Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-03
MIR. ROOSEVELT ON THE STAND.
He Adheres without Qualification to All
That Was Said I'm the Baltimore Report.

He Adheres without Qualification to All
That Was Said in the Baltimore Report.
Civil Service Commissioner Roosevelt testi-
fed before the civil service committee yester-
day, replying to the testimony Of Postmaster
General Wanamaker and endeavoring to show
that his report Of the Baltimore post Office
cases could not be either unfair or inaccurate,
as the testimony of the parties accused Of vio-
lating the civil service law was direct and not
subject to misinterpretation, amounting to
nothing more nor less than a confession OF the
acts charged against them.
In reply to Mr.. Wanamaker's declaration that
the employees had not been fairly dealt with by
the commission, Mr.. Roosevelt suggested that
it was obviously less likely that the men charged
with violations of the law had lied to their own
detrment in the testimony before the commits
sion than that they had lied subsequently to
the post Office inspectors to relieve themselves
from the charges. He did not think that the
presumption was that they had lied to the
commission for the purpose of discriminating
themselves. He said he would stand by his
Baltimore report not only in its entirety, but
paragraph by paragraph. ut 10 absolutely
impossible" he said, that my conclusions
should be upset. for they are based on the
confessions of the accused persons, made at the
very time the events took place.
In several parts" he said, ''the statement
OF the Postmaster General would seem to i'm
ply that the accused parties assert that they
were not reported fairly; that they did not say
what the testimony as published in my report
attributes to them. and the Postmaster General
says that he thinks that the postmaster, Mr..
johnson, denies the accuracy OF the state
ments attributed to him in the report. 1t seems
hardly necessary to meet such an accusation as
this. OF course the stenographers' report is
the best, and indeed, the only proper record
of what the men said and must be accepted as
final unless they can bring evidence to the
contrary. 1 here offer to you the stenographic
report OF the testimony as originally written
out by the stenographers employed. The tes-
timony taken down by these men has not
been changed in the slightest way, as the
closest examination of the matter itself will
show.
1T seems to me that this charge hardly
needs further attention beyond stating that the
very fact of its having been made shows that
the guilty men were perfectly conscious of
their guilt. and realized too late that they had
themselves proved beyond possibility OF doubt
their own ng-doing and we're clutchlng at
any straw to keep them clear of punishment
The statement that the men were frightened
and bulldozed is again hardly worth needing,
for the very good reason that had no possible
means of bulldozing them, and this they knew
very well. The Postmaster General states. in
speaking of these men. that they all state that
there were three men asking questions stimuli
taneously; that sometimes they did not make
any answer to a question, and an answer was
made for them before they could speak If
by this last IL is meant that any answer was
put down in the testimony save what they ut
tered with their own lips their assertions are
unqualified falsehOods."
Mr.. Roosevelt read at length from the testi-
mony of the witness substautiating his posi-
ton and said:
The amount of it is that all these men are
plainly guilty, upon their own confession: that
haxn 10 kf,t,
it is quite impossible to misunderstood and
equally impossible to retract; that nothing
they have said since or can say in the future
can in any way explain away this confession
and that their subsequent conduct, as implied
in the report Of the post Office inspectors SIM
ply shows that they are no. entitled to par
ticle of grace or consideration.
CLEAR CASE OF VIOLATED LAW.
Il am glad that the Postmaster General is in
accord with those portions of my report which
show that the violations Of the law were even
more fragrant in Baltimore under the last adj
mInistration. but 1 must respectfully point out
that. in my opinion, if the wrong doing is not
checked it will be found at the end Of the
four years to have been just great under
this administration. l honestly fail to see how
there can be a particle of question as to these
mems guilt after reading the evidence; and if
these men are not guilty, then it is alb
solutely impossible that men can ever
be guilty under the civil service law:
and if they have not deserved punish
ment, then it is impossible that men
can do anything in violation of that law which
will deserve punishment. This is not the time
TO consider whether the law is is not wlse
1t is ON the statute book, and am appointed
to see that it is enforced, and l have simply
done my plain duty in pointing out its viola
ton and in recommending the punishment Of
the wrong-doers."
MORE sISyFD AGlJSsT THAN sIySuva
He said he had been impressed during the in
vestigatlon that some of the employees had
been more sinned against than SHINING. They
had been buldozed and intmidated into vio-
lating the law. He was asked to specify which
of the men he had recommended fer dismissal
were the ones he referred to. He said he could
ONLY speak from recollection. as these events
took place year ago. He would Include VIM
II. Mitchell, the elevator man, and James Will
son. u colored man. He thought both OF these
men had been coerced. Both seemed to be
perfectly decent men, and he thought they had
been merely imposed upon. Chas. W. Hammel
impressed him as being poor man with a
small salary which he could i'll afford to lose
who had been bulldoZed by his fellow clerks
into contributing, and had done SO through
the fear that If he did not he would be turned
out of Office.
He had not made these statements in regard
to these people in his report because they were
servations and there was no testimony to sup
port them. In the same way LIE had gathered
the impression that John b. Iyeddle .'had
been one of the head devils of the whole
affair" He had seen him a: the polls peddling
tickets and taking the voters off into the
saloons and treating them In the same way
he caught James J.. Weber Lying right
away and he believed that though the testi-
mony was not so strong against him some of
the Others he was probably more guilty than
some of those who confessed. Mr.. Roosevelt
said he would try to refresh his memory as to
the impression others of the witnesses made
upon him. and would give his impressions to
the committee at some future meeting if they
SO desired
The committee decided to call for the report
OF the investigation made by the Postmaster
General, and after Chairman Andrew had an
nounced that the Attorney General would be
present at the next meeting the committee ad-
journed until next Monday.
Exciting Scene in a Church.
Rev. Father Tracy. pastor OF St Paul's Roman