The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1903-12-07

| SdIIleF Dy the creation Oh lHeSS iioAiAN~
| adding as they do to the wealth and
| stability of the country, and furnish
| ing a home market for the products
of the east and south The reclamation
law, while perhaps not ideal, appears
| at present to answer the larger needs
for which it is designed. Further legls-
latiOn is not recommended until the
| necessities of change are more ap-
| parent
| No other class of our citizens de-
! serve SO we'll of the nation as those to
whom the nation owes its very being
| the veterans of the civil war Special
| attention is asked to the excellent
work of the pension bureau in expedit-
ing and disposing Of pension claims.
During the fiscal year ending Judy l,
1903, the bureau settled 251,9S2 claims,
an average of S25 claims for each work
day of the year. The number Of set
| Elements since July /, 1903, has been
| in excess of last years average, ap-
preaching 1000 claims for each work
ing day, and it is believed that the
work of the bureau will be current at
| the close of the present fiscal year.
During the year ended June 80 last
1856 persons We're appointed through
competitive examinations under the
ciVil-service rules. This was 1852
more than during the preceding year,
and 40 per cent of those who passed
| the examinations. This abnormal
growth was largely occasioned by
| the extension of classification to the
| rural free delivery service and the
| appointment last year of over 5000 ru
raj carriers. \ revision of the civil
| service rules took effect on April Is
| last, which has greatly improved their
operation. The completion of the re-
| form Of the civil service is recognized
| by good citizens everywhere as mat
ter of the highest public Importance,
| and the success of the merit system
| largely depends upon the effectiveness
| of the rules and the machinery pro-
Vided for their enforcement A very
gratifying spirit of friendly co-opera-
ton exists in all the departments Of
| the government in the enforcement
| and uniform observance of both the
| acts. Executive orders of July 3, 1902
March 26, 1903, and July s, 1903, re-
quire that appointments of all unclas-
| Sified labOrers, both in the departments
| at Washington and in the field service
| shall be made with the assistance of
the United States civil service COM
| mission, under a system of registra-
ton to test the relative fitness of APP
plicants for appointment or employ
| ment. This system is competitive and
States qualified in respect to age,
physical ability, moral character, in
dustry, and adaptability for manual
| labor; except that in case of veterans
of the civil war the element of age is
| omitted. This system of appointment
! is distinct from the classified service
and does not classify positions Of mere
| laborer under the civil-service act and
rules. Regulations in aid thereof have
been put in operation in several of the
| departments and are being gradually
extended in other parts of the service.
| The results have been very satisfactory
as extravaganza has been checked by
! decreasing the number of unnecessary
positions and by increasing the eff
cheney of the employees remaining
| By the act Of June %, 1902, the con-
gress authorized the president to en-
ter into treaty with Colombia for the
| building of the canal across the 18TH
| of
! in the event of failure to secure such
| treaty after the lapse of a reasonable
| time, recourse should be had to build
| ing canal through Nicaragua. 1t has
not been necessary to consider this al
! tentative, as | am enabled to lay be-
fore the senate a treaty providing for
! the building of the canal across the
| Lsthmus Of Panama. This was the
route which commended itself to the
! deliberate judgment of the congress.
and we can now acquire by treaty
! the right to construct the canal over
| this route. The question now, there
| fore, is not by which route the sthmi-
an canal shall be built, for that Ques-
| lion has been definitely and irrevoca-
| bly, settled. The question is simply
whether or not we shall have an 18TH
milan canal.
| When the congress directed that we
| should take the Panama route under
| treaty with Colombia, the essence of
the condition, of course, referred not
10 the government which controlled
| that route. but to the route itself; to
| the territory across which the route
| lay, not to the name which for the
moment the territory bore on the map
| The purpose of the law was to autho-
| rize the president to make a treaty
| with the power in actual control Of the
Isthmus of Panama. This purpose has
| been fulfilled.
| In the year 1916 this government
| entered into a treaty with New Gran
ada. the predecessor upon the Isthmus
| Of the republic of Colombia and of the
| present republic of Panama, by which
| realty it was provided that the gov
| eminent and citizens of the United
| states should always have free and
| pen right Of way or transit across the