The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-05-10
CIVIL SERVICE LAW.
Senate Committee investigating
Its Operations.
SOME LETTERS FROM OFFICIALS.

| Eeco Made by Secretary Bliss.
Commissioners of Revenue Evans and
Commissioner Herman of the General
Land Onice-Charges Made by william
w. Hill, Former Assistant superinden-
ent of the Free Delivery.
Washington. May 10.-The committee
on civil service of the senate Saturday
resumed the investigation of the opera
! tion of the law which was undertaken
some time ago. Senators Pritchard of
North Carolina and Chiffon of Texas,
and President Proctor and Mr.. George
Il. Wales of the civil service commits
| sion conducted the proceedings. Sew
eral letters from government officials
giving their opinions of the law were
| read. Secretary Bliss recommended
| that each commissioner of the depart
ment have the right TO appoint a pri-
vate secretary or confidential clerk and
| that the chief clerk of the department
and chiefs of division be exempted from
the classified service. The appointment
| OF special agents, such as land timber
and mineral land commissioners and
| particularly special Indian agents he
wrote, should be more directly under
the control of the secretary, who is re-
| sponsible for them. He suggested an
examining board of the secretary and
the four commissioners to make special
examinations for such office.
Exempt from Classified Service.
Commissioner of Pensions Evans and
| Commissioner Herman of the general
land office recommended that the chief
clerk, appointment clerk, private secre-
tary, chiefs of divisions and eXamin-
ers and inspectors should be exempt
| from the classified service. Director
Wolcott of the geological survey and
| Wade Hampton, commissioners of rail-
roads, recommended a continuance of
the present law. Thomas Robinson, a
! 81 500 treasury clerk complained that
| he had been dismissed on demand OF
Georgia senators and others because he
had printed the only Republican news
paper in Georgia during Grants second
campaign. William w. Hill, former as
sstant superintendent of the free mail
delivery, charged that there had been
| colluson between the postofiice depart
ment and the civil service commission
to violate the law by the employment
| i'm 1894 and 1896 of fiftynine spies,
whose employment was not authorized
by law. Two of the inspectors termed
! spies. Mr.. Hill asserted. We're brothers
of Mr.. Machen, superintendent of the
! free delivery service.
Under Charges When Appointed.
One Of Machen's brothers had been
under charges of embezzlement in To-
ledo, o., when appointed, and another
! of the appointees had been dismissed
from the Washington postoffice for em-
I bezzling funds of the Letter Carriers
association. Sixth Auditor of the Treas
ury Howard had at first made violent
objections to approving the accounts of
these inspectors, because they were not
authorized by law, but afterward Mr..
Howard had been allowed the nomina-
tion of one inspector each quarter and
had approved the disbursements. First
Assistant Postmaster General Jones had
refrained from assuming the authority
of signing the appointments of the in
spectors and had delegated the duty to
his private secretary, Mr. Lamar. In
the campaign of 1894 six of the inspect
ors Mr.. Hill asserted had been detailed
to influence the votes of letter carriers
in the Fourteenth congressional district
of New York. Mr.. Hill testified that in
Philadelphia the Cleveland administra-
tion had managed to get rid OF many
Republicans and old soldiers on the let
ter carriers force in October 1894, by
evading the law.
Salaries OF Inspectors.
The department had increased the
force by the appointment of eighty men.
salaried at 5000. and shortly after had
decreased 1t by dismssipg seventy
eight carriers salaried at $1,000. and
twenty-five salaried at $500 The sal
aries of inspectors were paid by money
taken from the remittances OF postmas-
ters made i'm currency and deposited to
the credit Of their chief, Mr.. Bellman
i'm a Washington bank The inspectors
had been assessed for the expenses of
the Ohio campaign in 1895. To make ar
rangements for the assessment they
had been massed in Chicago al a meet
ing of them held on Oct. 81, which had
been addressed by Mr. Machen, superin-
tendent OF the free delivery service, who
had gone from Washington for that pur-
pose. That they might better bear the
assessment 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 10 Mr..
Machen explaining in reply to letter
from Mr.. Machen that he had not for
warded the amount of the assessment
because he had not understood the ar