The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1902-04-17

also a veteran of the civil war. He was
at one time an intimate friend of Gen.
Grant, and of others in that glorious
galaxy of soldiers and statesmen. He
said:
Il am a mere automaton, calcula-
tor of figures by columns; but once
upon a time my brain was used for re-
Election altogether, and sometimes
even now l think thoughts. The COM
missioner of Indian affairs may be an
honest man, and presume that he is
The auditor for the interior depart
ment may be an honest man, and |
presume that he is. But, as a govern
ment clerk, examining accounts and
auditing them, ! am well assured that
there is, and for many years has been,
lot of corruption in the Indian Of
flee. This palpable fact ought to be
known to the commissioner; or it
ought to be discovered by the auditor.
But, as matter of fact, neither one of
these officials seems to go beyond the
routine duty of compelling the clerks
to be at their desks on time; and any
amount of corruption might be car
ried on under their honest noses, with
out their august knowledge"
Another clerk came in whom the
writer has long known as leading and
enthusiastic worker for the perpetual
ton of the glories of the Grand Army
of the Republic, and he also had some
thing of unusual interest to narrate.
He said: Il was with Sherman, and
marched from Atlanta to the sea and
then up through the Carolinas to the
national capital. On the afternoon
of the grand review in Nav.
when 'Sherman's Bummers' marched
Town the hill south of the capitol.
we saw a canvas banner stretched
clear across the south front of
that big building on which we
read the words: The nation will never
forget, and can never repay, its debt of
gratitude to the soldiers of the union
We all felt proud then. This afternoon
one of my old comrades, who lost leg
a man who never did a thing for his
country except draw salary from it's
treasury. My old comrade works in a
bookkeeping division where clerks
must stand all day long. Because my
comrade was unable to stand all day,
on one leg, and took chair to his work,
lee was insulted and browbeaten by the
chief of his division, and this in one
generation from the time when the
nation was SO grateful to the boys in
blue"
While this old soldier was talking,
in came Representative Wadsworth, of
New York, chairman of the committee
of agriculture. As he went to the desk
of the hotel clerk, one of the en-
ployes of the department of agricul-
ture said to the writer: "There goes
an enemy of agriculture. He is not in
haRnony with the secretary of agri-
culture. Instead of using his position
to help along our department, he ham
pers us in every way. He even went so
far as to go to the president, who is
IIOlll HIS > bdlC. anu uldhe verbal charges
against the secretary. Of course the
president informed the secretary and
asked him what he had to say, and he
demolished the ISLANDERS very quickly.
Then. when Mr.. Wadsworth came to
the department to talk about more
seeds and documents for his district.
what the secretary said to him would
make interesting reading for the
public at large.
Every night there are gatherings of
this sort, and there is limitless caul-
dron of department gossip seething in
the hotel Hobbies. Probably it might
prove to be interesting, with the ap-
prevail of the editor to tell some of the
stories of department life, in the flu
ture, as they are told by the talented
gentlemen and ladies and gentlemen
who do the actual work of performing
the details of procedure in the govern
ment, for which the cabinet ministers
receive credit and appreciation. That
would be way of seeing the govern
ment from away inside near the heart
of the machinery.
SMITH D. FRY.