Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-27
VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS.
Civil Service Commissioners Roosevelt
Makes Some Remarks Concerning
Them.


The report Of Civil Service Commissioner
Roosevelt on the results of his recent investiga-
ton into alleged violations OF the civil-service
law In the New York custom house was made
public last night Mr.. Roosevelt reports that
In the surveyors Office he found that large
numbers of temporary assistant weighers were
carried on the rolls and employed irregularly.
and after being once sworn in are considered
as being always in the service, whether dropped
from the rolls for day or for months. As a
result of this no new appointments of assistant
"e'shers have been made recently. there being
so much old material to draw from. Some OF
inc temporary assistant weighers are engaged
az clerical work, while other persons are ap-
pointed as laborers and detailed as clerks
ms Is ali Mr.. Roosevelt claims in violation Of
the civil service law and should not be con-
nnued. The whole case emphasizes in the
strongest manner, he thinks. the need of a
complete Reconstruction of the customs service
Mr.. Roosevelts investigation into the collec-
tlon OF political assessments prior TO the presi-
dental election of 1883 covered the
conduct IN this respect of the Offices
officer of the port of New York. In
the naval Office under Mr.. Burt ne found that
the law was observed absolutely, both in letter
and spirit In the collectors Office under Mr.
Magone he says there was apparently wide
spread but not universal and by no means
always successful efforts to evade the law bv
persuading or forcing the republican clerks to
contribute
In the surveyors Office, under Mr. Beattie,
the contributions as far as is shown by the
testimony of the twenty-cight witnesses eX-
amined, were universal The democrats gen.
orally 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 tor the benefit of
the party to which they were opposed. This,
he says, was accomplished by "a very ingenious
and widespread system of yelled threats and
covert intimidation, SO well carried out that it
was completely successful MIR. Roosevelt.
while not charging the head of the Office, Mr..
Beattle, with completely in this wrong doing,
says the fact remains that these acts were COM
United in the Office under his control
VOLUNTARY" Contributions.
In some general observations on the collec-
ton of political assessments Mr.. Roosevelt
says: 1T is worth while saving at the outset
that experience in number of Investigations
OF this sort has convinced me that the talk SO
often heard about the in Justice OF not allowing
clerks to make voluntary contributions -
which the law in no wise preyents-ls all nom
sense. Government employees do not rule
contribute simply from desire to help the po-
litical cause in which they believe. The So
called voluntary contributions are nine times
out OF ten made from some personal motives;
that is, either in the hope of being retained in
office or else with the object of gaining some
advantage over the other clerks. In other
words. the employees are coerced into making
them for fear their positions will be jeopardized
If they fail to do SO. 1t is probably safe to say
that 80 per cent OF the money collected for po-
htlcal purposes from the minor governmental
employees represents simply so much black
mail. This particular species of robbery is
mean enough at best and one of its features is
the fact that the men most apt to contribute
money, the men most susceptible to pressure
are those of the opposite political faith to the
dominant party. Those who agree in poll
tics with the party in control feel some assur-
ance of protection if they refuse to be coerced
into parting with their money; but the I'M
fortunates Of opposite political faith feel that
they have no power behind the throne on which
to rely. are nervously afraid of giving offense
and yield heipiessly when threatened.
Another fact to be remembered" he adds. lis
that 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 1T. If the head
OF the office is determined to have his subordi-
mates contribute the latter soon know it. aud
the fact that they must pay becomes common
talk among them. In some offices tue system
OF making political assessments has obtained
steadily for so many years that many of the
CleThs nave come 10 regard IL 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
into the campaign chest of the dominant party;
as one of them expressed it, they feel that the
desk, not the man at it, owes just SO much to
the party in power. Many politicians take this
view as a matter of course. One of the wit
nesses in the present case, a strong republican,
who was holding Office under the last adminis-
tration, testites that he was advised to con-
tribute to the democratic campaign fund by one
OF has friends, a New York republican distric;
leader, as being the only thing to do If he