Putnam patriot., 1923-07-20
PRAISE K. F. GATES
 IN STATE OFFICE
"Mortlake" Shows How An other Windham County Man
 Is Making Good
A GilpasriS Appointment Similar C
 That of Collector Eaton
hN "MORTLAkE" Special Correspondenee to The Put. nam Patriot

Hartford July l9 Another Wind ham County man has scored, and imprcssively. too. in the report which he has been able to make of his de- partment for the fiscal year ending June 90. He is Raymond F. Gates, who is at the head of the department of state agencies and who Is in charge of the administration Of the widows pension law. The receipts of his de- partment for the year amounted to s1.0SS. i96. or an increase of Sf2g,- 22o over the receipts of the previous year The sum spent for widows pensions amounted to S206. GOT l. is very ercdifable showing for Ar. Gates. The department of which Mr. Gates Is the head is a branch Of the state treasury department. and Mr Gates is che apBaintee and subordinate of Treasurer C. Harold Gilpatrie \ share If Che credit for the success of Nr Gates administration k due e Ar. NlHafrie t was at ehe session af l9la that fine law WAS thansed iHansfeffIne ftom fhe comptroller department Co the office of treasure the duty of collecting from fhe
 
 tons the expense af maintaining them. tndes the old system the amount collected annually was a mere baeateiHe compared ta what t Is now. The lesal obligation on the friends to pay Was the same. The trouble Was in the provisions of the laW to eamplI them e meet their obligations Mir 6ilpatEie appointed Colonel Robert Q. Eaton, who had served m the legis- lature as house chairman of the com mittee on appropriations for three sessions, and who had previously served the federal government for years as collector of internal revenue.
 Col. Eaton's Record
 In the latter position Colonel Eaton made such a splendid record for eff ciency that no one else was thought of for the position when the Republicans came back into power by the election of President Harding Colonel Eaton organized the department and his sue cessful administration of 1t. for the first few years or until he resigned to return to the eollectorship of internal revenue. justified Mir Gilpatric's ap- pointment of him as the first admin istrator of the new state agencies law and the widows pension law. The only objection to Colonel Eaton's ap- pointment was that he was a member of the Republican state organization. or, as it is more commonly called. the state machine. Mir Gilpatrie very properly ignored that objection. and he had never any reason to regret his AHa hA chief clerk in the office of Colonel Eaton when Mr Gilpatrie appointed him to succeed the colonel
 Where Gilpatrie Was Right
 Mir. Gilpatrie showed that he had backbone and sterling character when he refused to see in Colonel Eaton g loyalty to the Republican party and zeal for its success a reason for deny ing him the right of every American citizen to serve the people in public office. Some ef those who condemned Colonel Eaton's appointment by MT. Gilpatric were holding office through the grace of the Republican party But for the effective activity of Col cnel Eaton and his partisan associates the party would not have been able Co place them m their positions. They know the game and they play it with success. but the beneficiaries of thcir skill are those who are most caustic in their criticisms lt is sheer cant and hypocrisy. this condemnation of the Republican organization, because of it's successes by people who regis ter themselves as Republicans and who would be offended if they were called anything else. What in the name of common sense is Il political organization-or a machine, if the term is more correct-for if it is not to bring success to it's party? 1t is not a struggle for political spoils. That is term which has no place in the political code of today. The po- litieal fight is for something higher than spoils; it is for principles. But surely those who bear the brunt of the contest should not be considered unworthy to serve their state or eoun- try because they have achieved sue cess for their party.