Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-02-02
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GOSSIP


root. Almost three-fifths of the three
hundred thousand positions in the
executive civil service OF the ma
tional government are open to
competition whenever they fall va
cant; and a large part Of those
to which appointment Is made
without competitive examination are
either Of such a nature that they can
not be placed in the classified list, or
such that it would be unwlse to bring
them into the system. a large and in
creasing number of States have adopt
ed the merit test for filling clerical and
other positions in their own govern
ments and in city administration. Last
year the National Civil Service Com
mission examined, through It's agents,
almost one hundred and fifty thousand
candidates, and more than forty thou
sand Of them were appointed to posi-
tons. Moreover within few years
changes in the regulations have great
ly diminished the opportunities to
evade the law by letting candidates
who had not passed an examination
into the service by cunningly concealed
black DOORS" 1t used to be urged that
the present system creates an office
holding class, and that there Is not
sufficient rotation in office. Statistics
show that this Is not the case, for the
complete renewal Of the personnel Of
the civil service every ten years.
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The situation at Washington Is not
so complex as to puzzle a man Of or
binary intelligence. Public questions,
even those approaching the Importance
Of vital issues, are seldom considered
on their merits by the lawmakers Of
this country. Legislation at Washing
ton Is a political game. Parties strive
for advantage In elections more than
for public welfare. Individual Sena- !
tors and Congressman contend for
those interests which they serve. That
Congressman is a Republican or a
Democrat signifies less than ever be-
fore. That he Is representative OF
story every time. For these reasons
legislation partakes little Of statesman
ship. Congressman seldom become
great men in popular estimation. Sue
cess is measured by the points made in
the game played. In seeking points In
the game they play one against the
other, being more DESTROYS Of securing
personal advantage and benefit for the
the interests they serve, than Of repre-
senting the people who elected them.
It's all In the game.
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Retaliation by Congress to punish
railroads for disseminating the issuance
of passes Is threatened. Members,
some Of them classed among the lead
ers, are frankly discussing the form
this retaliation shall take. Strangely
enough there seems no disposition to
punish the railroad by uniting in the
passage of strong railroad rate regu-
lation law The plan which receives
most favor is to reduce the appropria-
ton for the transportation Of the
mails. The railroads yearly receive
from the government about S50,0O0,-
900 for carrying the mails. Under the
plea Of using money for extending the
rural free delivery service, 1t will be
proposed to reduce this amount by
$1O,O0000O, Congressman taking the
position that whatever the railroads
gain by cutting off passes should be
so much money saved to the govern
ment.
A new type Of siege gun has been
completed by the ordnance department
at the Rock Island arsenal and has
been shipped to the Sandy Hook prov
ing grounds for a test. The new
weapon throws a sixty pound projec-
tile. This Is five pounds heavier than
the projectile now thrown from the FIVE
inch siege guns, which are to be re-
placed with the new model If the gun
proves satisfactory. The chief charac.
teristic of the new gun is it's long re-
coil. It is said that this gives a steady
carriage, and that the carriage will not
jump when the gun is fired, as is the
case with the gun now In use. This
will permit of a more rapid fire. as 1t
will not be necessary to place the car
riage in position after each shot.
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Ia flew Of complaints to the Post
office Department of the brittleness of
postage stamps and their tendency to
curl and be detached after being af-
fixed to letters, an Investigation was
ordered, and it was found that the
trouble was due to the hard gum used
in summer and which is affected by the
cold, dry atmosphere Of the winter sea-
son. All such stamps supplied to post
masters have been directed to be with
drawn by them until the summer
months and in tho meantime new SIM