York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. I commend to your careful consideration the question whether an amendment of the Federal Constitution in the particular indicated would not afford the best remedy for what is often grave embarrassment both to members of Congress and to the Executive, and is sometimes a serious public mischief.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy states the movements of the various squadrons during the year, in home and foreign waters, where our officers and seamen, with such ships as we possess, have continued to illustrate the high character and excellent discipline of the naval organization.

On the 21st of December, 1881, information was received that the exploring steamer Jeannette had been crushed and abandoned in the Arctic ocean. The officers and crew, after a journey over the ice, embarked in three boats for the coast of Siberia. One of the parties, under the command of Chief-Engineer George W. Melville, reached the land, and, falling in with the natives, was saved. Another, under Lieut.Commander De Long, landed in a barren region near the mouth of the Lena river. After six weeks had elapsed all but two of the number had died from fatigue and starvation. No tidings have been received from the party in the third boat, under the command of Lieut. Chipp, but a long and fruitless investigation leaves little doubt that all its members perished at sea. As a slight tribute to their heroism I give in this communication the names of the gallant men who sacrificed their lives on this expedition: Lieut.-Commander George W. De Long, Surgeon James M. Ambler, Jerome J. Collins, Hans Halmer Erichsen, Heinrich H. Kaacke, George W. Boyd, Walter Lee, Adolph Dressler, Carl A. Görtz, Nelse Iverson, the cook Ah Sam, and the Indian Alexy. The officers and men in the missing boat were Lieut. Charles W. Chipp, commanding; William Dunbar, Alfred Sweetman, Walter Sharvell, Albert C. Kuehne, Edward Star, Henry D. Warren, and Peter E. Johnson.

Licut. Giles B. Harber and Master William H. Scheutze are now bringing home the remains of Lieut. De Long and his comrades, in pursuance of the directions of Congress.

The Rodgers, fitted out for the relief of the Jeannette, in accordance with the act of Congress of March 3, 1881, sailed from San Francisco June 16th, under the command of Lieut. Robert M. Berry. On November 30th she was accidentally destroyed by fire, while in winter quarters in St. Lawrence bay, but the officers and crew succeeded in escaping to the shore. Lieut. Berry and one of his officers, after making a search for the Jeannette along the coast of Siberia, fell in with Chief- Engineer Melville's party, and returned home by way of Europe. The other officers and the crew of the Rodgers were brought from St. Lawrence bay by the whaling-steamer North Star. Master Charles F. Putnam, who had been placed in charge of a depot of supplies at Cape Serdze, returning to his post from St. Lawrence bay across the ice in a blinding snow-storm, was carried out to sea and lost, notwithstanding all efforts to rescue him. It appears, by the Secretary's report, that the available naval force of the United States consists of thirtyseven cruisers, fourteen single-turreted monitors, built during the rebellion, a large number of smooth-bore guns and Parrott rifles, and eighty-seven rifled can

non.

The cruising-vessels should be gradually replaced by iron or steel ships, the monitors by modern armored vessels, and the armament by high-power rifled guns.

The reconstruction of our navy, which was recommended in my last message, was begun by Congress authorizing, in its recent act, the construction of two large, unarmored steel vessels of the character recommended by the late naval advisory board, and subject to the final approval of a new advisory board to be organized as provided by that act. I call your attention to the recommendation of the Secretary and the

board that authority be given to construct two more cruisers of smaller dimensions, and one fleet dispatchvessel, and that appropriations be made for highpower rifled cannon, for the torpedo service, and for other harbor defenses.

Pending the consideration by Congress of the policy to be hereafter adopted in conducting the eight large navy-yards and their expensive establishments, the Secretary advocates the reduction of expenditures therefor to the lowest possible amounts.

For the purpose of affording the officers and seamen of the navy opportunities for exercise and discipline in their profession, under appropriate control and direction, the Secretary advises that the Light-House Service and Coast Survey be transferred, as now organized, from the Treasury to the Navy Department; and he also suggests, for the reasons which he assigns, that a similar transfer may wisely be made of the cruising revenue-vessels.

The Secretary forcibly depicts the intimate connection and interdependence of the navy and the commercial marine, and invites attention to the continued decadence of the latter, and the corresponding transfer of our growing commerce to foreign bottoms.

This subject is one of the utmost importance to the national welfare. Methods of reviving American ship-building, and of restoring the United States flag in the ocean carrying-trade, should receive the immediate attention of Congress. We have mechanical skill and abundant material for the manufacture of modern iron steamships in fair competition with our commercial rivals. Our disadvantage in building ships is the greater cost of labor, and in sailing them higher taxes and greater interest on capital, while the ocean highways are already monopolized by our formidable competitors. These obstacles should in some way be overcome, and for our rapid communication with foreign lands we should not continue to depend wholly upon vessels built in the yards of other countries, and sailing under foreign flags. With no United States steamers on the principal ocean lines or in any foreign ports, our facilities for extending our commerce are greatly restricted, while the nations which build and sail the ships, and carry the mails and passengers, obtain thereby conspicuous advantages in increasing their trade.

The report of the Postmaster-General gives evidence of the satisfactory condition of that department, and contains many valuable data and accompanying suggestions which can not fail to be of interest.

The information which it affords, that the receipts for the fiscal year have exceeded the expenditures, must be very gratifying to Congress and to the people of the country.

As matters which may fairly claim particular attention, I refer you to his observations in reference to the advisability of changing the present basis for fixing salaries and allowances, of extending the moneyorder system, and of enlarging the functions of the postal establishment so as to put under its control the telegraph system of the country, though from this last and most important recommendation I must withhold my concurrence.

At the last session of Congress, several bills were introduced into the House of Representatives for the reduction of letter postage to the rate of two cents per half ounce.

I have given much study and reflection to this subject, and am thoroughly persuaded that such a reduction would be for the best interests of the public.

It has been the policy of the Government, from its foundation, to defray, as far as possible, the expenses of carrying the mails by a direct tax in the form of postage. It has never been claimed, however, that this service ought to be productive of a net revenue.

As has been stated already, the report of the Postmaster-General shows that there is now a very considerable surplus in his department, and that henceforth the receipts are likely to increase at a much greater ratio than the necessary expenditures. Unless

some change is made in the existing laws, the profits of the postal service will, in a very few years, swell the revenues of the Government many millions of dollars. The time seems auspicious, therefore, for some reduction in the rates of postage. In what

shall that reduction consist?

A review of the legislation which has been had upon this subject during the last thirty years, discloses that domestic letters constitute the only class of mail matter which has never been favored by a substantial reduction of rates. I am convinced that the burden of maintaining the service falls most unequally upon that class, and that more than any other it is entitled to present relief.

That such relief may be extended without detriment to other public interests, will be discovered upon reviewing the results of former reductions. Immediately prior to the act of 1845, the postage upon a letter composed of a single sheet was as follows:

By the act of 1845, the postage upon a single letter conveyed for any distance under 300 miles was fixed at 5 cents, and for any greater distance at 10 cents.

By the act of 1851, it was provided that a single letter, if prepaid, should be carried any distance not exceeding 3,000 miles for 3 cents, and any greater distance for 6 cents.

It will be noticed that both of these reductions were of a radical character, and relatively quite as important as that which is now proposed.

In each case there ensued a temporary loss of revenue, but a sudden and large influx of business, which substantially repaired that loss within three years.

Unless the experience of past legislation in this country and elsewhere goes for naught, it may be safely predicted that the stimulus of 33 per cent. reduction in the tax for carriage, would at once increase the number of letters consigned to the mails. The advantages of secrecy would lead to a very general substitution of sealed packets for postal cards and open circulars, and in divers other ways the volume of first-class matter would be enormously augmented. Such increase amounted in England, in the first year after the adoption of penny postage, to more than 125 per cent.

As a result of careful estimates, the details of which can not be here set out, I have become convinced that the deficiency for the first year after the proposed reduction would not exceed 7 per cent. of the expenditures, or $3,000,000, while the deficiency after the reduction of 1915 was more than 14 per cent., and after that of 1851 was 27 per cent.

Another interesting comparison is afforded by statistics furnished me by the Post-Office Department.

The act of 1845 was passed in face of the fact that there existed a deficiency of more than $30,000. That of 1551 was encouraged by the slight surplus of $132,000. The excess of revenue in the next fiscal year is likely to be $3,500,000.

If Congress should approve these suggestions, it may be deemed desirable to supply to some extent the deficiency which must for a time result, by increasing the charge for carrying merchandise, which is now only sixteen cents per pound. But even without such an increase, I am confident that the receipts under the diminished rates would equal the expenditures after the lapse of three or four years.

The report of the Department of Justice brings anew to your notice the necessity of enlarging the present system of Federal jurisprudence, so as effectually to answer the requirements of the ever-increasing litigation with which it is called upon to deal.

The Attorney-General renews the suggestions of his predecessor, that in the interests of justice better

provision than the existing laws afford should be made in certain judicial districts for fixing the fees of witnesses and jurors.

In my message of December last I referred to pending criminal proceedings growing out of alleged frauds in what is known as the star-route service of the PostOffice Department, and advised you that I had enjoined upon the Attorney-General and associate counsel, to whom the interests of the Government were intrusted, the duty of prosecuting with the utmost vigor of the law all persons who might be found chargeable with those offenses. A trial of one of these cases has since occurred. It occupied for many weeks the attention of the Supreme Court of this District, and was conducted with great zeal and ability. It resulted in a disagreement of the jury, but the cause has been again placed upon the calendar, and will shortly be retried. If any guilty persons shall finally escape punishment for their offenses, it will not be for lack of diligent and earnest efforts on the part of the prosecution.

I trust that some agreement may be reached which will speedily enable Congress, with the concurrence of the Executive, to afford the commercial community the benefits of a national bankrupt law.

The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with its accompanying documents, presents a full statement of the varied operations of that Department. In respect to Indian affairs, nothing has occurred which has changed or seriously modified the views to which I devoted much space in a former communication to Congress. I renew the recommendations therein contained as to extending to the Indian the protection of the law, allotting land in severalty to such as desire it, and making suitable provision for the education of youth. Such provision, as the Secretary forcibly maintains, will prove unavailing unless it is broad enough to include all those who are able and willing to make use of it, and should not solely relate to intellectual training, but also to instruction in such manual labor and simple industrial arts as can be made practically available.

Among other important subjects which are included within the Secretary's report, and which will doubtless furnish occasion for congressional action, may be mentioned the neglect of the railroad companies to which large grants of land were made by the acts of 1862 and 1864 to take title thereto, and their consequent inequitable exemption from local taxation.

No survey of our material condition can fail to suggest inquiries as to the moral and intellectual progress of the people.

The census returns disclose an alarming state of illiteracy in certain portions of the country where the provision for schools is grossly inadequate. It is a momentous question for the decision of Congress whether immediate and substantial aid should not be extended by the General Government for supplementing the efforts of private beneficence and of State and Territorial legislation in behalf of education.

The regulation of interstate commerce has already been the subject of your deliberations. One of the incidents of the marvelous extension of the railway system of the country has been the adoption of such measures by the corporations which own or control the roads as has tended to impair the advantages of healthful competition and to make hurtful discriminations in the adjustment of freightage.

These inequalities have been corrected in several of the States by appropriate legislation, the effect of which is necessarily restricted to the limits of their own territory.

So far as such mischiefs affect commerce between the States, or between any one of the States and a foreign country, they are subjects of national concern, and Congress alone can afford relief.

The results which have thus far attended the enforcement of the recent statute for the suppression of polygamy in the Territories are reported by the Secretary of the Interior. It is not probable that any addi

tional legislation in this regard will be deemed desirable until the effect of existing laws shall be more closely observed and studied.

I congratulate you that the commissioners, under whose supervision those laws have been put in operation, are encouraged to believe that the evil at which they are aimed may be suppressed without resort to such radical measures as in some quarters have been thought indispensable for success.

The close relation of the General Government to the Territories preparing to be great States may well engage your special attention. It is there that the Indian disturbances mainly occur, and that polygamy has found room for its growth. I can not doubt that a careful survey of Territorial legislation would be of the highest utility. Life and property would become more secure. The liability of outbreaks between Indians and whites would be lessened. The public domain would be more securely guarded and better progress be made in the instruction of the young.

Alaska is still without any form of civil government. If means were provided for the education of its people and for the protection of their lives and property, the immense resources of the region would invite permanent settlements and open new fields for industry and enterprise.

The report of the Commissioner of Agriculture presents an account of the labors of that department during the past year, and includes information of much interest to the general public.

The condition of the forests of the country and the wasteful manner in which their destruction is taking place give cause for serious apprehension. Their action in protecting the earth's surface, in modifying the extremes of climate, and in regulating and sustaining the flow of springs and streams, is now well understood, and their importance in relation to the growth and prosperity of the country can not be safely disregarded. They are fast disappearing before destructive fires and the legitimate requirements of our increasing population, and their total extinction can not be long delayed unless better methods than now prevail shall be adopted for their protection and cultivation. The attention of Congress is invited to the necessity of additional legislation to secure the preservation of the valuable forests still remaining on the public domain, especially in the extreme western States and Terri tories, where the necessity for their preservation is greater than in less mountainous regions, and where the prevailing dryness of the climate renders their restoration, if they are once destroyed, well-nigh impossible.

The communication which I made to Congress at its first session in December last contained a somewhat full statement of my sentiments in relation to the principles and rules which ought to govern appointments to public service.

Referring to the various plans which had theretofore been the subject of discussion in the National Legislature (plans which in the main were modeled upon the system which obtains in Great Britain, but which lacked certain of the prominent features whereby that system is distinguished), I felt bound to intimate my doubts whether they, or any of them, would afford adequate remedy for the evils which they aimed to

correct.

I declared, nevertheless, that if the proposed measures should prove acceptable to Congress they would receive the unhesitating support of the Executive.

Since these suggestions were submitted for your consideration there has been no legislation upon the subject to which they relate; but there has meanwhile been an increase in the public interest in that subject; and the people of the country, apparently without distinction of party, have in various ways and upon frequent occasions given expression to their earnest wish for prompt and definite action. In my judgment such action should no longer be postponed.

I may add that my own sense of its pressing importance has been quickened by observation of a

practical phase of the matter, to which attention has more than once been called by my predecessors.

The civil list now comprises about 100,000 persons, far the larger part of whom must, under the terms of the Constitution, be selected by the President, either directly or through his own appointees.

In the early years of the administration of the Government the personal direction of appointments to the civil service may not have been an irksome task for the Executive; but now that the burden has increased fully a hundred-fold it has become greater than he ought to bear, and it necessarily diverts his time and attention from the proper discharge of other duties no less delicate and responsible, and which, in the very nature of things, can not be delegated to other hands. In the judgment of not a few who have given study and reflection to this matter, the nation has outgrown the provisions which the Constitution has established for filling the minor offices in the public service. But whatever may be thought of the wisdom or expediency of changing the fundamental law in this regard, it is certain that much relief may be afforded, not only to the President and to the heads of the departments, but to Senators and Representatives in Congress, by discreet legislation. They would be protected in a great measure by the bill now pending before the Senate, or by any other which should embody its important features, from the pressure of personal importunity and from the labor of examining conflicting claims and pretensions of candidates.

I trust that before the close of the present session some decisive action may be taken for the correction of the evils which inhere in the present methods of appointment, and I assure you of my hearty cooperation in any measures which are likely to conduce to that end.

As to the most appropriate term and tenure of the official life of the subordinate employés of the Government, it seems to be generally agreed that whatever their extent or character, the one should be definite and the other stable, and that neither should be regulated by zeal in the service of party or fidelity to the fortunes of an individual.

It matters little to the people at large what competent person is at the head of this department or of that bureau, if they feel assured that the removal of one and the accession of another will not involve the retirement of honest and faithful subordinates, whose duties are purely administrative and have no legitimate connection with the triumph of any political principles or the success of any political party or faction. It is to this latter class of officers that the Senate bill, to which I have already referred, exclusively applies.

While neither that bill nor any other prominent scheme for improving the civil service concerns the higher grade of officials, who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, I feel bound to correct a prevalent misapprehension as to the frequency with which the present Executive has displaced the incumbent of an office and appointed another in his stead.

It has been repeatedly alleged that he has in this particular signally departed from the course which has been pursued under recent administrations of the Gov

ernment. The facts are as follow:

The whole number of executive appointments during the four years immediately preceding Mr. Garfield's accession to the presidency was 2,696.

Of this number, 244, or 9 per cent., involved the removal of previous incumbents.

The ratio of removals to the whole number of appointments was much the same during each of those four years.

In the first year, with 790 appointments, there were 74 removals, or 9-3 per cent.; in the second, with 917 appointments, there were 85 removals, or 8.5 per cent. ; in the third, with 480 appointments, there were 48 removals, or 10 per cent. ; in the fourth, with 429 appointments, there were 37 removals, or 8.6 per cent. In the four months of President Garfield's adminis

per

tration there were 390 appointments and 89 removals, or 22.7 per cent. Precisely the same number of removals (89) has taken place in the fourteen months which have since elapsed, but they constitute only 7.8 cent. of the whole number of appointments (1,118) within that period, and less than 2-6 of the entire list of officials (3,459), exclusive of the army and navy, which is filled by presidential appointment.

I declare my approval of such legislation as may be found necessary for supplementing the existing provisions of law in relation to political assessments.

In July last I authorized a public announcement that employés of the Government should regard themselves as at liberty to exercise their pleasure in making or refusing to make political contributions, and that their action in that regard would in no manner affect

their official status.

In this announcement I acted upon the view which I had always maintained and still maintain, that a public officer should be as absolutely free as any other citizen to give or to withhold a contribution for the aid of the political party of his choice. It has, however, been urged, and doubtless not without foundation in fact, that by solicitation of official superiors and by other modes such contributions have at times been obtained from persons whose only motive for giving has been the fear of what might befall them if they refused. It goes without saying that such contributions are not voluntary, and in my judgment their collection should be prohibited by law. A bill which will effectually suppress them will receive my cordial approval.

I hope that however numerous and urgent may be the demands upon your attention, the interests of this District will not be forgotten.

The denial to its residents of the great right of suffrage in all its relation to national, State, and municipal action, imposes upon Congress the duty of affording them the best administration which its wisdom can devise.

The report of the District commissioners indicates certain measures whose adoption would seem to be very desirable. I instance in particular those which relate to arrears of taxes, to steam railroads, and to assessments of real property.

Among the questions which have been the topic of recent debate in the halls of Congress none are of greater gravity than those relating to the ascertainment of the vote for presidential electors and the intendment of the Constitution in its provisions for devolving executive functions upon the Vice-President when the President euffers from inability to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

I trust that no embarrassments may result from a failure to determine these questions before another

national election.

The closing year has been replete with blessings for which we owe to the Giver of all good our reverent acknowledgment. For the uninterrupted harmony of our foreign relations, for the decay of sectional animosities, for the exuberance of our harvests and the triumphs of our mining and manufacturing industries, for the prevalence of health, the spread of intelligence and the conservation of the public credit, for the growth of the country in all the elements of national greatness-for these and countless other blessings we should rejoice and be glad. I trust that under the inspiration of this great prosperity our counsels may be harmonious, and that the dictates of prudence, patriotism, justice, and economy may lead to the adoption of measures in which the Congress and the Executive may heartily unite.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

WASHINGTON, December 4, 1882.

Civil-Service Reform.-One of the most important subjects brought up for consideration during the session was the bill for the reform of the civil service, which had fallen by the way in the previous session. It was reported in

the Senate Dec. 12th from the Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment, with various amendments, which were agreed to without debate. Mr. Pendleton, of Ohio, who originally introduced the bill and had charge of it, opened the discussion of the measure as amended. He said:

ministration of this Government has been so "The necessity of a change in the civil adfully discussed in the periodicals and pamphlets and newspapers, and before the people, that I feel indisposed to make any further argument. This subject, in all its ramifications, was submitted to the people of the United States at the fall elections, and they have spoken in no low or uncertain tone.

"I do not doubt that local questions exerted great influence in many States upon the result; but it is my conviction, founded on the ob servation of an active participation in the canvass in Ohio, that dissatisfaction with the methods of administration adopted by the Republican party in the past few years was the most important single factor in reaching the conclusion that was attained. I do not say that the civil service of the Government is wholly bad. I can not honestly do so. I do not say that the men who are employed in it are all corrupt or inefficient or unworthy. That would do very great injustice to a great number of faithful, honest, and intelligent public servants. But I do say that the civil service is inefficient; that it is expensive; that it is extravagant; that it is in many cases and in some senses corrupt; that it has welded the whole body of its employés into a great political machine; that it has converted them into an army of officers and men, veterans in political Warfare, disciplined and trained, whose salaries, whose time, whose exertions at least twice within a very short period in the history of our country have robbed the people of the fair results of presidential elections.

"I repeat, Mr. President, that the civil service is inefficient, expensive, and extravagant, and that it is in many instances corrupt. Is it necessary for me to prove facts which are so patent that even the blind must see and the deaf must hear?

"At the last session of Congress, in open Senate, it was stated and proved that in the Treasury Department at Washington there are 3,400 employés, and that of this number the employment of less than 1,600 is authorized by law and appropriations made for their payment, and that more than 1,700 are put on or off the rolls of the department at the will and pleasure of the Secretary of the Treasury, and are paid not out of appropriations made for that purpose but out of various funds and balances of appropriations lapsed in the Treasury in one shape or another, which are not by law appropriated to the payment of these employés. I was amazed. I had never before heard that such a state of affairs existed. I did not believe it was possible until my honorable col

league rose in his place and admitted the general truth of the statement and defended the system as being necessary for the proper administration of the Treasury Department. "Mr. President, we see in this statement whence comes that immense body of public officials, inspectors, detectives, deputies, examiners, from the Treasury Department who have for years past been sent over the States for the purpose of managing presidential conventions and securing presidential elections at the public expense.

"I hold in my hand a statement made before the committee which reported this bill, showing that in one of the divisions of the Treasury Department at Washington, where more than nine hundred persons were employed, men and women, five hundred and more of them were entirely useless, and were discharged without in any degree affecting the efficiency of the bureau. I do not intend to misstate any fact to-day if I can avoid it, and therefore I read from the testimony taken before the committee. Every gentleman can find it if he has not it already on his table. The statement to which I refer I read from page 121 of report of committee No. 576:

"The extravagance of the present system was well shown in the examination of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing by a committee of which I was chairman. Of a force of 958 persons, 539, with annual salaries amounting to $390,000, were found to be superfluous and were discharged. The committee reported that for years the force in some branches had been twice and even three times as great as the work required. In one division a sort of platform had been built underneath the iron roof, about seven feet above the floor, to accommodate the surplus counters. It appeared that the room was of ample size without this. contrivance for all the persons really needed. In another division were found twenty messengers doing work which it was found could be done by one. The committee reported that the system of patronage was chiefly responsible for the extravagance and irregularities which had marked the administration of the bureau, and declared that it had cost the people mil

lions of dollars in that branch of the service alone. Under this system the office had been made to subserve the purpose of an almshouse or asylum.

"In consequence of this report the annual appropriation for the Printing Bureau was reduced from $800,000 to $200,000, and out of the first year's savings was built the fine building now occupied by that bureau. "And again, on page 126, this same gentle

man says:

"My observation teaches me that there is more pressure and importunity for these places [that is, the $900 clerkships], and that more time is consumed by heads of departments, and those having the appointing power, in listening to applications for that grade than for all the other places in the departments combined; and that when it is discretionary with a department to appoint a man or a woman, the choice is usually exercised in favor of the woman. I know a recent case in the Treasury Department where a vacancy occurred which the head of the bureau deemed it important to fill with a man. It was a position where a man's services were almost indispensable: but the importunity was so great that he was compelled to accept a woman, although her services were not required. In consequence of this importunity for places for women a practice has grown up in the Treasury Department of allowing the salaries of the

higher grades of clerkships to lapse when vacancies occur, and of dividing up the amount among clerks, usually women, at lower salaries. In the place of a male clerk at $1,800 a year, for instance, three women may be employed at $600. Often the services of a man are required in its higher grade, while the wɔmen are not needed at all; but as the man can not be employed without discharging the women, he can not be had. The persons employed in this way are said to be on the lapse. Out of this grew the practice known in departmental language as 'anticipating the lapse.'

"In the endeavor to satisfy the pressure for place more people are appointed on this roll than the salaries then lapsing will warrant, in the hope that enough more will lapse before the end of the fiscal year to provide funds for their payment. But the funds almost always run short before the end of the year, and then either the lapse' appointees must be dropped or clerks discharged from the regular roll to make place for them. In some instances, in former adminstrations, the employés on the regular roll were compelled, under terror of dismissal, to ask for leaves of absence, without pay, for a sufficient time to make up the deficiency caused by the appointment of unfeature is that these lapse' employés being appointnecessary employés on the lapse.' ed without regard to the necessities of the work, for short periods and usually without regard to their qualifications, are of little service, while their employment and demoralizes the service. prevents the filling of vacancies on the regular roll,

Another bad

"In one case thirty-five persons were put on the lapse fund' of the Treasurer's office for eight days at the end of a fiscal year, to sop up some money which was in danger of being saved and returned to the Treasury.

"Says this gentleman further:

"I have no doubt that under a rigid application of this proposed system the work of the Treasury Department could be performed with two thirds the number of clerks now employed, and that is a moderate estimate of the saving.

"Mr. President, a Senator who is now present in the chamber and who will recognize the statement when I make it, though I shall not indicate his name, told me that the Secretary of one of the departments of the Government said to him, perhaps to the Committee on Appropriations, at the last session, that there were seventeen clerks in his department for whom he could find no employment; that he did need one competent clerk of a higher grade, and if the appropriation were made for that one clerk, at the proper amount, according to the gradations of the service, and the appropriation for the seventeen were left out, he could, without impairing the efficiency of his department, leave those seventeen clerks off the roll; but if the appropriation should be made, the personal, social, and political pressure was so great that he would be obliged to employ and pay them, though he could find no employment for them.