National Republican., 1878-07-27
The Attack on Commissioner spear.

SIR: Your paper OF the 2tth contains an ar
ticle signed "silenta,' which contains so much
| ofcrror, not to say falschood, that ask room
| for reply.
without stopping to discuss "civil.service,"
which he evidently uses merely as a cover for
| his attack on Commissioner Spear, / proceed
| to notice some OF his statements.
Like Silcntia, my business has brought me
| daily In attendance at the Patent. Office, not
| recently merely, but for the past seventeen
years, and i may therefore claim to know
something Of Its workings under various Com.
| missioners.
First. As the pretended unsettled state of
affairs there, It Is mere nonsense. The affairs
OF the Office were never in a more settled con-
dition or its business better conducted than
since General Spear was appointed.
II, rs he says there Is such uncertainty as
to the tenure Of position among the employees,
II ari es not from any action OF the Commits
sioner, but from the constant attempts Of Con-
gress TO reduce the number and the salaries Of
the employees which, as all know, has been
persistent for the two past sessions
Mr.. Spear was appointed February 20, 1877,
| and since that time the whole number OF
changes In the examining corps has been but
eighteen.
These were necessitated by the following
casualties: Deaths, g; designations, 7; dis
missals, 4 ; transfers, I.
Following these changes there were twenty
two promotions, all by competitive exanina-
tions, rs were also all but five Of the preceding
eighteen appointments; and Of the five which
| were not by competitive examination, one was
that OF DIR. Antisell, an old examiner, restored
Mr.. Packard, q former second assistant,
restored Mr.. Partridge, transferred from the
sccretary's office; Mr.. Peck from chief clerk,
and Mr.. Marble from Assistant Attorney Gen
erals room to examincrship.
Aside from these, all appointments and pro-
motions in all grades, from 81 100 up, have
been uniformly made on competitive cxami-
| nations, tho examining committees being ap-
pointed by the Secretary Of the Interior. 1t
will therefore be seen that the idea sought to
be conveyed, that there has been an unusual
number OF dismissals and and appointments.
and that they have been made without regard
to the civil-service rules in force is simply
untrue, aud either Silentia must have known
ii TO be else he cannot have that familiarity
| with the conduct of the office that he pre-
| tends to, or that iustihes him In ing such
| statements. i am inclined to think the latter
Is the case, for the reason that he gives the
number of employees at 800, whereas there are
in fact from I25 to $50.
''Silentia" seems to ignore the fact Of the
changes necessitatod by the burning Of the Of
flee, and the completion Of the tracings for
copies OF the back patents, on which u large
force was employed, aud which, Of course,
|
done. On the work of restoring the
| models alone 300 labOrers were employed out
of 100 who begged for n chance, and who, of
cOnrsc, had to be dismissed when the work was
done. They took the places with that know
ledge and understanding; and many begged
for the work to keep their families from staiv-
| ing, even IT only for u few days Was II the
fault of Commissioner Spear that these parties
had to be dismisseGr And yet these, with
the trscers before mentioned, constitute the
great bulk Of the disnissals about which
'Silentia' talks. They form no part Of the
regular force of the bureau, ,as every one knows
perfectly well, and IL is simply absurd to cite
| them MS evidences of changes In the employees
Of the office.
Equally unfortunate II "Silcnta In his
statement about recent appointments, for these
appointments consist SIMPLY in the employ
mcnt of mechanics an labOrers to make the
necessary repairs proyi led for by an appropria.
ton Of Congress at its recent session.
As has always been the ease, there have becf
some dismissals in the clerical force from time
to time the rule having been to drop the least
efficient whenever changes were ncccssitated
either by u lack of funds or want of employ.
, ment for them and so far all the complaints
made have emanated from these parties. A,
an illustration OF this fact, may cite the case
Of the two parties who undertook to furnish
: the Congressional Committee on Expenditure,
in the Interior Department with evidence o.
the "crookedness" about which "Sientia ;
says tiore has been liuch talk in private and
public.
One Of them was one -, a newspaper
Bohemian, who begged piteously for place
which was finally given him. but who, provinl
Z incompetent for the place, was transferred Il
another, and then to another, but who, prov
ing totally unit for even subordinate place,
g was finally dismissed. The other was on,
-, who claimed to be refugee from
4 West Virginia, who, through the important
e ties Of his friends, was given o subordinate
place, but who, like the other, proved to be o.
n no account, and was therefore dropped.
r These, aud Others like them, We're the par.
?. ties who made the Democrats of the Hous,
, believe they could find in the Patent. .Oiic,
. such evidences Of fraud and corruption al
" would furnish sufficient political capital for til,
coming campaign and yet SO utterly die
they fail that the rartie5 themselves asked
! that the matter might be held over, in hopci
!, that something might turn up by next session
u to give color to their false statements.
Instead of proving any fraudulent or i'm
d proper use Of funds, 1t was shown that the con
Q tingent expenses Of the office under Commits
Il sioner Spear, notwithstanding the fire, ,wer,
less than S2O,0OO-less than one-half of wha
e they were the preceding year, and less THAI
Ii the expenditures for like purposes in singh
y quarter, under previous administrations!
4. The fire Of course necessitatcd large addi
- tlOnNl tAptlsc lhDpr, III moving ana pre-
B serving records, furniture, watchmen, &c, AM
ID many other purposes, which so reduced the ap
ID preparations Congress having failed to suppl,
the deficiency that some discharges wer
!. necessarily made to keep within the law. Al
a. ter the deficiency bill passed, April 80, most O
II those discharged were restored, and a fe,
NJ others appointed
~ The appropriation bill for 1889 rcstricte
the expenditure from the contingent fund f1
l. clerical purposes to $4,000, and this nccossi
tated an additional reduction to come With
Y the law and these are the recent dismissal
Vi about which "Slcntia" complains. VII,
doesn't he put the blame where 1t bolOngs-o
le Congress, aud not on the Commissioner II
III is no more TO blame for that than for th
Is bluuder in enrolling the bill by which th
ly appropriation was reduced some $4,000 be
low what Congress intended. With referenc
IL to the credit system about which "Silentia
Il talks, II did not originate with COMMISSIONS
as Spear, and is nothing new. 1t has alway
t. existed, and arises from the fact that attorney
I'd all over the country, needing certified copis
of patents aud other records for suits, and nt
ID knowing their cost, write to the COMMISSIONS
n. asking that they be sent, with bill for tn
r. amount. II became q custom years ago
10 keep an account with the leading attorney
le such men as Keller, Clifford, Harding Fishe
aud the like, and to forward them bills fror
IN time TO time, which were paid. In addition
is these, there was class Of irregular account
- for recording asst signmcnts aud the like sent