Sunday morning globe., 1901-11-10
The Election and Evans

The Election and Evans
Prof. Goldwin Smith has given us a
definition and an illustration Of an.
archism which lose none of their force
and impressiveness by coming at a
time when a public servant like H.
Clay Evans is trampling on public law
and diverting and powers of govern
ment to base and selfish ends. AN
arcL.sm in its deepest sense is a dis.
regard for law-municipal, interna-
tional or moral"
II anarchism is a disregard for law
then Mr. Evans gets the cake. He
sands preeminent in his class, He
is head and shoulders above John
Most, and Emma Goldman is a saint
| alongside Of him. Disregard for law;
why that's his big hold. He has not
| the slightest regard for law unless
/ compelled to. Why, he has laws en-
| acted by Congress just for the fun Of
/ d sregarding them. In 1898 he ap-
| peared before a Congressional commit
| tee and pleaded for the authority 70
/ dismiss 100 clerks i'm his Office stat
| ing that there were that many en-
plOyed that he could dispense with for
! the good Of the service, as they were
| inefficient. He assured the Democratic
members of the committee that he
would make no dismissals on partisan
| grounds. On the strength of his prom
/ Use the authority was given him. But
as Evans has never been known to keep
promise it was not likely that he
wou,u keep one that would oblige him
| to dismiss a few friends for the good
Of the public service. Evans osten-
| sible purpose was to get rid of super
| animated clerks, but his real purpose
was to dismiss Democrats and Re-
publicans who had the manhood to
critcise his unwarranted stretch Of ar
| bitrary power and his shameless pros
Lution Of official authoity.
One of the first he dismissed under
| this special authority was Fred. e.
/ Austin, a personal friend Of Senator
/ Cockrell, whom Evans had promised
/ faithfully that he would not use the
authority granted him to discharge
/ Democrats. Senator Cockrell called
on Mr.. Evans and sharply reminded
| him that he had assured the committee
| that none but the superannuated and
inefficient would be dismissed and he
found that one the first is a bright
young lawyer Evans declared it was
mistake and that he would rein
state him. The Senator consented to
tie reinstatement, but mainly for the
purpose of transferring him to another
department His short experience with
| Evans satisfied him that the Pension
Office was a poor place for a meritori-
Gus clerk
In every division he dismissed the
young. active and intelligent clerks,
and retained the decrepit and superan-
nuated. In the middle division he
fired active, intelligent men like
! Morarity and Townsend, and retained
such worthless sticks as old Shaw,
| Gauxbrill, Snyder, Shanklin and Nc
| Mullen. In the Eastern division such
men as Fred +. Austin and S. G..
Rogers had to go while such ignoram-
uses as Lawler, Brown and BrunsOn
were retained.
Evans seemed to have an instructive
antIpathy to everything noble, pure
anu upright. II was not by accident
thta he has filled the highest positions
In the Pension Office with men of no
tOrious incapacity. But it is difficult
to find men who to equal abilities
would add equal subseryiency. A man
Of great ability is, as a rule, a man
of strict, upright principles. On the
other hand a man of mean ability is
ever subservient tool This explains
why Evans passed by such an eff
cient clerk, such an honest, upright
citizen as Frank S. Clandy and select
ed such subseryient creatures as Camp
. bell and Alexander Mr. Clandy is
honored and respected by those who
( have the honor TO know him and loved
, by those who have the privilege OF his
b friendship. For many years he has
. been elected president Of the Washing
. ton Saengerbund, a position that ht
; has filled with honor to himself and
, credit 10 the Society. He is a man OF
broad mind and sweet sympathies
nere is not a better known nor a more
- mighty respected man I'm this city thar
/ Frank Clandy His extensive knowl
} edge Of Pension laws and rulings. hii
. firm viii and genial temper, especially
, qualified him for any position reQuir
ing executive ability and intelligence
. But such a man Evans did not want
] He preferred ignorance and subser
- viency to intelligence and manhood
& WHAT he could not find and it seldom
b can be found in the German he founC
p in the Anglo Saxon. Let every lib
erty-oving citizen thank God that thD
, German rs I'm our midst with his broal
I liberal ideas Of personal liberty free
, dom Of thought and honesty Of expires
/ sion TO Counteract and nullify the con
, tracted ideas, narrow preiudices an'
. reDelious hypocrisy of the Ang' oSaX1n
, God bless the German, with his ioyfu
y song and merry laughter and his ad
p mirable home and family. His frank
s open. honest manner compared witt
. the shrewd. low cunning Of the Angle
- Saxon is indeed refreshing Hypocris
b IS a favoring and flexible art, whicI
Z accommodates itself TO human feeling
Z and natters the weakness OF men II
p order that II may gain ITS own ends