The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-28
WHITEWAsH IN ADVANCE.

HA41oU " In nj hNOof
In the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette Of
Saturday there is the following special from
Washington:
'There is entire confidence in the Postofice
Department in the capacity and fitness of Su-
perintendent French, of the railway mail serv-
ice. The commission of pOstmasters recently
appointed to consider certain complaints
against Mr.. French was constituted quite as
much in his interest, in order that the whole
subject might be set at rest, as because any
one here believed the charges. But they have
been so persistently repeated that it was
thought best to take the proper official course
to definitely settle the matter"
This is a step in advance of the unquestion-
ably authoritative specials" heretofore sent
out from Washington about this remarkable
Investigation" The former statements simply
nave been that the department had '%investi-
gated the charges once and was satisfied that
Colonel French was "a model officer" but
now the statement is made that the "~investi-
cation" is ordered forthe special and particular
purpose of indicating the man to be invesr
tigated." This is investigation" with
a vengeance; but it is of a part with the Gin
vestigation" accorded by Colonel" French to
well-grounded complaints Of notorious out
RACES and misconduct on the part of his spe-
cial representatives. Colonel" French is deaf
to every charge, ignores every cOmplaint-if,
indeed, they ever reach him-and things are
permitted to exist with the tacit, if not active,
consent of this 'model officer" which are a
scandal to the public service and a weakness
and disgrace to so important a branch as the
railway mail service.
AS to Colonel French particularly, as the
Journal said, we do not assume the truth of
what is urged against him; but in view of the
publications, which must come from some
one knowing the inside feeling of
the Postofice Department, an 'inves-
tigatiOn' of these charges under the circum
stances is simply a farce, and that we have not
hesitated to say. The employees who COM
plain are stigmatized by some persons assum-
ing to speak for the department and by
Colonel French's organs, as 4disgruntled, "
and it is very plain that if any one of the
clerks is foolish enough to appear before the
board to say a word against the superintendent
he only invites the probability, if not the GER
tainty, of further ill favor from this 'model
officer" and ultimate dismissal. Our advice
to all the clerks would be to ignore the SEES
sions of the board, and rely upon a juster second
thought on the part of the authorities for the
redress of whatever may be wrong. That
there are and have been wrongs is a matter of
public knowledge. The petty prosecutions Of
Colonel French and certain outrages con
nected with his administration have been the
subject of action by some of the very best men
of indianapolis, who would not have taken the
trouble to write the Department if there had
been no ground for complaint. Colonel
French may be a ''model officer" and disci-
plinarian, but his discipline has been main
tanned at the expense of the respect of the
great majority of those over whom it is exer-
cised, and that fact alone, we think, shows he
Is uOG u Hlouel OAiCeI' n ihOUO4 olhOO1 IL
one who can use power without its abuse, and
secure at once the good will as well as the
faithful service of those over whom he is set
in authority.
But the Journal started out to do nothing
more than to call attention to a farce, and this
we think is so generally recognized that the
proposed investigation" will die of itself, and
whatever remedy, if any is needed, will be
found in another direction.