape departments
in England. But the Kaiser knows
what he is about and the appointment
men he has made. while displeasing
To the officials OF his government ana
L" professional politicians. has given
great satisfaction To the business
classes and to the people at large
throughout Germany. SO far il is the
only instance i'll Germany of a mer-
chant occupying seat in a cabinet.
In ltussia the two most successful
branches Of the government admins
t!aion are the treasury department
ana that of railroads and colnmunica-
tons. Each of them is in charge of a
man who may be said to have had the
advantage of practical business
training, and who does not belong to
,hc ordinary official caste. Thus.
frlAce hhilkon. the minister of rail
loads after losing his fortune as
young officer, came to this country ana
worked his way up on the New York
Central Railroad from the position of
brakeman. acquiring experience in
nearly every branch of railroad ad
nlnistration before he returned TO
Russia. His colleague. De Witte. *
likewise practical business man
"ho was IN the employ Of railroad
company in Russia before the late
minister of finance invited him to
become on" OF his Ileutenants. and
VINO. moreover by reason of his close
association with the great St. Peters
burg finanrier. Rothstein. remains in
constant touch not only with the bust
ness element in Russia. but likewise
WITH trade and finance abroad But
save for these rare and notable AZ
'eptions the business man is con-
splcuously absent from the councils of
the European powers has no seal in
Their cabinets ana no commanding
plare in their administration. a cir-
cumstance which goes far to explain
6ht disadvantages under which
European nations labor ana the causes
O. their beirs Outstripped in an
economic and political sense by the
United States