Evening star., 1898-08-19
JOHN r. PROCTER,
JOHN B. HARLOW,
M s. BREWER,

Commissioners.

WASHINGTON, d. c.. August IS, 1S9S
United States Civil Service Commission:
Gentlemen: / have the honor IL ac-
knowledge the receipt of your letter of
August 10. notifying me of your purpose
TO discharge me on account of remarks
made by me in The Evening Star on July
20 in reference to your action when you
reduced me from class 4 to class on that
date. You request me to answer your
charge, either in writing or verbally, at
O'Clock on August 10.
In reply, l have the honor to say that /
think my Star interview was perfectly JUS
tifiable under the circumstances. l am one
of the three oldest employees of the COM
mission. In July. 1887. i was transferred
frcm the War Department and assigned to
DUTY as assistant to the chief examiner
which position | filled for more than ten
years. during PARTS of four administra-
tiuns. under ten different civil service COM
missioners. During that time L received
Llany assurances of my efficiency and no
complaints. When / was summoned to ap-
pear before the Senate committee which
investigated the civil service commission
/ was cautioned by the president of the
commission against giving testimony which
would draw attention to the internal ad-
ministration of the affairs of the commits
sion. After my first testimony was given
the president of the commission drew from
his pocket a typewriter statement which
he read before the investigating commit
tee, which was a personal attack Oh me,
apparently made with a view to discredit-
ing my testimony. In subsequent inter-
views / was warned that my standing with
the commission depended on the course /
should pursue. When my testimony was
completed you Immediately reduced me
from chief clerk to an ordinary clerkship
and assigned me to the application divis-
ion Later on. July %. you reduced me in
salary from class to class 3, and gave TO
a reporter of The Evening Star for publi-
a mi n1@ taI ~,
You, In which you declared me to be the
lowest in efficiency of the clerks of class 4.
and much lower in usefulness than one of
the clerks CT the next lower class whom
You promoted to my place. l was first in
formed of this action by an Evening Star
reporter. who asked me to comment on IT.
rms declined to do, and persisted in de-
Ginning until he drew from his pocket a
copy of the minute made by you In nv
case and read 1t to me. When / heard the
minute read, pronouncing me in very often
sive terms to be an incompetent clerk, the
lowest or my class, and when the reporter
informed me that you had given 1t to him
for publication, L was stung to the quick
and astonished beyond measure not at
your action in reducing me, but at the
statements, the publication of which you
had authorized.
could scarcely believe that you would so
far ignore all precedents in such cases and
the common courtesies of official life as to
resort to an open attack in the NJ ewspapers
on my standing and reputation. 1t was
then that l dictated to the reporter a few
modest sentences in self-defense This is
the offanse for which you now propose to
discharge me from the public service and
from an institution which exists for the
very purpose of maintaining a merit sys-
tenn. By the logic Of position you
claim the right to attack me in the news
papers and deny ma the right of self-de-
fense. For my attempt to mitigate in a
small degree the severity of your public
attack on me I am to be discharged You
evidently expected to defame me In a COM
munity where my reputation Is as dear to
me as yours IS to you. and You counted on
my suffering in silence through fear of be-
ing discharged. When, a few days later,
you called me- to personal account for nv
remarks in The Star, you asked me If re-
garded your action as dishonorable, and
replied, Il most certainly do You asked
lie IL l considered that had right to at
tack my superior officers in the newspa-
pars, and / replied that when my superior
officers attack my standing and reputation
privilege to defend myself. / did it then,
and l should do it again, under the same
circumstances" To those sentiments ut
tered hastily in personal interview, l now
deliberately subscribe after several days
of consideration. l do not believe your
high and exalted position entities you to
defame ne and requires me to suffer in
silence because ! am in helpless position
You have the power to consummate your
designs IN discharging ne and l have no
redress; but every fiber of my being resents
the injustice of your course.
The Justification of my Star interview is
still further apparent from the following
letter to you of August I'd, protesting
agairst my reduction:
In the minute adopted by you on July 90,
when you reduced me from class 4 to class