Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1901-09-14
WASHINGTON LETTER
rspecial Correspondence.1

irene court Is AioIS nS"''' w
its docket than it has been for almost
half a century. This important state
ment was made the other day by one
Of the Oldest officials Of the court, who
declared that the tribunal is now only
obout one year behind in it's work. tie
attributes this unusual condition large
ly to the unfagglng industry and en-
xNey * Chief Justice Fuller When the
chief Justice came to the bench in 1888,
tbe supreme court docket was greatly
congested and the work of the court
wa c,out seven years behind. This
meant that the litigant who appealed
his case to the highest tribunal IN the
land had to wait seven years FOR
hearing unless his case was OF such an
exceptional character as to be entered
to the unusual privilege OF advance
ment on the docket Under present
circumstances no litigant need wait
longer than a year for final action on
his case. Some of the relief has been
afforded by the establishment OF cir
cult courts Of appeal, which were
brought into life under the strong
urgency of President Harrison. At the
same time IL the chief justice had been
less pushing and indefatigable than
Mr.. Fuller, it is highly probable, in the
cpinion of old officials, that the court
would be three or four years behind.
Must Work Full Time.
The postofice department has Issued
to many postoffices an order that con-
yeys a sharp intimation that the gov
eminent must obtain full days serv-
ice from each one of Its employees. w.
s. Shallenberger, acting postmaster
general. signs this order. and in It he
insists that former orders about the
use Of time recorders In postoftices
must be Obeyed.
The time Of employees. as taken
from the records made by themselves.
shall be regarded as the official time.
The recorders are to be used by the
assistant postmaster superintendents,
clerks, carriers and all other employees
in reporting for duty, on leaving for or
returning from trips or meals ana az
the close of the days work.
At least once daily the aggregate
time (total number of working hours
and minutes served by each employed
must be entered in time book. ana
the tapes With the original record Sc
curely ptted in a scrapbook furnished
by the department for that purpose.
The failure of an employee to register
10 toI NjnInt
regulations and must be reported to
the department by the postmaster FOR
action.
Personnel Law a Failure.
1t is generally conceded that the per-
sonnet bill, for which the engineer
corps of the navy fought for years and
years, has been a big disappointment
to it's originators. 1t gave to them pos
tive rank for which they longed, but
1t wiped out their corps organization
and absorbed the individuality Of most
of it's members The main argument
that was put forward as reason for
its passage has fallen fiat. This re-
lated to the alternating duty feature,
by which all the officers under the
grade Of lieutenant commander were
to be fitted for duty in the engine room
and deck. 1t was claimed that by the
adoption Of this scheme there would be
1000 officers equipped for both line and
staff work. The practical operation OF
the law was vastly different from what
had been planned fox1t. The engineers
gladly took to the line but 'the mem
bers of the line did not rush forward
and ask for places in the engine room.
1t is said that less than two dozen OF
line officers have qualified for engineer
ing work. Now, however, the depart
ment is to compel the young line Off
GERS to take up engineering duty, so
the conditions promise to improve.
The Work Before Congress.
In Washington there is usually ear
lier talk than elsewhere as to the com
ing session of congress Just now those
most familiar with public affairs are
convinced that the next congress Will
deal with greater volume of more i'm
portant business in it's first session
than has almost any Of it's predecessors
for a third of a century. Besides the
tariff and subsidy questions, there are
the vital matters of insular govern
ment, the extension or not of the con-
stitution to the new possessions and
the re-enactment of the Chinese exclu-
sion law, additional immigration legis-
lation. the lengthening Of the congress
sional and presidential terms by few
weeks to enable the Inauguration Of
president and vice president to occur
in clement weather and to provide for
the assembling of congress earlier after
its election.
No Corn Doctors.
Surgeon General Sternberg Of the ar
my objects to the employment Of corn
doctors in that service, as has been
recommended by Colonel Philip Reade,
lately on duty at st. Paul as inspector
general. The army medical officers
say. in the first place, that the men Sc
lected for military duty are not Of the
half lame and decyepit variety. and II