National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-03-20

,FGR3IDAYA
REPLY OF GENERALBAKER
rcsasissss ~. Etrss Psse.,
was the only one Of these psrtks trssd, and hs
~ (TelsgEsm,1
He.. Jse. Z. 1sssrtdss 0sssrsess 12sssGessc.
You were psssidsst q tNs count marital IN
et. Louis, No, b 1854 Us, which tzisdoes "a
ward Murphy for seeaaboat burnine, azd other
atrocious crimes, n aid Of The D6ellipa. He
vas convicted and ssntenced. Was thsre any
thing In that trial which rejected upoa ny n
tegTity q character - an o6lcera The9e y Oh
solutely nothing Of the kind IN the record.
Answer BY telegram promptly and emphs&i-
cally.
I (signed) J.H. hxs.,
srRINGFIrLD, ILL.,, March u ma
General ,. r. Baker, Cs1ntsstessr Il Psssioss,
WashfsgtoS, D. c.:
In the trial Of Edward Murphy It g.. Louis
for steamboat burning there was to my best
recollection nothing disclosed deroRatory to
your character - man or ohicer. -
John L. Bevehdgs:
s'9. That on or about March IS, 1873, said
Baker purchased, for his own private use h bis
private apartment, and not in the public Ger.
vice, certain furniture which cost q follows:
Ons desk, $3.50; ono chair, $50; one IRE screen,
SIS; one book-rack, go; that said furniture
was paid for from abe contingent fund.
This d the only square and specific charge,
and meet Il - squarcly and specifically.
have taken from the Pension Ofice ct various
times to my private room suitable plain and
convenient furniture for my use as public
officer In the dispatch Of the public bu9iness.
The rooms which have occupied from time 10
time have not been provided with these articles,
and I1have taken them from the ONCE to sup
ply the deficiency, changing them according
TO the character and size Of tho room CHANGED
to occupy. I claim this a. an indisputable
right, and have done II in good faith a. pub
Lie oficer. These articles are borne upon the
lists Of public property belonging 70 the Pen,
claiming them q my private property, and
only the wantouness Of malice itself could i'm
pute such motives.
1t has long been the usage Of the heads Of
Departments and other public officers to pro-
vide themselves with suitable conveniences for
dispatching the public business out of the pub
lie property subject to their control, to be tenn
porarily 20 used, and thereafter returned.
Usage, justice and necessity sanction the prac-
largest bureau connected with the Government,
disbursing thirty millions of money annually
with the operations of an Office SO multiform
and vast, am often compelled to work at my
private rooms and out of ONCE hours. To do
this provide myself with desk and suitable
material from the office. For all this respond
bility my salary Is 5000 . year. With such an
inadequate sum could not afford to purchase
even the few articles require for the proper
49, at 20 kho q hsVai avn
often compelled to do in my private apartment.
"3. That Baker, under the plea of visiting
pension agencies, drew q, 900 as mileage from
the contingent fund Of his Office, when, ntruth
and in fact, he absented himself from his Office
on excursions, which were paid for out Of the
contingent fund"
There are ffty-nine pension agencies, which
disbuIse over CSC, OOO, 900 annually. They are
scattered over the country far and wide. In
some there have been defalcations, In others
irregularities, and in most there is constant oc-
casion for watchfulness and inspection; this Il
my duty. Many of them have VISITED, some
frequently, As the occasion demanded, many
not at all. regret (and were the duties Of
my office here less exacting It might properly
be charged against me as q neglect Of duty
that have not personally inspected all Of these
agencies. These personal visits Of the Com
missioner have been, and in the nature of
things must be, productive of the best results.
No agencies are in such order, and no accounts
in such condition, Is those which have been or
are liable to be personally visited and inspected
by the Commissioner.
It is my intention In the future, II possible,
to do this work more thoroughly. In addition
to this there have been special and important
cases requiring my personal presence, and
there have been frequent difficulties and en-
barrassments with medical boards to be ad-
justed. In the performance Of these import
ant duties, running through.a period of three
the expense here given WAS incurred, nor Is the
amount correctly stated, being much less than
mentioned. Under the solemnity of my oath,
claim to be the proper judge Of the measure
of my responsibility in the discharge of these
duties. Nor have drawn one dollar of money
in this manner for which official services Of
importance have not been rendered.
In one of these visits above referred to I
secured an actual return to the Government Of
in another, $1,000; most of which, If not all,
am morally convinced would have been q
total loss to the Government had It not been
for the efforts thus put forth to secure Il.
The truth is that my accusers have here
arraigned me for simply doing my duty.
81. That he has permitted his son, clerk in
the Pension Office, to purchase articles ostcn-
sibly for the service of the Department, and to
convert the same to his own use by pawn,
pledge, or otherwise"
The consideration of this part of these wicked
charges Is to me the most painful of all. do
not envy the heart of that man or woman who
can deliberately attempt to affix stigma upon
the brow Of young man just starting in life
that may cast baleful shadow over his coming
years. I brand these charges as one of the
most cruel and atrocious of falsehoods. It is
an innuendo which, according to the authority
Of Noah Webster, sis justly regarded As one
of the basest resorts of malice and false
hood" ..
1t merely asperses character without . single
specification. My son was some time since sta
tionery clerk in the Pension Office. heard q
rumor affecting the character of his perform
ance of duty. I diligently caused all the &C.
counts to be examined, and found them strictly
correct. l then, in company with the Deputy
Commissioner, visited In person every one 81
the contract stationers, to learn If he had ever
at any time, under any circumstances, at
tempted any wrong In purchase or otherwise.
They each and al! emphatically denied that he
had ever sought to do any improper act but,
on the contrary, declared that his fidelity to his
trust and his conscientious performance of duty
were remarkable. After the most searching
examination into every story affecting his char
acter for integrity, 1t was found that all were
alike without foundation, and were only born
of that idle scandal which is commonly and
recklessly scattered about every large public
Office. state this the more particularly, not
only to acquit myself of any attempt to screen
my son In any wrong act, but to place on record
the fact that the most thorough and exhaustive
examination not only failed to bring to light
any evidence Of guilt, but, on the contrary,
resulted In his vindication by demonstrating the
exactness Of his accounts, and his scrupulous
fidelity in the performance Of the duties with
which he was charged.
That In the last six months he has paid.
the Deputy Commissioner 81 500 for services
never performed, and has paid said Deputy full
salary when he was absent for the space of
three months not on duty of the Bureau.
The Deputy Commissioner has duties akin to
my own. He is often dispatched upon such
errands Is are enumerated in my reply to the
third charge. Some expense has thus been
necessarily incurred. The charge 10 in all its
features pure fabrication. The absences re-
ferred to, were when the Deputy Commis-
sioner was either away on official duty, or
called home to the hedside of n greatly