Evening star., 1902-01-31
Mr.. O'CONNELL DISMISSED
FINANCIAL CLERK OF BUREAU OF
STATISTICS REMOVED.
Friction Between Him and His Chief
Case Personally Investigated
by Secretary Gage.

Secretary Gage signalized his last day in
the Treasury Department by discharging ].
d. O'Connell, financial clerk of the bureau
OF statistics. Mr.. O'Connell was dismissed
after a short hearing, upon charges pre-
ferred by Assistant Secretary Allies and o.
P. Austin, chief of the bureau to which Mr..
OConnell has been attached. Trouble las
been brewing in the clerical force Of the
bureau of statistics for a year and half,
1t Is said, dating from the time that Mr..
OConnelrs work was changed upon orders
from Mr.. Allies. A large number of mis-
takes were found in the proof of the Sec
retary's annual report after 1t had been
passed upon by Mr.. O'Connell The latter
objected to the change and it is said
awaited an opportunity to ''get back" at
affecting him. few days ago he pre-
ferred charges against his chief before the
civil service commission, asserting that
MI Austin was using government help.
time and material in the preparation Of
magazine articles. He also charged Mr..
Austin with taking an undue interest in
political matters.
Secretary Gage exonerated Mr.. Austin
of the charges preferred by OConnell At
the same time he dismissed the latter
Real Reason for Dismissal.
It Is stated at the treasury this after
noon that the charges made against Mr..
Austin by Mr.. O'Connel were not the
grounds at all on which OConnel was dis
missed. The real reason of the dismissal
was that Mr.. Austin filed charges against
O'Connel Of ransacking his private papers
after office hours In the afternoon. This
was considered by Secretary Gage to be a
most serious offense, and when the charge
was Substant1ated he did not hesitate to
take immediate action to dismiss OConnell
from the service Of the government. 1t is
further stated that Secretary Gage has
vestigation to this particular case, and did
not reach his conclusion until last night,
when he felt fully satisfied that the investi-
cation warranted his action. Secretary
Gage gave Mr.. OConnell opportunity TO
present his side Of the case, and has kept
1t open from day to day that Mr.. O'Connell
might have every opportunity to substan-
tiate the charges he made against Mr.. Aus
tin. Mr.. OConneII failed to do this. Sec
retary Gage has written a full history of
the case and has placed it on file in his de-
partment for future reference. In his
statement he characterizes the charges
against Mr.. Austin as trivial, inconsequen-
tial, and made, he says, with evident NAL
Ice. He calls attention to article 4 Of the
amendments to the Constitution, which
guarantees the right of the citizen to be
against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Importance of the Case.
The O'Connei case is one of the most i'm
during his term Of office, ana a good deal
of feeling has been caused over it. 1t is
stated this afternoon that Mr.. O'Conneu
brought charges against Assistant Secre-
tary Allies in addition to charges filed
against Mr. Austin. In view Of the fact
that Mr.. Allies himself was involved in the
charges that were made Secretary Gage
concluded to investigate the matter himselr
In doing so he called before him all the
& foe nd
took the stenographic testimony of each
person In the case. He disposed of the
matter in the most detailed fashion, and
Is satisfied that he has acted for the best
interest of the service. What the charges
against Mr.. Allies were are not known 1t
is declared that Mr.. O'Connen will make
further trouble, and will possibly demand
congressional investigation All the
papers in the case are on file in the treas
ury, and. 1t Is said, will be made available
to the proper persons.