The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1912-12-05
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
Some Facts in Regard to the Distri-
button OF Patronage.

W HSIllliptbt, nov. ~. &C., r. NbfNbuuN
wants To know about the distribu.
ton of Patronage under the new adj
ministration. Every member of
Congress Of Democratic faith is re-
ceiving inquiries and applications
by the hundred,
came on to Washington at an
earlier date than | intended, to try
to discover the prospects OF what
will be done in general way, nut
have found out nothing valuable or
tangible. There Is much guessing
and newspaper talk, but that is all.
All things concerning the distrbu-
ton of patronage are up In the air,
so to speak. President-elect Wilson,
who Is resting In Bermuda, has not,
so far as is generally known, given
any information of his intention on
this subject. Nothing definite viii
be known until he speaks.
/ The only things certain at this
writing are:
|. President Taft has by executive
order placed all the fourth class
pOstmasters under the civil service,
that is, all postmasters drawing less
than 81 900 per annum. Ibis means
that the present fourth class post
masters will hold for life, or during
! good behavior, unless President
| Wilson rcvokes President Taft'S pr-
der Whether he will revoke it 10.
body knows.
>. Most of the places worth huy-
ing, except those which have tu Ice
confirmed 10y the Senate, have been
for some time under civil service.
This greatly lessons the number u
positions formerly available
3. For twenty years the custom
has been, for Federal officials al
pointed for four years, such ms
postmasters, L. 5. 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, 1t is impossible to even guess.
D. The custom has been for the pa.
tronage of any particular State to
be distributed through the Senators
and Representatives thereof who are
Of the same political persuasion as
the administration, IL any such there
be, and il none such, then through
the national committeeman or some
dependable friend or friends. I'm.
der that arrangement Representa-
tiyes are depended upon to recon-
mend postmasters in their own dis.
tricts, while Senators are depended
upon to recommend postmasters in
Congressional districts not repre-
scented by Congressman Of the same
political faith AS the President. SEN
ators are also depended upon to rec
ommend for marshalships and Of
fees of that kind, including depart
mental positions and places In the
consular and diplomatic service,
and In fact all offices not local. OF
course, AS rule, the Senators con-
suit with Representative in these
matters, all trying to do the most
possible for their constituents.
9. What scheme for selecting post
masters, etc, President Wilson and
his Cabinet slay adopt liz wholly
conjectural. Some advocate one
plan and some another. Conse-
quently II might be best for those
intending to be applicants to let
matters rest until the situation
clears up somewhat; but where Que
or more aspirants for "A particular
place start in to secure signers to
petitions, recommendations, etc, IL
might be wise for all aspirants to do
so too.
1t has been figured out by some of
the newspaper correspondents in the
national capital that Mr.. Wilson,
when he enters the White House on
March 4, will find that he has the
lower to fiji directly l0,S39 govern
ment positions, They declare the
appOintive places requiring confirm.
alton are divided as follows: De-
parments-Sta AL; Treasury, 1856;
War Excluding army q; Justice,
3s3; Post office, 1858; Navy tex-
Guiding ofiicers) IL; Interior, III;
Agriculture, 3; Commerce and La
Dor Excluding census) %; Civil SER
vice commission, 4; Government
Printing Office, |; Insterstate Com
merce Commission, I; and Library
of Congress, |.
The places not requiring cOnfirma.
ton by the Senate are thus divided:
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES "a; Justice,
SiG Interior, A; Commerce, y; Civil
Service Commission, /.