The daily Alaskan., 1916-10-19
LANES ABSENCE: HINDERSPUBLIC
 SERVICE

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 - Spec ial Correspondence( - Although the department of the interior is headed by the only really big man in the cabinet of President Wilson, the service of that department is in a bad way because of the con- tinued absence cf it's chief, and because party politics caused a change in the office of his first assistant. Franklin K. Lane, Sec relary of the Interior, is reoogniz- ed by bothi Republicans and Demo. crats as q mGn of ability. When he is "on the jOb," the public busi- ness in that important department ruus along fairly we'll. But when President Wilson had td appoint commissioners to confer with com missiOners from Mexico in an effort to settle our differences, he found difficulty in selecting men who would be able to hold their own in a diplomatic controversy with the representatives of Carramza. Wilson would, of course, appoint Demo- crats, and he could not find in the list of 'prominent' Democrats, men who were free from officiaIe duties. So he called upon, Secretary Lane to serve, and Lane felt obliged to do so, even at 'he sacrifice of the interests of his own department
 About the same time, Adminis- bra ion leaders were confronted wild the problem of finding a candidate for United States senator who might be able to win a victory in N, W Mexico, and they picked A. A. Jones. First Assistant Secretary of the Interior. While Jones is hardly of senatorial caliber, he had become familiar with the du- ties O First Asgistan3 Secretary, and his resignation in order to be- come Q candidate was an injury to the goyernment service.
 As head of the Department of the Interior, Secretary Lane has supervision, ,Ner the general land office, the reclamation service, the pension bureau, the geological sur vey and the bureau of Indian af- fairs. Matters Of minor importance are attended to by the heads of thrse various Dureaus but almost every matter of importance comes up ultimately for a decision by the Secretary himself. Important land cortests are almost invariably talk en TO the secretary. Various mat ters of policy iu the reclamation service must have his personal aD- proyal. This is also true in the bureau of Indian affairs, where the government is endeayoring to trans fer the Indians from the status of prcteges to citizenship.
 It will be readily apDarent, therefore, that it is highly i'm portart that the Secretary of the Interior tle constantly on duty in Washington in order that the public service be net delayed. Since MT. Lanes absence, while serving on the Mexican. commission, heads of bureaus have been mUch annoyed anu hampeHed by their inability to get his decision upon matters of policy which they felt must be sub mitted to him before being acted upon.
 It will be remembered that when President Wilson was making up the American membership of the Mexican comm fssion he named Su- preme Judge Luis Brandeis as one of the members, but the Chief Jus ACS' NSSAAA4Q lO M AAA4 SSLhG AO4 the reason that the work of the supreme court required his atten- tion to his official duties. If there had been any one in 9 position! to- make protest, 1t is certain that Mr. Lane would not have beeni per mitted to abandon his duties as Secretary of the Interior in order to serve on that commission. But President Wilson realized the secretly of men of real ability in the Democratic party, and felt compelled to sacrifice the work of The Department of the interior.