Evening star., 1896-10-27
What the Attorney General Says Of
Federal officials.
THEY Can MAKE SPEECHES
Provided the Work of Their Office
Does Not Suffer.
MUST NOT RUN FOR OFFICE

Attorney General Harmon Is authority for
the statement that the administration does
rot desire to abridge in any particular the
political rights of federal officials nor to
interfere in the slightest degree with free
speech on their part in the pending cam
paign, providing this privilege is exercised
in proper and legitimate lines, and does not
take the form of personal abuse or villifi-
cation This statement was made in re-
spoEse to an inquiry by q Star reporter as
to the probable course Of action in the
case Of District Attorney Perry Of Kansas
City. who has been charged with prostltut-
ing his office by making speeches in sup
port of the gold standard. The charges IN
this case were made by Mr.. Wilson. a
lawyer of Kansas City. The Attorney Gen
eral said he had read Mr. Wilson's letter
to him in the newspapers long before he
received 1t, and although he had not yet
replied to it, he would probably give MIN
the same answer that had been made to
persons who had made similar complaints
against other federal officials who are maxi
ing speeches for and against the Chicago
ticket, as the case might be, which answer
was, in effect. that the department saw
nothing wrong in such action SO long as
the officials did not neglect their public
duties.
Must Not Run for Office.
There is no similarity whatever, the At
torney General said, between the case Of
District Attorney Perry and that of the
other district attorneys who he had re-
moved from office because Of their political
conduct In the latter cases the incum-
bents were running for elective offices con-
trary to the established rule of the admin
istration. The administration Is of opinion
that 1t is subversive of the best interests of
the government for its officers to engage
in an active canvass for election to an
other office. All the persons so offending
were given an opportunity to resign their
federal office and were only removed when
they declined to do so. Outside Of this the
only removal on account OF political ac-
tivity has been that of District Attorney
Lassiter of Virginia, who was chairman of
the democratic campaign committee in his
district and engaged in an active canvass.
One Omcinl Called Back.
Although the Attorney General admitted
that the administration did not encourage
federal officials in making political speech
es, it had never interfered in the case Of
an officer doing so except in the single
instance of the district attorney of Flor
ida, who had been called back from po-
litical tour because Of the pressing duties
of his Office growing out Of the extensive
f1libustering operations in his district. Sew
eral district attorneys had expressed de-
sire to make speeches on the political is
sues of the day, and the invariable reply
in each case was that the department saw
no special improperly in such course,
provided the public interests were properly
protected. District Attorney Brney of
this District was among this number. He
was told that while the department pre-
ferred that he should not take an active
part in the campaign, it would offer no spe-
cial objection to his accepting some pend
ing invitations to address his neighbors on
the issues of the day. In other words. Mr..
Birney was left to his own discretion in
himself inhibited from speaking is evil
denced by the fact that he is scheduled
to deliver political address during the
present week.
Two Specific Cases.
The case of District Attorney Perry is
precisely like that of District Attorney
Montague Of West Virginia, except that the
former speaks for gold and the latter for
silver. Each has been charged with vio-
lation of the Presidents rule against Of
fensive partisanship and the removal of
each has been vigorously demanded by his
political opponents. 1t Is also understood
that there are district attorneys who have
made public speeches In favor of the elec-
ton of Palmer and Buckner. According to
Attorney General Harmon no notice will be
taken OF district attorneys or other federal
officials who make political speeches, re-
gardless of whether they are in favor of
Bryan, Mckinley or Palmer or any other
presidential candidate, provided they do not
neglect their public duties and also provided
they do not overstep the bounds of decorum
and propriety in their remarks. Although
he did not say SO outright, the Attorney
General intimated that an exception might
be made in the case of an official who went
out of his way to abuse or malign the
President or the members of his adminis-
tration because of their public or private
acts.