The Minneapolis journal., 1903-12-07
MONDAY EVENING,

81 ( +
MONDAY EVENING,
that all matters pertaining to forest
reserves. except those involving or
pertaining to land titles, be CONSOLE
dated in the bureau of forestry Of the
department of agriculture.
Cotton Weevil.
The cotton growing states have re-
ceptly been invaded by a weevil that
has done much damage and threat
ems the entire cotton industry. sug-
gest to the congress the prompt ,en-
actment of such remedial legislation
as It's Judgment may approve.
Patents to Foreigners.
In granting patents to foreigners
the proper course for this country to
follow is to give the same advan-
tages to foreigners here that the coun-
tries in which these foreigners dwell
extend in return to our citizens; that
is. to extend the benefits of our pat
ent laws on inventions and the like
where in return the articles would
be patentable in the foreign coun-
tries concerned-where an American
could get corresponding patent in
such countries.
Indian Affairs.
The Indian agents should not be
dependent for their appointment or
tenure of office upon considerations
of partizan politics.; the practice Of
officers or bonded superintendent to
the vacancies that occur is working
we'll. Attention is invited to the
widespread illiteracy due to lack of
public schools in the Indian terri
| tory. Prompt heed should be paid to
the need Of education for the children
in this territory.
Safety Appliance Law.
In my last annual message the at
tention of the congress was called to
the necessity of enlarging the safety
appliance law, and it is gratifying to
note that this law was amended in i'm
| portant respects. With the increasing
railway mileage Of the country, the
greater number of men employed, and
the, use of larger and heavier equip
ment, the urgency for renewed effort
| to prevent the loss of life and limb
| upon the railroads of the country. par
! ticularly to employees, is apparent. For
the inspection of water craft and the
| life saving service upon the water the
| congress has built up an elaborate
body Of protective legislation and a
thoro method of inspection and is
| annually spending large sums of
| money. It is encouraging to observe
that the congress is alive to the in
| terests of those who are employed
upon our wonderful arteries of COM
merce-the railroads-who so safely
| transport millions of passengers and
billions Of tons of freight. The fed
eral inspection of safety appliances,
! for which the congress is now maxi
| ing appropriations, is a service an
| alogOus to that which the govern-
ment has upheld for generations in re-
gard to vessels, and it is believed will
! prove of great practical benefit, both
! to railroad employees and the travelling
public. AS the greater part of COM
| meree is interstate and exclusively un-
! der the control of the congress, hthe
needed safety and uniformity must be
secured by national legislation. @
l. Pensions. s,
| No other class of our citizens de-
| serves so well of the nation as those
to whom the nation owes it's very
| being, the veterans of the civil war.
Special attention is asked to the eX-
cellent work of the pension. bureau In
! expediting and disposing of pension
claims. During the fiscal year ending
July 1, 1908, the bureau settled 251,-
982 claims, an average of 825 claims
for each working day of the year. The
number of settlements since July /,
| lSUo, llctS D0cII Ill SACcSS OL ldSI yCdI :
average, approaching 1000 claims for
each working day, and it is believed
that the work Of the bureau will be
current at the close of the present
fiscal year. ..
Extension of Civil Service. =
During the year ended June 80 last
1856 persons were appointed thrt
competitive examinations under the
civil service rules. This was 1857:
more than during the preceding year
and 40 per cent of those who passed
! the examinations. This abnorma
growth was largely occasioned by the
extension of classification to the rura
free-delivery service and theIappoint
ment last year of over 5000 rural car.
riers. A revision of the civil service
rules took effect on April Is last
which has greatly improved their op.
Grafton. The completion of the re-
form Of the civil service is recognized
, by good citizens everywhere as a mat
ter of the highest public importance
= and the success of the merit system
largely depends upon the effectiveness
= of the rules and machinery provided
! for their. enforcement. A very graft
fying spirit of friendly co-operatiOl
! exists in all the departments of thu
t government in the enforcement ant
!, uniform observance of both the let
leI dllu spirit VI lllc ClNll oSINlCc dCt
: Executive orders of July 3, 1902
: March 26, 1903, and July 8, 1903, re
l quire that appointments of all unclas
sified laborers, both in the depart
= ments at Washington and in the fielt
f service, shall be made with the as
! sistance of the United States civil serv
f ice commission, under a system Q
t registration to test the relative fitnes
S of applicants for appointment or EN-
f ployment. This system is competitiv
t and is open to all citizens of the Unite,
: States qualified in respect to age, phys
}, ical ability moral character, industr.
e and adaptability for manual labor
g except that in case of veterans of tn
t civil war the element of age is omit
s ted. This system of appointment i
e distinetafrom the classified service an
$ does not-classify positions of mere la
I borer under the civil service act an
e rules. Regulations in aid thereO
e have been put in operation in severa
!, i of the departments and are. bein
! gradually extended in other parts O
the service. The results have bee
- very satisfactory, as extravaganza ha
{ been checked by decreasing the mum
: ber of unnecessary positions and b
increasing the efficiency Of the EN-
!. ployes remaining. ~
Il District of Columbia.
: The congress, as the result of
: thoro investigation of the charities an
r reformatory institutions in the Distric
Q of ~ NV