Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1905-10-23
ORDER HAS
CAUSED A
SENSATION
Sweeping Civil Service De-
cree Generally Approved,
NEW CANAL COMMISSION
READY TO MAKE REPORT
Secretary Root Has Begun to Weed
Out Some Of The Chair
Warmers in the State
Department.
Correspondence Morning Journal.

Correspondence Morning Journal.
Washington. oct. 1S,-The most
important event of the week from
local and even national point of view
has, been the order by the president
changing the civil service rules and
making it possible for the heads of
departments to discharge a govern,
ment employe peremptoriy and final
ly. provided the nefficiencv of such
employe shall come under the person
al knowledge of the head of the de-
partmeut. Heretofore ii has been nee
essary when q superior officer desir-
ed to discharge an incompetent en-
ploye, to give him due notice, with u
written statement of the cause Of his
| discharge, aud also an opportunity to
reply and protest against the dis
charge. The order of the president
| it will be seen, has a tendency to place
the government departments upon a
business like basis, giving the manager
| or boss If YOU please, the right to
| discharge pcremptorily those whom
! he knows to be inefficient No busi-
ness house or organization can work
| economically without such power and
/ =
| all business houses or corporations
should be embarrassed by an inability
to get rid of idlers and shirks. There
are over twenty thousand government
employees in Washington. and it may
be said that nearly the entire city Is
dependent directly or indirectly on the
government, and this order has pro-
! duCed uneasinesS, not to say conster-
nation i'm many households.
The members Of the last Panama
canal commission have returned and
are expecting to have a report ready
for the president soon after his return
from his southern trip. They cannot
be induced TO express an opinion az
to whether lock or a sea level cana
will be recommended. They claim
however. to have made very minute
inspection of the canal route, and tlut
II free from yellow fever, there beinl
not a case in Colon or Panama anC
only one case on the isthmus, IheN
soenk in encouraging terms both o.
the sanitation of the country adjacen
to the canal route and of the amour
of work that is being carried on botl
I'm digging the canal and preparation
for more extensive operations botl
with men and with machinery. INT
expert engineers who were members
of the commission spent one week OF
the isthmus. on the day OF their ar
riyaI they made a trip over the entire
route. on each of the following days
, they made close inspection of the 10
z calIties I'm which the engineering prop
, nsitlons are supposed to be creates
|; and they made their headquarters
suecessively in Bohia. Obispo, Gam
boa, Alhaiuela. and Gatun. They ha,
= good weather during their trip and al
! returned i'm good health. General Il
1 w. Davis reports that they visited eN
( cry nook and corner of the proposed
route. climbed every hill and eXWor
= ed the lagoons by boat and every lah'
I section by rail or wagon. The dat
secured is believed To he minute am
! this. it is expected, VIII be lhe ma
: report of the many that have alread
been presented on this subject.
AS predicted in these letters. Secre
tarv Root has begun to clear the stat
department of some of the ineificien
clerks who have been there for year
. uuder previous secretaries of stale.
' Is announced this morning that Tn
chief clerk Of the state departmer
will he promoted to an important con
. sulship If he will accept and that NJ
DENLY. Of Indiana. son of the TAT
Is United states minister to China wi
i he appointcd In his place. II is to b
hoped that Mr. DENLY is linguist an
that the state department VIII Away
e i'm the future. have for q secretary,
i Imam who can talk with the diplomat
e in the language of their country
e may not always be necessary TO q
u so for some Of them can speak Ems
= lish. but II has been q blot on ot
u Diplomatic and consular service TN
y only occasionally have the incun
J bents been able to speak the langual
y of the country Of other foreign con
AZ sular and diplomatic offices have ha
'e great advantage over ours. The r
l. firing chief clerk Of the state depar
le meut is the publisher Of pamphl
e. which he graced with the title 1T
state Department and How II Is Ran
- But the state department was not gu
tv of the man who wrote the boo
J English and how she Is spoke.