Evening star., 1925-05-03
Capital Sidelights
What is but a map of busy life:
Its functions and ila vast concerns.

dBellCy, WHICH recruits most or Uncle
Sans real workers. He points out
that panorama of the United States
Government from day to day would
show that it's skilled and unSkilled
men and women are engaged in about
every line of human endeavor. The
picture would transport one from
bleak New England to sunny Califor-
MIA and from Oregon to Florida. It
would reel off activities all the way
from the Philippine Islands to Porto
Rico and from Alaska and Hawaii to
the Panama Canal.
II would be found that more than
half d million people. in addition to
the armed forces, are employed in
carrying on the world wide operations
of which Uncle Sam is the big boss
While one department or bureau
exercises jurisdiction over the millions
of acres of public lands. another over
It's extensive forests and another over
it's rivers and harbors. one over It's
far-funS naval establishments, anoth-
er over it's armies, another over its
agriculture, another over it's com
merce, another over its revenues, etc,
the Civil Service Commission deals
exclusively with the human factor
touching all these agencies in the
operation of the greatest government
under the sun.
Z y x ::
With more than half a million in
the classified public service, under the
merit system, today ii Is hard for us
TO imagine a President of the United
States today answering "in his own
hand applicants for office. Yet this
Is what George Washington did, as he
himself testified in letter to a favor
ite cousin, who later inherited a large
part of the Mount Vernon estate
Bushrod Washington, one of the early
justices of the Supreme Court, who
served 28 years with John Marshall
This letter also emphasizes that
Washington considered fitness for the
Office rather than political preference
as an essential for appointment. Other
letters persistentIy repeat this We
must smile these days as we read
Washfngton's words: Scarcely a day
passes in which applications of one
kind or another do not arrive: inso
| much, that, had l not early adopted
some general principles. l should be
fore this time have been wholly occu
pied in this business. AS il is, I have
found the number of answers, which
have been necessitated to give ir
my own hand, an almost insup
portable burden to me-
Many assign TO Thomas Jefferson
| the introduction of the spoils system
claiming that under his administra
ton party service was reckoned as
| reason for appointment to office. anc
| party dissent as cause for removal
Yet we find Jefferson bitterly re
senting appointments made by Adam!
on the eve of his REIMBURSEMENT O.
| the presidential chair In a letter Il
Mrs. Adams. dated June 10, 1904. h,
| wrote:
"One act of Mr. Adams life, anC
| one alone. ever gave me a moment
| personal displeaSure. | did conside
his last appointments to office as per
sonally unkind. They were from
among my most ardent political enc
| mics. from whom no faithful co-opera
| tion could ever be expected, and laiC
| me under the embarrassment of act
| ing through men whose views were t
| defeat mine, or to encounter the
odium of putting others in thei
| places.
t Apropos Of the general discussion
! at present regarding changes in Sen
/ ate and House rules of procedure
! started by Vice President Dawes il
his inaugural address, Representative,
| r. Walton Moore of Virginia quote.
| as evidence that the Senate is no
I shackled by its rules the fact thar
| it passed ia bills and "A joint reso
lutions, whereas only 37S bills and 5;
joint resolutions became laws. II
other words, the Senate enacted {
/ larger number of measures than re
/ ceived approval in the House ant
| found a place on the statute books.
Then Representative Moore laugh
| ingly recalls the practice of tn,
when a member of the Lochrian AS
sembly as probably the most effective
way to stop the food of Legislation
! which annually appalls the people
| According to the historian Gibbon
when a member of the Lochrain AS
| sembly offered a legislative proposal
a rope was tied about his neck ant
if it failed of passage he was forth
| with executed. 1T is needless Il
I say" Mr.. Moore comments. "tha
this prevented many measures being
proposed and that there was no ex
cess legislation"
= = x x
| Some of the most notable Ions
speeches in Congress are recalled by
! Representative Moore. For instance
in 1898. Senator Alien Of Nebraska
! talked for 16h hours against the bill
| to repeal the purchase clause of th'
| Sherman silver law, which, however
| pa ssed; in 1908 Senator La Follett,
of Wisconsin spoke for IS hour.
against the Aldrich-Vreeland currenc,
| bill, which also passed; in 1901 Sen
ator Carter of Montana defeated {
rivers and harbors bill toward th'
end of the session by an even Longer
/ speech; in 1914 Senator Burton o
| Ohio. by a speech of more than !:
hours. forced changes in rivers anc
| harbors bill; in 1915. Senator Smoot o
| Utah spoke nearly II hours agains
| the ships purchase bill and, aligned
with him, Senator Jones of Washing
ton spoke for something like /;
hours and Senator Gallinger of New
| HAMPSHIRE for over hours one day
and Z hours another day, and thu
bill was defeated.
| = 4 = x
! Throwing a searchlight on th'
antiquity of the present squabbl'
over change of rules in eithe
branch of Congress, Representative
| Moore discIoses Julius Caesar as {
member of the Roman Senate re
sorting to obstructive tactics to de
feat a proposition and being threat
| ened with death by the soldiers Wht
| We're on guard II he persisted. HI
also brings into the picture Edmund
Burke, that great statesman, who
with tremendous vigor. opposed an!
ban being placed upon freedom O.
| debate in the House of Commons.
| X x X
The present controversy owe
! changes in the rules and the clotur'
evil harks back some four score ant
four years, when Henry Clay, theI
leading the Whig majority, was i'm
patient for the passage of certain
! fiscal bills of which he was il
| charge. The minority, under tn,
leadership of John c. Calhoun, con