Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-11-17

ostracised him and appealed to the commits
sioner of pensions, under whom Mr.. Bogy
was employed, to examine into the merits
of his literary production. which, it was
believed. reflected upon all their class, and
TO say whether he should serve the govern
ment further side by side with them. As
a result of the complaint the commissioner
of pensions wrote the following letter to
Secretary Noble:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BUREAU OF PENSIONS.
WASHINGTON, D. c.. Nov u. S9l.
Hon. John W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior.
SIR have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt by reference Of Assistant Sec
rotary EusSey, of a letter addressed to you
by Miss NJ D. Miller calling attention to
the book entitled In Office" written by
MIR. Lewis V. Bogy, a clerk in this bureau.
l have read the book in question and have
before me the passage to which Miss Miller
invites your attention at page l4S. where
allusion is made TO a tragedy which &C.
Cured some years ago of young man
shooting himself at a private residence
(where he was calling) through careless
ness. The young lady referred to was not
res pOnsible for it in any way. There can
be no doubt Mr.. Bogv had this case in
mind when he wrote this paragraph. The
cnange of names does not obscure his al
fusion. The innuendo that the honor of the
young ldLy was COlu pTDullSGu ny inc WISH
ana death of the young man, that the dam
aging facts We're hushed up by an infiuen-
tial congressman, and that the young lady
is not kept in Office because of her merit.
but because of her figure" is in my
opinion, libel upon all parties concerned.
The writer makes it appear that the chief
of one of the divisions IN the patent Office
undertakes the seduction of one
of his lady clerks and, failing in
his purpose, subjects her to repeated
indignities, and invents and promulgates
the SANDER that she is the mistress of a
member of congress, and at last causes her
dismissal because he has failed in his pur-
pose. The writer also brings upon the
stage persons represented as notorious
prostitutes, who are retained in position,
and thus shows the punishment of virtue
and the rewarding of vice He also graph
cally details an interview between mem
Der of congress and his heroine, wherein
the member, in the most buSinesS-like man
ner, advises her TO enter upon a life of
shame with 4 certain Gen. Twining, who
had also en- a cabinet officer, in consider
alton for his influence to secure her reten-
tion in office, and in the same interview in
PRODUCES the general to the young lady, and
he IN turn makes an appointment to meet
her at her house that evening, which he
does, and without circumlocution offers to
secure her any position she desires If she
yields to his demands.
The social life of Washington is presented
as thoroughly artificial and impure. Pri-
vate persons are brought into the book by
unmistakable reference who are guilty of
an offenSe, simply for the purpose of hold
ing them up TO scorn and contempt. He
also assaulted the church in chapter Is,
where an attack IS made upon one of the
most distinguished, learned and pious min
listers III the district and upon his congrega-
largely of persons of the highest respecta-
bility and honor 1t is impossible to be-
lieve that member of congress would ad-
wise an innocent young woman to enter
upon life of shame as means Of retaining
her position in a department, and yet a
prominent and honorable business man of
St Louis, who was i member of the last
house, is brought forward in this book
under Slightly changed name as the per-
son who did this thing, and the eX-cabinet
officer, is introduced as the willing inStru-
ment to carry out the liamnable sugges-
vIOn OF the congressman.
At page las the heroine of the book is re-
called by one of her lady friends with the
following: My dear, virtue in Office don't
pay. What do you get by it? Hard work
poor pay. persecution and constant fear of
dismissal. You don't even get the credit
of your virtue; no woman ever does
People only think that you are "a better
hypOcrlte than themselves. On the other
hand, you have a good salary, nothing TO
do, lots of attention from the men and
plenty of fun. All you have to do is to
keep quiet. You don't have social recogni-
ton, but you wouldn't get that anyhow and
you don't want it,
The book has scarcely redeeming
feature between its covers. Its motive
seems 10 be to present the official and So
cial life in Washington in the worst posi-
hla liuhr Tho Ibid iIrriurr tho
past six years and recite events supposed
to have TRANSFERRED during this and the pre-
vious administration. The writer does not
to point out evils which are &C.
met in society and IN public life
in Washington for the purpose of inaugur-
atiug reform. but he would have his
readers believe that the misconduct which
he SO clearly brings to view is the rule and
not the exception. There are, no doubt, a
few cases in the departments where gross |
in private life on the part of |
employees, both men and women. have not |
been followed by retirement from the pub |
lie service, as was deserved, but mas been |
upon the urgent request of intu- |
entail friends, but these unworthy persons |
constitute an insignificant percentage of |
the great body of people employed in the |
various departments of the government |
at Washington. l feel free to say, |
from my own experience and observation. |
and from the statements of many in public |
life, that the female employees of the gov |
with remarkably few exceptions, |
are women of excellent character, both in |
private and public life, and are thoroughly |
devoted TO the performance of their duties. |
Many of these employees are the widows |
and orphans of men who have distinguished |
themselves in the army and in the private |
walks of life, The general rule is that they |
are persons of education and refinement, |
with the friendship of respectable and dis |
tinguished people, and they deserve and |
should receive the protection of the depart
ments from such attacks. The position / |
take upon this subject is that where an |
employe of the government makes SANDER |
Ous attacks upon any branch of the govern
ment, or upon any public officer, or upon
the service in general, either orally, |
through the newspapers or in book form,
be should be Immediately retired from the
public service. To tolerate such miscon-
duct creates discomfort and breaks down
discipline. l regard Mr.. Bogy's book as in
excusable, and think it better for the SER
vice that he should pursue his literary bent |
n private life Very reSDect fuliy