Evening journal., 1890-01-27
Mr.. ROOSEVELT REPORT
His Investigation of the New
York Custom House.
THOSE POLITICAL ASSESSMENTS.

Violations of the Civil Service Law Dis
covered by the Commissioner e His
views ON Alleged Voluntary Contribu-
tions aud Cam pafgn Assessments.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27.-The report Of
Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt ON
the results OF his recent investigation into
alleged violations Of the civil service laws
in the New York custom house has been
made public. Mr. Roosevelt reports that in
the surveyors Office he found that large
numbers Of temporary assistant weighers
were carried on the rolls and employed ir-
regularly, and after being once sworn in
are considered as being always in the serv-
ice, whether dropped from the rolls for a
day or for months As result OF this, no
new appointments of assistant weighers
have been made recently, there being so
much old material to draw from. Some Of
the temporary assistant weighers are en-
gagged at clerical work, while other persons
are appointed as laborers and detailed as
clerks. This is all, Mr. Roosevelt claims,
in violation Of the civil service law, and
should not be continued. The whole case
emphasizes ia the strongest manner the
need of a complete Reconsideration Of the
customs service.
Political Assessments.
Mr. Roosevelt's investigation into the col
lection Of political assessments prior to the
presidential election Of 1888 covered the CON
duct in this respect of the Offices of collector,
surveyor and naval officer of the port OF
New York, In the naval office under Mr.
Burt he found that the law was observed
absolutely, both in letter and spirit There
were no collections made for political pur-
poses in any shape or form, and nothing like
political coercion was tolerated. Each EN-
ploye was left entirely free to contribute to
which ever political party he desired or not
to contribute at all if he did not wish to.
Under Magone's Administration.
In the collectors Office under Mr.. Magone,
he says, there were apparently widespread
efforts to evade the law by persuading or
forcing the Republican clerks TO contribute.
In the surveyors office under Mr.. Beattie
the contributions, as far as shown by the
testimony Of the twenty-eight witnesses ox-
amined, We're universal
The Democrats generally gave their money
Of their own accord, but all the Republican
clerks were practically forced against their
will to pay what were in reality political
assessments for the benefit of the party to
which they were opposed This was accom-
plished by a very ingenious and widespread
system OF veiled threats and covert intimida-
tion, so well carried out that il was com
pletely successful Every method was re-
sorted to 70 extort the contributions, while
at the same time avoiding the actunl de-
mand Of money
The Employees Suooumbed.
BY various means so much pressure was
brought on the employees that in the end
they all succumbed and paid their money
Mr.. Roosevelt, while not charging the head
Of the Office, Mr.. Beattie, with completely in
this wrong doing, says the fact remains that
these acts were committed in the office un-
der his control. Such widespread and far
reaching evasion and violation of the law,
he observes, speaks but i'll for the vigilance
of those whose duty it was to see the law
enforced The contrast in this respect be-
tween the surveyors office under Mr.. Beattie
and the naval Office under Mr. Burt, he
adds, reflects credit on the latter, and does
not reflect credit on the former.
Those " Voluntary Contributions"
In some general observations on the col
lection of political assessments, Mr.. Roose-
welt says: 1T is worth while saving at the
outset that experience In a number Of in
vestigations OF this sort has convinced me
that the talk so often heard about the inius-
tice Of not allowing clerks to make 'voun-
tary contributions'-whi the law in no
wise prevents-is all nonsense. Government
employees do not as a rule contribute sim
ply from desire to help the political cause
in which they believe The SO called vol
untary contributions are nine times out Of
ten made with the hope of being retained in
office, or else with the object Of gaining
some advantage over the other clerks.
So Much BIackmaiI.
''It is probably safe to say that 90 per
cent Of the money collected for political
purposes from minor governmental EN-
ployes represents simply so much black
mail. This particular species of robbery is
mean enough at best, and one OF its mean
est features is the fact that the men most
apt to contribute money are those of oppo-
site political faith to the dominant party,
because they feel they have no power be-
hind the throne on which to rely Very
much Of the money SO collected is never
turned into the party campaign chests at
all, being kept for their own private uses
by the jackals who have collected it.
"In some offices tine system Of making po-
litical assessments has obtained steadily for
SO many years that many Of the clerks have
come to regard it as part OF the established
order of nature, against which they do not
think Of rebelling, but whatever their own
politics, regularly pay their contributions