The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-05-08
The Demand of Office Seekers
is So Urgent
That a Strong Effort is Being
Made To
UPSET CIVIL SERVICE.
Secretary Bliss is One of Those
Opposed to 1t.
III. Clay Evans Wants More
Places to Fill.

Washington, May 8-The committee
| on civil service of the senate today re-
sumed the investigation of that portion
! of the law which was undertaken some
| time ago. Senators Pritchard of
North Carolina and Chiffon of Texas
and President Proctor and George r.
| Wales of the civil service commission
| conducted the proceedings. Several let
ters from government officials giving
| their opinions of the law were read.
Secretary Bliss recommended that
each commissioner of the department
have the right to appoint a private sec
retary or confidential clerk, and that
the chief clerk of the department and
the chiefs of divisions be exempted
from the classified service. The ap-
po1ntment of special agents, such as
land, timber and mineral commissioner,
and particularly special Indian agents,
| ne wrote, should be more directly I'M
| DER the control of the secretary, who
! is responsible for them. He suggested
an examining board of the secretary
and the four commissioners to make
special examinations for such offices.
Commissioner of Pensions Evans and
Commissioner Herman of the general
land office recommended that the chief
clerk, appointment cIer&, private sec
retary, chiefs of divisions and examin-
ers and inspectors should be exempted
from the classified service.
Director WOlcott of the geological
survey, and Wade Hampton, commits
| sioner of railroads, recommended a
continuance of the present law.
Thomas Robinson, a 81, 600 treasury
clerk, claimed that he had been dis
missed on demand of the Georgia SEN
atOrS and others because he had print
ed the only Republican newspaper in
Georgia during Grants second cam
paign.
VIM. w. Fill, former assistant super
intendent of the free mail delivery,
charged that there had been cOllusion
between the pOstOfce department and
| the civil service commission to violate
the law by the employment in 1884 and
1895 of 50 spies, whose employment was
not authorized by law.
Two the inspectors, termed spies, Mr..
Hill asserted, were brothers of Mr..
Macher. superintendent of the free de-
livery service One of Mr.. Machen's
| brothers had been under charges of
| enbezzlement in Toledo, O., wh6n ap-
pointed, and another of the appointees
had been dismissed from the Washing
ton postOffice for embezzling funds Of
the Letter Carriers association
Sixth Auditor of the Treasury How
ard had at first made violent Objec-
tions to approving the accounts of
these inspectors because they were not
authorized by law, but afterward Mr.
Howard had been allowed the nOmina-
ton of one inspector each quarter and
had approved the disbursements. First
Assistant Postmaster General Jones
thority or signing the appointments of
the inspectors. and had delegated the
duty to his private secretary, Mr. La
mar.
In the campaign of 1894 six of the in
spectOrs, Mr.. Hill asserted, had been
detailed to influence the votes of letter
carriers in the Fourteenth congress
SiOnal district of New York. Mr.. Hill
testified that in Philadelphia the CIeve-
land administration managed to get rid
of many Republicans and old soldiers
on the letter carriers force in 1894 by
avoiding the law. The department had
increased the force by the appointment
of so men alaried at $500 and shortly
after that had decreased it by dismiss
ing rs carriers salaried at $1,000 and Y
Salaried at $500 The salaries OF IN
spectOrs were paid by money taken
from the remittances of postmasters
made in currency and deposited to the
credit of their chief, Mr.. Bellnan, in a
Washington bank.
The inspectors had been assessed for
the expenses of the Ohio campaign in
1895. To make arrangements for the
assessment they had been massed in
CHICAGO at a meeting of them held on
october 81, which had been addressed
by Mr. Machen, superintendent of the
free delivery service, VINO had gone
from Washington for that purpose.
That they might better bear the as
sessment the salaries of the inspectors
had been raised from 81 to s. a day in
July 1895. The witness read a letter
from one of the inspectors to Mr.. Ma
chen explaining in reply to a letter
from Mr. Machen, that he had not for
warded the amount of the assessment
because he had not understood the ar
rangements.
T6e witness had informed Assistant
Postmaster General Jones OF this last
matter Mr.. Jones had told him to keep
his mouth shut, saying it was natural
that Mr. Machen should want to help
his friend, Mr.. Campbell, in Ohio. Mr..
Hill mad brought the question of the
employrnent of the spies and the po-
litical assessments to the attention OF
the civil service commission President
Proctor told him that the commission
had no jurisdiction over the unauthOr-
lied appointments Mr. Machen IN
formed the witness that former Presi-
dent Roosevelt of the commission had
authorized the employment of the spies.
Evidences of the assessment had been
given the commission, including evil
dence that Mr.. Machen had declared
that he would discharge the men who
failed to pay assessments. The wit
ness had been informed that the COM
mission made report discriminating
Nachen and Bellman, but that the at
torney general had Quashed the
charges An affidavit was read from
an employe of the postOffice department
that Mr. Machen had withheld money
from the salaries of spies" for politi-
cal purposes
Mr.. Hill declared that Assistant Post
master General Jones had employed
spies to follow him, had learned that
he gave Information to Representative
Overstreet of Indiana regarding the as
sessments ard had then discharged
him. upbraiding him with ingratitude
The personal character of the spies
Mr. Hill declared, was very bad. Many
of them had been arrested in various
i