The evening times., 1897-06-26

Hon. L Ly:u;.u j. Gage, Secretary oI me
Treasury.
NV bear III. Secretary--If yOI wiz re-
member on the occasion OF OuT interview
in YOUR CI;iCe. where 1 came at the soHcl-
tauon Or your courteous personal ana Oh
fi,iaI converter. SSiStaut Secretary van
derlip. I promised 10 verify my statement
in the CouTier-Journal that a number or
good ana efficient employees Of the
Trpavurv In the classified service, had
been ..shamerully treated and d.scriln-
mated against" Icy being dismissed from
the service and reduced in their positions.
You win bear me out that l Offered no
COMPLIANT 10 fan as the mere fact OF the
disfniSsals and reductions OF these en-
ploves was concerned, but only criticised
what believed ana Still believe to bc the
false prctense of tie official action. My
charge was tnat these employees were dis
missed on the alleged ground That they
were inefficient" and for the good Of
tae service when as matter OF !act
they were Disseminated against beca '.se
they were not OF the same political laIth
OF the party in power. Had the latter
been given oUt as the reason foI their us
mSsal or reduction, no criticism ould
have come tfOll lilt " llLtl- &'NA w 'saH
miss a man from the public service or 10
degrade Iim, and al the same time give
li1u bad character by Sm:rching his
reputation. thereby seriously JcoparGiAng
his chances TO secure employment else
where IN the future, Is, I submit % yCur
own sense Of justice, grieyous wtoag.
This propose t. Prove has been done.
You were kind enough TO show me
letter Of instruction iAat you had written
tc the committee appointed t0 Investigate
tLe various bureaus and divisions Of yOdT
great department, AMI 70 report u yOu tie
personnel ana efficiency of the employees.
This iet rY of instruction, | must admit
was manly. wise, bipartisan and JUs-.
aud had your instructions therein been
Faithfully executed. there would have been
no cause for complaint But, unipr-
twla-elv. the committee was composed OF
three men each an aggressive uen-cr of
the C3uEGanr party, ana one Of them. APP
pojnt,uen, Clerk Bmckett. an Intense par
tlsau. "an old hand ~ the bellows. - with
4 disposition 20 out-HeUod even Eugene
Hi.-ir.s Ia the work OF turning tEt Tas-
Gals ont - As | told YOU the other aay,
even Speaker Reed would hardly appoint
commit ee of any kind, much less j COM
;Mt.np - inquire into the public business.
without allowing minority representa-
ton II is inCenCeivahle that even your
self, unfamiliar as you Gle said to he
with machine politics, could expect an
honest. unl iaSed report from the partisan
committee vou appointed. giving each and
every man ms due, irrespective OF his
party affafiuu such 4 report in these
day - of political Chicanery If made WoUld
havC even paralyzed the fevered train Of
thar great enthusiastic civil service re-
former, Nj Carl SChurz.
In our conversation an sllusiOn was made
T. the removals of Mr.. Carlisle. the eN-
Secretary oT the Treasury Nearly, If not
all, of these removals were Of employees
not in the classified service. for at that
time the chiefs OF divisions. messengers,
and 81 He'd labprcrs wc,e not classified.
Then, II yea will remember, the reuTgaui-
zatiau Of the Treasury under the nockery
l,ll necesStated dismiSssls in particular
places Ex-SeCretary Carlisle. however. did
not make any defense OF excuse To- those
removals While walking with him on the
street one day one OF thoSe deposed chiefs
requested that he would in form him Of
the cause for his removal. Mr. Carlisle was
SIT; I removed you for the reason that
wanted yoHT place for Democrat" No
party nan could find fault with this m
Ewer II was the fortune of politics.
There are in the aggregate about 1000
employees IN the Treasury Department. \
careful estimate made under the Carlisle
administration found that over two-thirds
OF the male employees weIe Republicans
Most of these were in office when the civil
service law was passed in 1888, and in
proportion as many are still there. Under
these circumstances it seems strange that
the committee in making its investjga-
tions should find all OF the ineff iciency
among the ranks OF the minority. In order
tc deal Justly by your department asked
these questions Of MI Vanderlip, namely
For au official list Of the dismissals
and reductions, since April 1, 1897
In tins list how many Republicans were
dismissed and reduced for any cause, and
how many Democrats?
How many Republicans had been pro-
moted, snd also how many Democrats?
An the answer received TO these ques-
ttons was that Republicans had been dis
MISSED aud Democrats had been promoted
What are the names of the dismissed Re.
pubHcans and the names of the promoted
Democrats?
Not bcing able TO obtain this informa-
uoa officially. and as the press only prints
tire promotions and appointments, omit
ting diSmissals and reductions, and not
wishing tc obtain Information from en-
plOyes of your department for fear that
the disclosures they might make would
impair tEcir own position, I have selected
only "A few Of the cases that are OF cOEl-
mon notoriety. and confined TO but one di-
vision In the Sccretary's office, and one
bureau Of the department, that OF TIE In
tcnsl revenue. In the former, bookkeep-
ing ana warrants division, namely:
James ,. Kilrore from So. i 90 to 81 500;
IN service ten years: is one of the best clerks
ln she department: ask any one in Comptrol
I"r's or Judiciary Division of Auditor for
State and other departments.
James N Harrison, from So 900 to
81 zoe; IN service ten years; thoroughly
competent.
A Is Stive So, 900 20 81 400.
James Tayler. So 900 To 81 200.
John p stone. So. i to 81 500
Charles /. Ricketts,, 1900; discharged
Frank V. Robinson. s., 900; discharged
In the latter, or Bureau Of Internal Reva-
lue:
r. r Edwards, clerk at 81 400; entered