The times., 1898-11-03
GENERAL POLITICAL GOSSIP.

recent fragrant violations of the civil ser
vice law by certain Republican leaders.
in the matter of soliciting campaign con-
tributions from clerks In the Government
departments The law expressly forDids
the sending of beggNg campaign circu-
, lars to the clerks IN the departments.
The addressing of circulars requesting
contributions to the clerks al their homes
does not, however. constitute violation
/, of the law. President Proctor. of the
Commission. said yesterday that II he
could obtain evidence that any of the c'r-
culars from the Republican State COM
mittees of Ohio and Pennsylvania had
been sent to the clerks N the depart-
ments that he would prosecute the guilty
parties and also guarantee protection TO
the clerks from future molestaiion. There
has been no test case of the. law IN this
point, but the members Of .he Civil Ser-
vice Commission are confident that the
sending of a letter to a clerk at his Of.
flee. soliciting campaign subscription. Is
plain violation of the statute. The
penalty provided for an offense of this
kind is as follows:
That any person who shall be guity
of violating any provision of the f, IT
foregoing sections & all be deemed gu.'ty
or misdemeanor, end shall, ON coIvic-
tion thereof. be punished py 4 inc not
exceeding 5000, or by imprisonment fer
term not exceeding three years, or by
such fine and Imprisonment both. in the
discretion OF the court"
President Proctor is experiencing some
difficulty in obtaining proper evidence of
alleged violations of the law in this con-
nection, owing to a reluctance on the
part of the clerks to come forward and
give him any information. They are ap-
parently restrained by fear that they
might lose their positions by so doing.
In commenting on this phase of the mat
ter. Mr.. Proctor said yesterday
III these clerks to whom letters are be-
ing sent would come to the commission
and aid US by giving their names and re-
lating all the circumstances we would be
able to accomplish a great deal coward
putting stop TO these violations of the
law. The trouble we have experienced,
however Is that the clerks, while making
public some of the facts in each case.
refrain from coming out in the open and
preferring charges against the writers of
the letters OF course. 1t is useless for us
to attempt to prosecute any one until we
can identify the recipients of the commu-
nicatlons, and thus far We have been una
bic to locate anyone who has received
them.
In discussing the subject the other day
some one remarked TO me that perhaps
the clerks refused to disclose their iden-
tity for the reason that they would be
prosecuted by politicians and, perhaps.
lose their positions. Now, / will guar
antee any Government clerk who comes
nd ia,- ~.
fore us, and is discharged from his de-
partment as a consequence, to give him
employment in our office or In some of
the other Government departments But
ne VIII not lose his place, neither Will he
pe prosecuted. The commission will pro-
tect him If any attempt is made to ha
ras him or GUST him from the service
Wish that some of these clerks who have
peeh receiving letters asking for contri-
buttons. provided. of course. they have
ueeii addressed to the recipients at their
sl,, uepat t'lefts ana not at their places OF
residence. would come to The commission
ana tell us all about it Then we could
accomplish something looking to the abo.
Hlioh OF this practice. The law on rhe
subject should be enforced and If proner
PROOF could be obtained 1t could be en-
forced strictly and the guilty persons
punished. The clerks ought to help us
DO iar as known the State committees
OF Ohio and Pennsylvania have be.n tho
only offenders in applying to the c,er,,s
iof aiu contrary to law. The Ohio State
committee, OF course. takes its inspira
tioh from senator Mark A. Hanna, aad
.he pennsylvania committee probably
took its cue from the Ohio committees
follow an example set by the chairman
of the Republican national committee
There is no doubt but that hundreds of
begging letters have been mailed to the
clerks in the departments here by these
Two committees, and the civil service
commission certainly ought to be able to
locate the recipients of some of them. il
IL goes about it in the right way.
The movement of the Government en-
ployes to their homes to vote comm encad
yesterday. Chairman Babcock has ar
ranged with the railroads to sell thsm
return tickets for one fare. but the tickets
can only be obtained upon his written or
der, and the return coupon will not be
good unless signed by the local chairman
at the other end of the line. to show that
Babcock was caught in something of a
trap two years ago. He agreed TO ray
the expenses of four or five clerks to go
to Wisconsin to vote The clerks bought
regular tickets each way and turned in
vouchers for over SEQ apiece. Col Bab-
cock paid the bills but he kicked vigor-
ously. Sixty dollars for a single vote
was pretty steep, even for the prices that
prevailed in the sound money campaign
of 1896. 1t is said that the applications
of the Democratic clerks for election
leaves are being generally refused on ac-
count of pressure of public business. A
Democratic vote that is kept in Washing
ton counts as half u vote for the Repub-
licans. r.
While the Civil Service Commission is
engaged in the good work of ferreting
out alleged violators of the civil service
law the suggestion is made that 1t might
not he out of place for 1t 10 gave the case
of Third Assistant Postmaster General
Merritt little attention. Mr.. Merritt has
certainly furnished enough ''pernicious
activity" to entitle him to the consider
alton of the civil service commissioners.
He is native of western Sew York and
has been almost continuously absent
from his desk for the past three or four
weeks trying to re-elect Tim Ellsworth,
the hero of the anti-oartoon bill and
press gag law. to}the~ state senate of
New York Mr.. Merritt has taken COM
plete charge of Ellswortf's canvass and
has been working night and day In his
behalf. Ellsworth is about the most un-
popular man in the Empire State, and
Col. Roosevelt's friends frankly admit
that his candidacy will cost the Rough