St. Paul daily globe., 1889-07-18
Report Of Civil Service Com
miSSiOnerS on MilWau-
KEGS Postmaster.
Paul's Peccadilloes of Too
fragrant a Character to
Be Overlooked.
More Outrageous Official Mis-
conduct It Would Be Hard
to Find.
He Selected Good Democrats
and Gave Them All Soft
Snaps.

snaps.
WASHINGTON, July 1.-THE civil
service commission to-day made public
the report which they have been pre-
pairing for some time of the inveStiga-
ton made by them into the operation of
the civil service law in Milwaukee. A
report on the Milwaukee postOffice was
made some time ago. 1t was brief, and
the commissioners say they were in
fuenced in making it by the false state
ment of the postmaster to the effect
that his term of Office had expired. The
report made public to-day says that the
examination of the postoff1ce was made
by the entire commission. and the con-
cluSionS reached were agreed to unanl-
mously. The recently published state
ment of the Milwaukee postmaster. to
the effect that he was not given a hear
ing. is condemned by the commission as
a gross misstatement. That there has
the report is admitted by all; it can
be shown to exist by a brief ex-
animation of the analytical statement
compiled from the certificatiOn book,
and of the pencil memoranda from which
the certificatfOnS were actually made.
The only question is where the reSpOn-
Sibility lies. The commission examined
the secretary of the board at milwaukee,,
Hamilton Shidy. and the chairman, j.
B. Johnson. Shidy did all the work of
the board. He testified that he was
compelled by the postmaster to give the
latter free access to the list of eligibles,
and that he forced him (Shidy) to alter
the books so as to produce a certltica-
tion bearing the name of the appointee
chosen by him. Johnson's testimony,
though hearsay, confirmed that OF
Shidy. The postmaster denied these
statements. johnson, the report says,
evidently hoped to escape responsibility
by making no inquiries as to the truth
of Shidy'S statements to him. The com
mission holds, however, that Shidy and
johnson ;#
ARE, EQUALLY TO BLAME.
If, however, the statement of Shidy,
to the effect that he was forced to ac-
cede to the postmaster's demands for
fear of losing his means of subsistence,
is true, an infinitely heavier load of
blame rests on the postmaster. The
postmaster. Mr.. Paul, the report says,
admitted that in one case he had eX-
pressed great dissatisfaction with the
marking of an applicants papers, and
in consequence it had been changed.
Shidy stated that he was forced to make
this change to make room for another
applicant whom the postmaster
desired to appoint. When in July,
1856, the commission issued circular
prohibiting the postmaster having
copies of or knowledge of the lists of
nj ri Chi6xr ,,roD, pt no11pd tho
tention of the postmaster thereto, and
received for reply: "You can't pre-
vent my keeping copies of lists" The
report characterizes as extraordinary
the admission of Mr.. Paul that he
frequently picked out higher grade
eligible for a low grade position espe-
cially if there was an absence on the
list certified to me of proper parties"
This admission, the report says, is tant-
amount to saying the postmaster lille
gaily declines to take any men from
given certifcation unless he chose to do
so. The report instances as fair test
of "Mr. PauI's marvelOusly treacher-
Gus memory" his testimony on this
point on which he cOntradicted himself
three times. The admissions made by
Mr.. Paul, the report says, narrow the
investigation to question whether Mr..
Paul acted illegally and improperly in
all instances or only in some. In one
case OF gerrymanderlng IN which Ger
tain carrier was brought forward for
promotion to the displacement of others
of better average the report says:
The carrier named Keaveny) selected
from the second certiffcation for stamper
Feb. 81, 1885, had actually been appointed
stamper Dec. 8, 1887. two and one-thlrd
months before, and had been promoted to be
H. Tn nthn arlc
Paul selected man whom he desired out of
the carrier list, passing over carriers OF higher
average appointed him as stamper, and then
promoted him to be carrier without even
waiting for the stuffed certification for
which he was nominally appointed. more
outrageous piece of official misconduct it
would be hard to imagine. 1t is, however so
far from being unique that it IS simply sam
pie of the misdeeds shown in Exhibit A, the
analytical statement compiled from the GER
tification book and other records.
After giving other instances the re-
port says:
In short the official records show, beyond
possibility of dispute that the list of eligibles
were twisted and gaTbled in almost every
conceivable manner in order to produce
sWindling certificates whereby certain men
could be rejected although entitled to ap-
pointment, and other men appointed, al
though having no rightful claim to the
chance. For Mr.. Paul to plead innocence is
equivalent to imbecility Mr. Paul alone
benefited by the crookedness of the certif-
cations, for he alone had the appointing
power There could be no possible object in
Shidy's conduct, unless it was fear of
thwarting the wishes of his superior officers.
The conclusion is irresistible that Mr.. Paul
is responsible for the wrong doing. He has
grossly and habitually violated the law, and
has done it in a peculiarly revolving and
underhand manner. His conduct merits the
severest punishment; his further continu-
ance in the Office would be great misfor-
tune, and we recommend his immediate re-
moval.
AS for Shidy the commission think he
was guilty of grave misconduct in per-
mitting the board to become the tool of
Mr.. Paul, but what he did he did under
fear of losing his place if he rebelled.
In conclusion the commission say the
whole history of the case emphasizes in
the most striking manner the urgent
need of having at least some members
of every local board entirely removed
from the influence or dictation of the
appointing officer. Provision should be
made so at least some salaried member
could be added to every local board
from some outside source, so that it
should contain members removed be-
yond the possibility of influence from