The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1873-10-10

The ease Of Chaunccy Filley. POstInas-
Ter 81 ~. Louis, against whom complaint
i made that lac assesses his clerks, j. rather
peculiar and 80 Illustrative OF certain cur
rent bad habits OF the public service as 10
deserve more notice. Filley j. not "A POI
li9ical hack O a hummer, but j.. or was.
! a prominent business man. and Of the class
that make the best material for public Of
flee. He had been considerably In public
life. and had nee been Mayor OF the city.
lie belonged % the caste of personal
friends Of the President" that j.. had con-
tribuicd TO some of the giffs which have
been bestowed upon him. lie visited him
at Long Branch, we suppose "wOrked'
for him. and after the election. last fall. re-
cciyed from him q list OF seven offices from
which he might choose. Only one Of them
was az ~. Louis. and he chose that one.
Mr.. fllcy. however. Notwithstanding
his general good character. NOTWITHSTANDING
ing his intimacy with the chief Of the pur-
est civil service in the world. entered Of
fice with queer ideas. No sooner had ho
got warm I'm his seat than he presented 20
each clerk TWO papers, either OF which he
was at liberty 10 sign; was a resigna-
ton and the other was an order on the
cashier for five per cent. of his salary. The
clerk could submit to be mulcted or he
could quit the premises. AZ became neces-
sary to appoint additional carriers. and
every person accepting I'm appointment
was also Obliged 10 leave on file his resig-
nation. with the date blank. These poor
fellows were also assessed and the remorse-
less filley wento ON the back-pay principle
and assessed them for five months preyi-
Gus 10 their being employed. so that In
many cases wlenthe assessment was called
for the %appOintce had not earned enough
10 v II. in which case filley took what
he could get and note for the remainder!
Mr.. Eilley says he was sliorl. Other
people. indeed. were aware of it. for he
does not seem TO have been Successful In
business. He has recently passed through
bankruptcy and al the very moment when
the President was a guest at "A grand enter
tainment given by this postmaster. the
house over their heads was advertised for
sale under the bankrupt law.
But all these are incidents compared with
the great fact that Mr.. Filley makes no de-
nial of them. does not sec the Improperly
of them. and will not resign. intending
10 test the friendship OF the P~resident.''
This i the bad feature of il. lie. "a re-
spectacle man Of business worked for the
Office. accepted il. and administered II. all
as the reward of friendship. and now can
perceive that, n long A. he continues
an agreeable host OF his master. he is I'M
any obligations r. the public whom he
serves. or Tire smaller public who serve
him. We desire especial attention To this
case a. an instance OF precisely the form Of
corruption which fiourishes under the in
iluencc OF the Presidential example. He
appointed Filley. because Fillcy had fed
him. and Filley appoints Smith and Jones
because smith and Jones give him five per
cent. The example of the Presidents
loose habit in this respect ovcrrides and
superyenes all the rules and proclama-
tons 20 which he can put his hand. Even
ii he has reformed his own opinion and
on this point. the best civil SER
vice in the world see no visible evidence
of hi regeneration. and probably think
the "rules all moonshine. The authori-
AT Washington have forwarded the
ease to Long Branch. and if the President
has a mind to Ito something for the public
service more instructive md more refornla-
tory than tons of civil-seryice reports. now
his chance. -SprtnqfcR (Moss.) ReDaJ-
iicaH.