Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-04
A SHARP REJOINDER.
Secretary Mobiles Reply to Gov. Hil's
Recount Letter.

Secretary Mobiles Reply to Gov. HIPS
Recount Letter.
Gov. Hills letter to Secretary Noble in re-
gard to the recount Of the population of New
York city has ELECTED a responsc, in which the
Secretary informs the governor that he has
already received letter from the mayor OF
New York on the same subject and adds, rather
tarty, that while you have added the weight
of the governors Office 10 the complaint You
have failed to add TO those already presented
by the mayor a single suggestion OF the slight
est value" He reminds the governor that his
exhortation upon the subject of fair apportion-
ment was needless, and had he read the cor
respondence with the mayor, whose immediate
concern this business had been, you would
have found your topic already exhausted"
Continuing the Secretary says:
It is much to be regretted that in letter
to me. when acting upon purely official mat
ter. you as governor, should speak as a parti-
san and Impute corrupt purpose to the CEN
su5 enumerators to secure party advantage by
diminishing the count of the city of New York
Your imputatlOn against the enumerators and
the census work is SO entir " gratultous and I'M
founded as to be slanderous, as YOU should
know that your abusive course could not tend
TO promote that far and judicial consideration
i have been disposed to give to the application
Of the mayor. Your charge, imputing fraudu-
lent motives to others. rather suggests that as
your party thinks increased population
would Inure to Its advantage the count OF the
police (taken. as 1t has been, since the police
board OF New York has been made parrisan)
needs the very closest scrutiny and analysis.
The charges now being made in New York
against the city government by democrats are
not of kind TO relieve any work done BIZ il
from the grayest suspicion OF reckless PARTISAN
ship.
Your accusations, heretofore confined to in
terVlews and stump speeches. began even be-
fore the enumeration WAS announced Some of
the democratic newspapers IN New York and
elsewhere made the census enumeratO work
very difficult. by exciting the prejudice of iS-
norance against ii. and il is TO be remarked that
You. IA early as the LIST of July last, made an
address before the Hendricks Club at Indiana
polls IN which you bitterly assailed the census
office and its work. and asserted without any
knowledge whatever tie same evil purpose you
now send TO me officially. You then repeated
the newspaper criticisms and spoke of the
great army OF inquisitors sent pryIng into our
houses. asAIag lmpertncnt questions, making
false records, &C., and you did not fail TO
notice the possible effect of all this in raising
popular distrust and dissemination to respond
TO the enumerators. You did not succeed IN
these efforts 10 any considerable degree. but
you are largely responsible for any lnaccura-
cles that may exist. You set the example by
derounclng law of Congress, and thus sug-
gested its violation by your less acute political
followers. Your early and continuous partisan
assaults upon the census have had necessarily
motive which is easily GiscerDed. That mo-
tive points 10 an unjust end, which certainly
shall not promote. Ii is but just that there
should be no delay IN completing the census,
that the purposes tor which ii is intended may
be accomplished.
You further asserted in the speech men
toned that 1T (the republican party) will not
repudlate that even more plainly declared
pchcy OF breaking the power of the solid south
In presidential as well as congressional cleo
tions by deliberately ignoring the vast in
creases OF population in that section of the coun-
try during the last decade" The truth is that
no complaint whatever has been received from
any southern state a state against the census.
knd the only serious claim of an erroneous
diminution of population and representation
Dy state came from the republican state of
Oregon. Out of the 2.7S1 counties in all the
states and territories there has been no COM
plant whatever save from Multnomah county
in Oregon. There has not been a complaint
from any southern city that has not been
promptly and satisfactorily adjusted without
recount, save at Columbus Ga, and there was
found an increase OF j. 13S only.
You seem to be against census to be taken
even by yOur own state, for you vetoed bill
passed by its legislature in 1885 and which was
required by its constitution. 1t is reasonable
to suppose that the patronage you seem to think
SO influential In political affairs would not have
fallen into your hands, or, judging you by the
Standard You apply to others, your official ac-
tIon would have been just the opposite OF what
it was.
As have demonstrated, he'great body of the
people of the United States are content with
the census, and are uninfiueEced by partisan
assaults such as yours. Sustained by their con-
bdeEce. shall proceed with the discharge Of
my official duties in this and all other business
coming before me, carefully and Justly. cor
rectiEg what may be convinced is wrong and
feariess!y adherinS to what i believe to be
right.
l regret the necessity Of addr essing the chief
magistrate OF the leading state of the Union IN
the terms have employed. but find my justi-
fcatiOn IN the reckless incompetence OF Ian
guage you have seen fit to use-language which
Is lacking as much in truth as it Is in the dig
nifty BETTING your great Office, which in the
past has been filed by eminent men of both
political parties of New York.
Upon the merits OF the mayors application
shall reply 20 him.
GOV. HILL RETRAcTs NOTHING.
special to the New York Herald from e.
mira, y. y. says: Gov Hill was shown a copy
Of Secretary Mobiles letter at his hotel here
last night He said after looking it over; Il
am not surprised that Mr.. Noble refused to do
justice TO New York city. The course he has
adopted IS IN keeping with the whole conduct
OF the census business since il undertaken
at Washington Neither Mr.. Noble nor Mr..
Hor1er intended to give the people fair count.
The results show that what predicted in my
Indianapolis speech, to which he alludes, has
been verified. / saw indications then that
democratic localities were to be defrauded, and
1t Is now shown that they have BEEN l reiter-
ate the charge that the census SO far as New
York city Is concerned, is base swindie; that
the plot was conceived at Washington to de-
prive New York state of an additional repre-
sentative IN Congress and an additional cleo
toral vote. II could hardly be expected that
the officials who have carried out this scheme
would retrace their steps. They have dared
public sentiment in the past and they are prob
ably prepared TO continue in the same course
m dtaftr hsN
because l attributed wrong motives 10 his GEN.
sus enumeration. lretract nothing that have
said"
CORRESPONDENCE WITH Mr.. KESSEY.
Several letters passed yesterday between Sec
rotary Noble and Mr.. Kenney. the representa-
tive sent to this city by Mayor Grant with the
books and papers relating to the recent police
census of that city. Secretary Noble wrote 10
Mr.. Kenney informing him that he wished to
begin an examination OF the books and papers
and requesting him to deliver them to the chief
clerk OF the Interior Departrnent who would