The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1910-03-03
WASHINGTON
From our Regular Correspondent.

tuS OpSldtlOu VI Il great business
but has been impressed with leak
age and wastefuness. The gov
ernment of the United States is the
greatest corporation in the world.
1t is also the most extravagant and
the most wasteful. Any other bu-
sIness corporation, railroad, min-
ing, or manufacturing, conducted
with equal thriftlessness would go
to the wall. The only reason why
the United States government cor
poration has not gone TO smash is
because ii subsists OH taxation and
has the richest resources in the
world to draw FROM and this is not
all-it has the highest tariff of The
world and compels all other gov
elnments TO pay for its support.
But Notwithstanding these rich re-
sources, the expenses of the gov
ernment are growing rapidly, until
billion annual appr ,priations have
become commonplace, and it is es-
timated that each year expenses
exceed the previous year by at least
ten millions of dollars. But why
may not government be conduct
ell with the decency and economy
that charaCterizes prosperous busi-
ness enterprises? Such a govern
ment would be ideal and some
governments in the world approach
this ideal much more nearly than
that of the United States. The
civil list Of the United States con.
slsts OF not less than four hundred
thousand persons. This does not
include either the Army or Navy.
They are the clerks, postmasters,
the bureau officers, the Judges and
other officers of the federal courts
the internal and customs revenue
officers, ETC., etc They all have
good salaries, as is proved by the
long line of applicants for every
vacancy that occurs in the govern
ment service, but they are clamor-
ing for larger salaries and for pen
sions. No government pays its
employees as we'll as does that of
the United States. If we had
more permanent government, l
mean if the ruling personnel of our
government were less shifting
through continuous changes by
elections; if our national legislators
were able TO pay less attention to
pleasing their home constituencies
and could devote more of their time
TO the national government; in
short, if there were less interest in
political scramble for place and if
the whole country would send its
aolest and best men to Washington
and keep them there in spite Of the
clamor of unqualified self seekers
tor their places, then we might in
deed hope for a better government,
for there is no doubt that it takes
several sessions to educate a Con
gresham, both as to national needs
and the way to attain them.
*M*
The biggest undertaking in econ
omy by this government will be
launched when Senator Aldrich's
bill creating government commits
sion to reduce the enormous TN
weidy and expensive government
system to business like methods is
accomplished. Three Senators and
three Members of the House are to
be appointed, and Senator Aldrich
says that it is possible to save three
hundred millions Of dcllars (S3oo,-
900, ,ooo) a year. He has announc-
ed what your correspondent has
been writing for thirty years-that
the United States government has
outgrown its present business meth
DDS. During the lifetime of A. II.
Stewart, the great New York mer-
chant, | wrote often in these letters
that If he had the contract of run.
ming the government, he could do
1t with one fourth the number of
employees and with one fourth the
expense it then cost; and if Senator
Aldrich were now permitted to
manage it with the thrift that thir-
ty or forty years ago made his groc.
cry business in Rhode Island SO
profitable, there is no doubt that
the country would be able to save
three hundred millions of dollars a
year. But art is long and time is
tieeting, and Senator Aldrich's S sen-
sational announcement with sensa-
tional headlines in fifteen thousand
or more papers in the United States,
will cause but momentary interest,
and the personnel of the redundant
Civil Service will sit tight in it's EN-
trenchments and await the deluge,
the Revolution.