The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-11-20
WASHINGTON.
Legislative and Cen
eral Topics from
the Capital.
November IA. 1908.

Specula:ions with reference TO the
outcome of tariff tlnkering, elect
ing United States Senators from
New York, Ohio, Iowa and other
States. They are also trying
their hands at Cabinet making
for the President elect. 1t Is pre-
dicted that Myron ;. H~rrick,
former Governor of Ohio. will be
nominated for the SecIetaryship
of the Treasury. 1t is believed
that Mr.. Garfield will remain in
his present position as Secret AIRY
OF the Interior. In such case
there would be two memners of
the Cabinet from Ohio, but there
is u recent precedent for such an
arrangement. for has not Presi
dent Roosevelt hree Cabinet of
ficlals all from the State of New
York in Root, Cortelyou and
Straus. The old idea that the
Cabinet members must be picked
out. with delicate consideration
for geography mi bit AS we'll be
abandoned. When the right man
to willing to serve for ten thous
and dollars year aud such fame
mingled with reprobation as the
place may afford him and his
wife, he ought to be nominated
by the President and confirmed
by the Senate. whether he halls
from Ne> ada or Rhode Island or
any intermediate State. Lit is
pretty well understood that Sec
rvtary Root will be sent TO the
Senate from New York after
March the fourth, next, as sue,
cessor to Senator Platt, President
of the United States Express
Company, on the floor of the
Senate and opposer OF the Parcels
Post and any program in the
postal service that will in any
way interfere with the exorbitant
aud oppressive profits of the ex
press companies. Postmaster
General Meyer has just com
pleted his yearly report from the
PostOtfice Department from which
IT appears that the department is
nearly seventeen million dollars
in arrears. A more humiliatiug
and dlsgraceful condition cannot
be shown i'll Russia, Chlua or any
country upon the face of the
earth. The Postmaster General
Is III no way responsible for this
condition. He has again and
again besOught Congress as a
body, and congressman as indi
viduals To enact measure which h
will not only make the Postal Es-
tabllshment a self supporting in
stltution, but will make it a
source OF revenue to the govern
ment. There are over thirty
thousand rural route employees
tramplng the country with small
packages of letters aud papers.
This Year few dollars added to
the salary of each will Increase
the expense of rural mail delivery
about three millions of dollars.
LII, as the Poctmaster- General
has urged, these rural routers
were permitted to deliver parcels
weighing from one to eleven
pounds at cost OF a few cents
each, it would wipe out The do
ticit of fifteen million or more
and make the postal service self
sustaining AZ Is the Patent Office.
1t is a disgrace to this gov
ernment that this has not
long since been done, and that
agents of the Express Companies
GU the floor OF the Senate and
the House of Representative.
with the abbreyiation of Hon
pfetixed to their names, hav.
stood IN the way OF such neces
sary aud salutary legislation. AL
of the European countries have
long enjoyed and profited by the
benefits of the Parcel Post. 1t il
working beautifully in what som,
consider the balf-civiiized coun
tries of the Orient, but owing tC
the superior powers OF the Expires,
Companies lobbyits, in thi,
yaunted freeest and best govern
ment in the world, the American
cltlzen is denied Its benefits
W hen Secretary RooG instead Of
Platt shall represent the wealth
lest and most p0pulous State il
the Union. it may be predicted
that there will be something do.
lug. He is not a military MAI
but during his er,ice as Secre
tary of War he succeeded In hav
ing Legislation enacted in th,
teeth of the old foxy general
that was not short of rev0lu
tionary. Since be has been Sec
retary of State the Consular Ser
vice has felt his vitalizing an,
purifying touch, and the Depart
ment of State, which was cot
webbed with red tape aud cl gge,
with hum drum fogyism has berl
placed on an effective rations
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