The Sunday globe., 1901-07-21

/ umes in this much-miXed mass.
"The superintendent of the folding
room. Mr.. Lyon, testified that there
were dozens Of employees who are paid
but do not appear in his Office, to which
they are assigned, for months at a
time. The case Of e. II. Keller OF
New York, was selected as the most
glaring example Of absenteeism by the
house committee and by the league
committee. The formers report says:
Tt is the opinion Of the Doorkeeper
that Keller worked six months. In any
event he has not worked over six
months in the nearly four years dur
ing which he has drawn pay, and has
not been in Washington for eleven or
twelve months
"Other officials testified that Keller's
checks for salary were sent him by
mail regularly. Disbursing Clerk Rob-
inson testified that there was no meth
Cd to show whether an emplOye was on
duty or absent and when asked to ex-
plain, said:
Well, that is just like this Here
is Mr.. Cannon, chairman Of the APP
propriations Committee. If his clerk
goes away for two or three months. or
if Kennedy F. Rea, or Mr. Cremer should
90 away, IL is no question for me to
find out whether they are here or not,
and TO come up to Mr.. Cannon and ask
IL they are here
1T must be remarked, the report
states, that the disbursing Office which
keeps such admirable checks upon the
expenditure of the public money itself
costs $4,000 a year. The Moody com
mittee, in its report, tells us that the
present method Of appointing employees
has existed for many years.
1T is very evident, from the forego-
ing facts, that the positions in the serv-
ice of the House Of Representatives
are regarded by many members not as
places where there are duties TO be per-
formed, but as sinecures for which
there is public money to be appropri-
/ ated or as plunder to be divided, and
the sinister question inevitably pre-
sents itself, whether honest legislati on
is to be expected of Congresmen who
are thus guilty of Withdrawing from
the Treasury of the United States
these numerous small sums for the
benefit Of the objects of their patron
age? Is public virtue in larger mat
ters possible in a body where pecula-
tion of no higher dignity than petty
| larceny has been for many years an
established institution? That there
are many gentlemen in the House, be-
sides the members Of the reporting
committee, who are dissatisfied and
/ disgusted with such a system, and who
would gladly aid in doing away with
it, we can not doubt.
But the payment Of salaries for
/ services which are not performed is
only a part Of the evils incident to
the spoils system. The recipients Of
| this public plunder, as well as the
| honest employees, become themselves
| the victims of eXtortion at the hands
Of others. It is shown by the testi-
mony that many of the holders Of these
places are subject to various forms Of
/ blackmail in the shape of political as.
/ sessments and demands for the diyi-
| sion and distribution OF salaries for
the benefit Of other appointees, and
| sometimes for the benefit Of those who
/ are not in the public service at ALL"
Precisely like our friend at the head
OF the Blaine Club, for instance,
The "spoils system" to which the
! snivel service Investigators refer, is, Of
course, those positions outside the civil
service law and still open to a general
scramble by Congressman whose lives
are made miserable by constituents
clamoring for jobs, farmed out by
black and white resident brokers, un.
der the protection of the aforesaid
civil service law. If all these appoint.
ments were open, as they were previous
to the enactment Of Gentleman George
Pendleton's monarchial law, there
would be no necessity for Congressman
resorting to the methods disclosed by
Representative Moody to provide for
their constituents. 1t is because every
thing is closed tight to them and that
the brokers on the outside and the ap-
/ pointing powers on the inside are in
'cahoOts," that these Congressman and
Senators are forced to double up,
4 dicker and lug, borrow or steal some
thing at the capitol for their camor-
Gus constituents.
The blackmailing committee on the
outside who compel Government EN-.
ployes to divy with them, is thus dis
cribed;
"Mr. John j. Boobar, the librarian,
should testify that he received an
anonymous Communication which said,
in substance: Please call at some GER
tain room in the Raleigh House on
some certain day. and that the COM
munication was signed Committee
Mr.. Boobar did not call, for he was in
formed by employees about the House
that it was a committee expecting to
receive as donations from the different
boys part of the extra months salary
that was voted at the last session Of
Congress
I'm other cases the evidence showed
enormous salaries paid for very trif-
ling service, says the report For in
stance, a newspaper clerk, who had
charge Of the subscription lists and
took care of the files, which were con-
suited by probably twenty-five or
thirty people a day. was paid $4,000 a
year, and having little to do, was used
as a proofreader in the enrolling room,
while another man aaron RusselD. a
messenger at a salary of $1,314
brought up the newspapers and put
them upon the files,
THE entire force in which these
abuses occurred consisted Of 357 per-
sons, and their aggregate annual COM
pensation was about 100000. The
question presents itself to your com
mittee If such abuses can exist in
force of this size, what would be the
effect of the restoration Of the patron
age system in the $4,000 places which
are now subject to competitive exam
ination and merit tenure?"
There is not one intelligent, unpreju-
diced man who has given the civil serv-
ice law one hour Of study but is salts
fled that all this "looting' and jockey
ing and brokerage OF offices at the cap
itol is the result primarily and perma-
II III --.-.-L.. L. Il