Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-12-06
THE WASHINGTON LETTER
By Clyde H. Tavenner, special Wash
ington correspondent of this. news
manor

By Clyde H. Tavenner, special Wash
ington correspondent of this. news
paper.
Washington, Dec. 2. Everybody
wants to know about the distribution
of Patronage under the new admin
istration. Every member of Cen
gress of Democratic faith is receiy-
ing Inquiries and applications by
the hundred.
] came on to Washington at an ear.
her' date than I intended, to- Try to
discover the prospects of what viii
be done in a general way, but have
found out nothing valuable or tangi-
bic.
There's much guessing and hewspa.
per talk; but that is all. All things
concerning the distribution of pat
ronage are up in the air, so to
speak President-e,ect Wilson, who
is resting in Bermuda, has not, so
far as is generally known, given any
indication of his intention on this
subject. Nothing definite will be
known until he speaks.
The only things certain at this
writing are:
l. President Taft as by execu-
tive order placed all the 4th class
pcstmasters under the Civil Service,
that is all postmasters drawing less
than $1,000 per annum. This means
that the present 4th class postmas-
ters will hold for life, or during
good behavior, unless President VIII
son revokes President Taft's order.
Whether he will revoke ii nobody
knows.
2. Most of the places worth hav-
ing except those which have to be
confirmed by the Senate have been
for some time under civil service.
This greatly lessons the number of
positions formerly available.
/ 3. For twenty years the custom
has been for federal officials ap-
pointed for four years, such as post
masters, U. S. Marshals, etc., to
serve out their terms unless they
took part in politics during their
terms. Whether this custom will
be continued it is impossible to say.
4. President Taft is said to have
declared his intention to fill all va
cancies as soon as they occur. But
whether the Senate will confirm his
appointees, or hold up their nOmina-
tons, it is impossible to even guess
.. The custom has been fer the
patronage of any particular state to
be distributed through the Senators
and Representatives thereof who are
of the same political persuasion as
the administration, if any such there
be, and If none such, then through
the national committeeman or somt
dependable friend or friends. Under
, this arrangement Representatives srt
p depended upon to recommend post
masters in their own districts whi's
Senators are depended upon to rec
Ommend pOstmasters in Congressional
districts not represented by Con
gressmen of the same political faitl
as the President. Senators are ais
depended upon torecOmmend for mar
shalships and officers of that kind
including departmental positions an.
places in the consular and diplomats
J. service, and in fact all offices not 10
i cal. OF course, as a rule, the Sens
e tors consult with Representatives Il
these matters, all trying to do tn
most possible for their constituents
1t has been figured out by some o
the newspaper correspondents in tn
national capitol that Mr.. Wilson
when he enters the White House o
March 4, will find that he has tn
power to fill directly 1O,S39 govern
ment positions.