Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-15

Clarkson in reference to the appointment of
the negro Penny to position in the Atlanta
postofice, the Constitution will say to-mor-
row in a double-leaded editorial: That the
authorities In Washington are determined
to distort the facts relative to the appoint
ment of the negro, Penny, to place in the
Atlanta postofice, is clearly shown by the
telegram which we printed yesterday.
Nearly every statement attributed to Acting
Postmaster General Clarkson in that tele-
gram is false on the face of it. and the tele-
gram may Justly be regarded as deliberate
attempt on the part of an official supposed
to be close to the administration to deceive
the public with reference to an event that
HAS BECOME NOTORIOUS.
"Mr. Clarkson says that the Atlanta
postmaster, General Lewis, appointed
Charles G. Penny, who stood at the head OF
the civil service list of eligibles. This is
false. When Lewis appointed Penny he
was the lowest in list Of two, and Lewis
did not discover until afterward that
Sturgis, the white applicant, was not
eligible, for he appointed him to clerk
ship in another department next day.
Lewis himself says that he appointed
Penny to the position in the Registry
Department because he would there be less
liable to come in contact with the public,
but Mr.. Clarkson says that Penny was as
signed to the work in the Registry divis-
ion, not in the same room with the young
lady, but in another The impression here
sought to be left on the public mind is
false. Ex-Postmaster Renfroe, who knows
a great deal more about the workings Of the
postoffce here than Lewis, says that the
clerks in the Registry Department are
necessarily
BROUGHT INTO CONTACT
and association. Mr.. Clarkson says that
the young lady and her father, who was
and had the assignment of clerks, both re-
signed because q negro had been appointed
to a place in the Office That this is abso-
lutely false is shown by Mr.. Clarksou him
self, who goes on to say that there were five
negro clerks in the postof6ce under the
Democratic postmaster.
'This attempt at whitewashipg which ema-
mates from Washington will not be success
full. The people of Atlanta know what
they are about, and in this progressive lib
eral city public sentiment is never at fault
in matters of this kind. If all that Mr..
Clarkson has said is true, how is that Mr..
VanWinkle, Republican, refuses to re-
main on Mr.. Lewis bond? If the post
master did not violate the civil service law,
how il it that Judge Henry B. Tompkins
comes off his bond on that very ground, and
shows that the appointment of the negro was
deliberate and inexcusable? The Consti-
tuition assures Mr.. Clarkson that neither the
administration nor any of its servants will
be permitted to slander and misrepresent
Atlanta %
CLARKsoN RErALIATEs.
A telegram from Washington says that |
the above was shown to Acting Postmaster
General Clarkson tonight, and he WASH
asked what he had to say in regard to it
He said: 81 have no wish to follow the
matter up. stated the official facts, the |
literal truth. The Constitution seems to |
have been the original and inspiring medium
OF the whole sensation, gotten up purely fortI
partisan effect, as an appeal against the ap-
pointment of colored people to Office. The
facts are as I stated them. Penny was
drawn from the list of eligibles. He was
put in the registry division, where the.
white girls father, as Superintendent, hads
the assignment of all clerks. The Superin-l
tendent first asked whether he could be kept |
for four years. The postmaster told him
that he could not tell him, that. He then
resigned. 1t seems he was willing to work |
four years with colored man, but not few
months. 4
THE BOND TROUBLE.
'There has been no trouble as to Post |
master Lewis bond. While one gentleman
may have asked to withdraw from it, several |
other good men in Atlanta, native South |
erners, men Of courage, not afraid to stand |
by man in right position, volunteered to |
go upon the bond, and made il much better |
than before.
'It is no wonder that since the story has |
gone to the country there is an attempt on |
the part of Atlanta to explain. The truth |
is, Postmaster Lewis did nothing more than !
was right, and no amount of misrepresenta- |
tion on account of race prejudice can distort |
the actual facts into anything else than the |
truth The postmaster, instead of trying to |
put the colored clerk at the same desk with |
the white girl, as the Atlantis papers first |
printed it and sent it North, sent him to the |
superintendent of the Registry division, who |
was the white girls father, and the colored |
man was
PUT IN ANOTHER ROOM.
'"There was no more justification in the |
father and daughter resigning than there |
would have been if they had resigned when |
the Democratic postmaster had five negro
clerks in the same Office.
'The Constitution admits that there were |
only two men on the eligible list. The |
vacancy to fill was in the Registry division, |
for which the negro was qualified. The |
other man was chosen the next day for an |
other vacancy in the office. and which va |
cancy he was more competent to fill
''The spirit OF the Constitution, and those |
it represents, simply represents those who |
are unwilling to accept the negro as a citi- |
zen. and who are unwilling to let the col |