Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1897-09-14
Correspondence Of the Alexandria Gazette

Cl5lOu SuAuo uP 40 AoAAV"S'
pleinquiry is whether the rules invoked
by the complainant, whether the
President or the com mission or both be
the authors of them, are such as the
civil service act authorized to be es.
tablished. In my judgment they are
ultra wires aud void. l have no doubt
that the President may lay down rules
for the internal policy of his admins
tration and may require his chief exec
utive officers, dependent upon his
pleasure for their terms OF Office, to
conform to them or else to sever their
official relations with him, and in that
sense the rules relied on by the com.
plainaut were within his political and
executive authority. But the enforce
ment of such rules is matter between
the President and his Cabinet and not
a matter for the courts or one in which
tie complainant has any legal
interest. All that / mean to state in
this opinion is that the rules in ques
ton we're not such as the civil service
act authorizes and do not derive any
efficacy from that act. I know of no
thing more important to the interests
of the country than the policy which
the civil service legislation was intend
ed to initiate and promote, and it is pei.
haps matter of great regret that the
act of January 16, 1888 (the civil ser
vice act) has not gone further than it
does. But it is my duty to construe it
as it is. To sum up, conclude that
apart from the civil service act the
Postmaster General had the authority to
remove the complainant from Office at
mis- pleasure; that this act makes no
change in this respect, except to forbid
removals for refusal to contribute to
partisan objects; that the power given
TO the commission and the President to
establish rules to carry that act into eff
feet does not authorize any rule which
shall make change in the law In this
respect; and consequently that, even il
this court had Jurisdiction in case like
the present one, the complainant is not
entitled to the relief prayed" 1t is
probable that an appeal will be taken
from the decision and it is said that ul
timately the q. S. Supreme Court will
be asked to pass on the question in
volved.
A delegation OF representative men
from the large iron sections OF the South
to-day went before the Naval Board.
which is considering the question of e.
tablishing government armor factory,
and urged that the South offered the
greatest advantages in cost of iron,
labor, transportation, etc., for the loca-
ton of the proposed armor plate fac.
tory. The delegation was made up oil
Com missioner of Pensions 81. Clay
Evans, of Tennessee, and Representa-
tives Wheeler, of Alabama ; Livingston,
of Georgia, and Gaines, of Tennessee.
1t was stated at the hearing that the
iron used by the large private con-
Germs now making armor plate was
bought, to large extent, from the
South at the low price of IS. 40 to $50
per ton. 1t was argued also that
an inland armor factory in the South
would be more secure from attack in
case of war than one near the Atlantic
coast in the north. Letters favorable
to the southern industry were present
ed from Senators Platt, of New York,
and Stewart, of Nevada, and it was
stated that Senator Chandler, of New
Hampshire, who has taken leading
part in the plan of a government fac
tory, had written letter favorable to
it's establishment at Sheffield, Ala.
The delegation filed written state
ment setting forth the many advant-
ages of the South in this particular
Commodore Howell, president of the
board, called attention to the fact that
the board could not, under the
instructions of the Navy Department,
90 into the question of the locality of
the site. Representative Livingston
and others made the point that such
information was what Congress desired
and that the scope of the boards orders
should be enlarged. Accordingly, the
delegation, accompanied by Comma.
dore Howell. went before Assistant
Secretary Roosevelt. He heard the
views of the delegation, but told them
that it would be impossible to consider
questions of site at this time or until
the character of the plant and its cost
has been determined.
People from the 7th Virginia Con-
gressional district, here to-day, say the
democratic campaign will be opened
there on Tuesday next at Flint Hill,
Rappahannock county, by Congress
man Hay, Mr.. Jeffries, the nominee
for the State Senate in that senatorial
district, and Mr.. G. l.. Browning, one
of the officers of the o. S. House of
Representatives. Senator Martin will
speak at Front Royal on the Goth.
The weekly crop bulletin issued to-
day reports the condition of the crops
as not as good as that of last Tuesday.
Brooke Green, son of Mr.. Moses
Green, of Warrenton, appointed by
RiIey to cadetship at
the q. S. Naval Academy at Annapo-
lis, has passed satisfactorily all the ex-
aminations there, standing 5tn or 9th
in a large class.
A Baltimore democratic politician
here to day says the republicans in his
city are in q quandary. They have
promised the negroes to put them on
heir legislative ticket. If they don't
fulfill that promise they fear the negroes
will carry out threat to desert them