National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-03-16
Ex-secretary sel,urz and Mr.. Gilmore.

10 ec Euu0T o. Inc hti3uOltcd1i:
Permit me first to thank you for the
editorial in this mornings NATIONAL REPUBLICAN
upon Attorneys in the Departments" and then
to say few words in regard to my suit against Mr.
Carl Schurz, late Secretary of the Interior, upon
which your editorial was based. When the charge
was first made against me, through the agency of
one of my discharged employees that had bribed
a clerk in the Land Office, 1 at once entered an
emphatic denial and asked for an investigation.
Secretary Schurz appointed commission, and Or
dered the evidence taken before it. OF that eyi-
dence the findings of the commission, and the let
ter of disbarral of the Secretary have certified
copies printed. one of which hand you with this
You will see that there is no testimony
which would have been accepted by any
court or jury to establish the charge Even
the commission, organized to convict, did not SO
find or report. 1t said: In conclusion the board
have the honor to report that while finding money
was paid by C. D. Gilmore to F. 0. Bail Che clerk
whom was charged with bribing>, not only in
1878, but previously under circumstances which
forbid us to believe that any loan was intended,
we are glad to be able to state that so far as We
can discover, no injurious fraud has been prac-
tieed upon the material interests Of the Govern
ment by allowing improper claims; but that the
transaction has been confined to the payment and
receipt of mcneyS for official services III the line of
duty claimed by Mr. Ball to have been done as
extra work and outside the ordinary and usual
Office hours" Even this finding was not justified
by the evidence. The testimony of myself and
others established the fact that Mr.. T. o. Ball came
to i'll great distress, and that at several differ
ent times loaned him money, the greater part of
which he returned, and that in spirit of gratitude
he worked outside of Office hours 10 hurry I'D
not my business alone, but all that came before
him in its regular order thus expediting cases of
mine in the same ratio that ne did those of Others
The charge against me was "bribing clerk in the
Land Office" The board, appointedby Mr.. SchuTz,
Iad {s,Ho tn
except that of my discharged clerk, whom I pro-
posed. but was not permitted to, proYe-fHeF
follow charges against the clerk In this COMMIT
nifty, where have lived and been in business six
teen years, no one who knows me viii beHeYe that
did anything diShOnorabe or wrong, but among
strangers to both of us the action OF the late Secre
tary might place an imputation upoamy character.
1t could not where both arc known The arbitrary
and Illegal action of Mr.. Schurz confiScated
several hundred thousand dollars worth of nay
property and in that fact may be found the mo
tive for his action. l was the representative in
the different executive departments of 1900
clients, whose claims aggregated many millions of
dollars, and was reputed to be man of property,
and therefore proper lbect to be bled or black
mailed by some of the impecuniOus friends of the
sent to me and offered for conditional fee of
$4,000 to have ME restored refused his offer In
a few weeks this offer was renewed, the price being
$4,000. Still later and not long before the Secretary
retired from Office, the price reduced to S. 900.
Whether any of the parties could have carried out
the contracts they proposed do not know None
Oh tnem asked iof any pay except upon the con-
tngency OF success and one of them holds Gov
ernment position by the appointment of Secretary
Schurz. L was charged with bribing clerk The
law provides a punishment for that crime and
preseTibes the mode in which the guilty party shall
be tried. No effort was made to enforce the law
sgaiust me. 0fone thing you may rest assured
the case against Mr.. Schurz viii be brought to
trial not that ever expect to recover an equiya-
lent for the damages have sustained, but because
intend to vindicate myself and set at rest by the
decision of the highest legal tribunal of the coun
Try whether "a man clothed with little brief
authority" can violate the rights of citizen and
confscate his property without punishment.
1 shall leave to others the discussion as TO the
legal aspects of the question and ask that you pub
hSh this as q personal Tindicatiou of myself from
the odium which would justly attach TO legal and
proper disbaTERl Of attorney. Very respectfully
CHARLES ID. GILMORE.