The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-10-29
President McKinley's
Proclamation.
CLEVELAND'S GAME UND0NE
OFFICIALS MAY APPOINT THEIR
OWN FIDUCIARY employees.
Some Important Changes Said to Be
in Contemplation in the San
Francisco Custom
House.

A telegram from Washington published
in yesterdays issue of The Call to tn
effect that President Mckinley was abou
TO issue proclamation removing thu
Cleveland cloak of civil service from tn,
shoulders of certain officials in the Of
| nces of the Internal Revenue Collector
the Collector of Customs, the Mint Su
perintendents and the sub-treasury Off
Gals, caused a blizzard of apprehension
| to traverse the spinal columns of the
| threatened officials. The order is expect
ed to be issued by next Monday.
| This step has been in contemplation fol
| many months, and Senator Perkins anC
| Congressman Loud and Barham have
| been subjected to strong pressure in the
matter.
As at present determined upon the or
der will affect upward of 5000 places. 1t
Will include deputy collectors of internal
revenue who are authorized to become
acting collectors. actually serving in that
capacitv There are about 1000 of these
deputies. The largest class affected is the
corps of examining surgeons of the Pen
sion Bureau, of whom there are in all
understanding that it VIII. be better to
have these left out of the civil service al
though Secretary Bliss, while understood
to favor such action, would not recon-
mend it. Over 5000 of these surgeons are
stated at the Civil Service Commission
never to have been classified under the
SlN4I SCI VICE law ne OTOGT VIII Clear
the misrepresentation as to the actual
status OF the whole corps and place them
all outside. About fifty Office deputy mar
shalS heretofore reported as classified
but concerning whose status there has
been some doubt because of their being in
the judicial branch of the service, are ex-
pected to be placed in the exempt class.
There are other scattering positions, in
Guiding some of a fduciary and confiden-
tial character, which will aggregate sew
eral hundred
Customs Collector Jackson stated yes
terday that as he understood the matter
the order would take out of the civil serv-
IN f1duciary capacity, such as the CASH
Ter, the auditor, the chief clerk and such
officials as We're empowered under the
law to act as deputy collectors. This list
embraces Deputy Collector Farley, who
has been protected by the civil service
system. William Hamilton, Familiarity
known as Billy" was appointed cashier
by COLLECTOR Jackson at the request of
Senator Perkins. 1t is beneved that Mr..
Hamilton will be promoted to the posi-
ton of auditor in place of Auditor Cope,
whose position has been civil service
one, and that very near friend and
namesake of the Collector will take the
Office of cashier. Chief Clerk Jerome will
hold his position, as he appears to be in
The case Of William ]. Bryan, ex-Post-
master of San Francisco, is said to have
about the change in the system. While
Bryan was Postmaster one of the civil
service employees stole q large sum OF
money and was convicted and sent to the
State Prison. Bryans bondsmen were
sued by the Government for the amount
of the defalcation, and they set UP as a
defense the fact that the thief had not
been appointed by Bryan and that he
could not discharge him and put trust
ed man In his place before the embeZZle-
ment came to light, and that therefore
the Government should stand the loss.
The United States Courts decided that
Bryan and his bondsmen were RESPONSE
BILE for the defalcation. From this de-
cision the defendants appealed. and the
appeal was decided few weeks ago by
United District Judge H. de Haven, who
affirmed the judgment of the lower court
and held that Bryan was responsible, and
that it was his duty to have kept so strict
a supervision over the civil service en-
ployes that they would not have been
able to have stolen anything.
This decision naturally created conster-
nation in the bosoms of Federal Office
holders and their bondsmen, and strong
pressure was brought to bear upon Presi-
dent Mckinley from all parts of the
United States to modify the civil service
so that employees in q fiduciary capacity
should be appointed and removed at will
by their superior officers
Internal Revenue Collector Lynch,
whose district has as large an area as
the State of Maine, said the proclamation
would affect twenty-seven out of the
thirty of his deputies, but as they all
were Republicans he did not think he
would make any changes for purely po-
litical reasons.