Year: 1877

IL sllall Do done ana then set the time
and it will he success. Would it not
be well to have our County Fair and
Harvest Festival together, giving sew
eral days, not only to the exhibition of
stock and farm products, but also to a
grand picnic and jubilee? Some have
suggested that we wait until Thanks
giving Day and haye another grand
county dinner and reunion.


WE'RE you BAP7IzED,


There is town in England named
Taunton and the people recently elect
ed Mayor and found out afterwards
that he hadn't been baptized, and so
the vicar of St. Johns Church address,
es him letter on the subject. Now,
if some doctor would address him a let
ter and insist that he ought to be vac
cinated i'll order to make good Mayor,
the folly of the vicar would be balanc-
ed. We believe in baptism, but we
should like to know when the intoler-
able bigotry and tomfoolery of the sects
IS to cease.


This reminds us of Bob Ingersoll's
imaginary arraignment of soul before
the lar of Heaven. The questions put
were something like this: ibid you
love your neighbor?' ''Yes.'' Ibid
you pay your debts and do good to 9TH
ers?'' "Yes.'' Ibid you live pure
life?" "Yes." "Were you baptized%'
Bob thinks that this question would
raise laugh among the angels. The
truth, we suppose, is as Paul said,
''Neither circumcision nor uncircum-
cision availeth," but everywhere, a.
mong all people and all times, he that
''fears God and works righteousness is
accepted of him. 0 fools, and slow
of heart, after 1900 years of Christ's
Gospel, to understand his teaching and
his spirit.


Il CRIPPLED GOVERNMENT


A special to the Pioneer-1ress from
Washington says of the delays at the
Government Land Office:


Just how far the general land Office
is behind in it's business it would he
lard to say. In some respects it is
much worse than others, but there is
10 branch of its affairs so we'll up to
time that an ordinary letter of inquiry
requiring any exa nination of records
or files could be promptly answered.
Several firms keep employees of their
own here at heavy expense as a pre-
ventive of delays in this office, Which
would be uncomfortable and ruinOus to
their business. but for the presence
here and labors of their own men. The
business s from one to three years be-
hind generally, and there are plenty of
claims pending there which ought to
haYe been ordered paid or rejected years
ago. The third auditors Office and
second cOmptrOllers, which are ac-
counting offices in the treasury for this
bureau are of course correspondingly
behind. Indeed, it is an old saying
with disbursing quartermasters that
they never expect to have their &C.
counts settled while they live. Other
bureaux of different departments are
in q similar situation, every one of
them except the sixth auditors office,
that for the post office being always A.
way behind time in respect to the pub
lie business generally and years behind
rs to many special cases. If the gov
crnment of the United States could not
run railroads better than it conducts
md always has conducted it's own prop
er business, it would take about three
weeks for it's fast train to get to the
West, as for damages, claims therefore
would never he reached in the lifetime
of the party damaged without radical
revolution in the conduct of business.
1t must be plain to every sensible per-
son here that the government already
has Rucl, more on its hands than it
can we'll supervise.


We suppose that what is true of the
Land Department is true of others.
Under the cry of ''retrenchment'' the
government swung to the other extreme
and discharged its clerks and cut down
the army until now there are not e.
nougl men in the civil service to do
the business of the departments, nor e.
nough strength in the army to quell a
riot. To increase further the general
distress, Democratic house, refused
the appropriation to pay the expenses
Of the army.


We spoke several times last year a.
bout the unwise and suicidal policy of
the government. Just at the time
when business was Frustrated and when
thousands of men were idle and beg
ging for work, the government increas-
ed the general distress 0y stopping all
public works possible and discharging
hundreds of men. Instead of doing
this, tile general government, the State
governments and on down to the city
governments, should have begun new
public works instead Of discontinuing
them, and employed more men instead
ofdiscl'arging them. They might have
taken advantage Of the tines and Sc
cured the money necessary at low rates
and tile men at low wages and thus saw
cd millions il the end. Better than ali,
they would have given employment to
hundreds of worthy men who lave
been made paupers and in some instan.
cs vagaIonds by the hard times of
the past few years.


We do net wish to be understood as
saying that the governments, national,