Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1905-09-29
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Erom our Regular respondent.


tFrom our Regular CORES pondent.I
w ashington, ID. c.. Sept. 70 This
administration is making a heroic ct
forG To do The right thing III Cleaning
out graft in the federal departments
aud getting as good a I cord DIS IL can
with regard 10 bona Tide returns on
the salaries II lays out. But there
SeeuI to be fresh LfCu olcs Al LlU Way as
sooil as any throubles have been dis
posed of. The latest edlcG tnaG Will |
cause the department clerks OF wash
lugLOn d lot OF trouble for munlhs co
come Is that which Will put back tnelr
pay days (Jhey have two each nouGn)
GBIee or tour days per fortnight. NOW
1t may he thought by the outsider that
q - VerumeuJ 10 II il private snap
And it is In a good many IespecGS Ior
Lne man VINE does not Want 10 SOIL his
hands and who would Father WORK III a
fine granite building with electric fans
and ice coolers III the corridors than
TO do clerks work in plain factory
binding. But the edicG as TO the pay
DAYS is going to hit tue holders OF many
government jobs very hard. LII takes
about all government clerk eau make
to live in Washington Ia style De
fitting his assumed position. There Is
A lot of cheap social emulation III tne
Capital and the most government clerks
would rather live in good mouse III d
good quarter where they Can hardly
afford 60 pay tue rent Than TO TAKE
more modest quarters ana save IlG1le
money, The result Is That tue most
of them live from hand TO mouth ana
AT the end of The mOnGn usually nave
TO break into the baby's bank TO get
ont money TO pay their Car fare DOWN
town on salary day. They have been
used to having pay days on the l0Gh
and 3OCb of each month and their gro
GERS and landlords have been used 20
having their bills settled, Oh those days
But this has involved an anOmOly. The
division chiefs who have To certify The
pay-roils on which the government
cnecks are issued, have been III the
habit of doing SO several days ahead
so that the rolls could get through 1he
Treasury Department ana get pach
with the money IN time to pay ouI
promptly on The fifteenth, ana 6ulr
tenth. But this Decessitated swear
ing to the pay-rolls for two or tnfee
DAYS work that had not Yet been uone
by the clerks. Now the order comes
that the division chieIs are noI TO
swear to the pay rolls till the tale of
DAYS is finished and the clerks uaVe
earned all the salary that is coming to
them. Also the chiefs are to be able
to certify that the clerks in question
have been at their desks aud have done
the work, that they have not been Oil
on suppositiOnal sick leaves and have
really earned the money thai the gov
eminent is paving out. This Is going
to hurt the consciences of lot of dl-
vision chiefs as we'll it might. 1t is
also going To put lot of clerks behind
with their rent and their butchers bill.
And more than that 1t IS gong TO
strike off a whole lot of SinecureS from
the government pay roll If the order Is
carried out in the letter and spirit.
There are good many clerks to com
mittees that never meet, private Sec
retarieS to various officials whose hard
est work, it is to walk to the depart
ment and draw their salaries, and
clerks on the regular rolls i'll The de-
partments who on account of pull are
able to be at their desks about half to
speak of These will all suffer with
the honest, hard working clerks, and
there are good may of those who will
be nightly Inconvenience by having
his pay dav delayed half week or so
out of each month.
There is more individual trouble
brewing between the Secretary of the
Treasury and the Surgeon General of
the Marine Hospital Service. Of
course it is known that the Marine
Hospital Service is branch of the
Treasury Department just as is the
Light House Board and The Life Saving
Service. But the Marine Hospital Ser
vice is very important branch and
has of late years been getting farther
and farther away from the Treasury
in the matter of Independent action.
The latest trouble in that direction
has called out another inves 5lgating
committee which has discovered what
the Secretary OF Treasury know already
namely that the Surgeon General of
the Marine Hospital Service has gone
over the Secretary S head aud gotten
legislation by Congress without the ap-
prevail of the Treasury Department..
1t was only in the matter of tie merg-
ing the offices of chief clerks and dis.
bursting officer i'll the service. But it
was done without authority, anu as the
Marine Hos pital Service has inst had
the satisfaction of seeing its voucher
clerk arrested for raising voncl, Is to
the amount of about $50, 600 be- Sec
rotary of the Treasury thoughr II WAS
good time 10 call down the surgeon
General Aud be did. What The out
come of the fight will be no Que knows.
The Secretary of War viii fad his
hands full when he returns To Wash
ington. He Will undoubtedly be called
upon to make an Investigation of the
Panama affairs, for the country has
been flooded OF late with reports of the
bad conditions on the isthmus and the
way the work IS Dot getting done on
the canal. He will have to organize a
campaign for Philippine free trade,
there Will be report to the President
on the Chinese boycott, action will be
necessary in the Taggart case. which
has stirred up the army from end to
end. And above all there will be the
question of establishing the post
canteen in army garrisons. This is a
subject that it will take a lot of moral
stamina to handle, and it is possible
that the Secretary will elect to let it
drop. But army officers as a rule say
If Ouoht to be done.