New-York tribune., 1903-06-14
POLITICS IN THE SERVICE.

Proctor
employees were appointed to small posto1nceS
inst previous to free delivery being granted to
them for the express purpose Of evading the
Civil Service laws. the granting Of free delivery
bringing all employees within the classlned ser
vice and making possible their transfer to the
washington Office. The attention OF Mr. Heath
was called TO this abuse, and he promised IN
writing to abandon II. but he continued the
practice. notwithstanding this promise TO dis
continue it.
Although the report Of Commissioner Procter
is 4 voluminous document, and the above ara
only a few instances taken from his summary
the entire communication supports the cnarSs
of the most wanton prostitution OF the Wasn-
ington Postofice for personal and political ENDS
A serious feature OF the violations Of the Civil
Service laws by high officials is shown by MI
Procter's statement that in numerous instances
IT was found necessary to secure the co-oPera-
ton Of outside pOstmasters, practlce Whlcn
must eventually and inevitably undermine ths
discipline Of the postal service
To a large extent MT. Proctor -exoneratss
Postmaster Merritt on the ground that appoint
r,ents were forced upon him by his superiors IN
the department, at times even over his protest
II is the consensus o. opinion among those
who have had an opportunity OF examining Com
missioner Procter's report that Tuloch has
made good even on the strength Of this re-
port alone.
Mr. Procter's investigation covered the follow
ing points:
rfrst-Whether all the employees outside the force
of carriers were regularly in the service and en-
Second-Whether the Civil Service rules had bser
observed in the employment and assignment OF
Third-whether there he'd been general oe$ery-
ance Of the Civil Service law ana rCIss n ne
administration OF the Washington poslonlee dulihs
the incumbency Of the present postmaster
COMMISSIONER PRoCTERs FINDINGS
In addition TO the report proper and tran
script OF the testimony taken. Mr.. Proctor pre-
sented a summary OF the findings This sum
mary closes as follows.
1 departure from the observance OF the Civil
service ~res appears in the promotions OF certain
snDIoves in the washinEton POstoffcs which have
been directed by the department aIthough reports
The dCDartnent 4 ii point Is that OF a
woman who was nOmnaNy appointed IN the
Jyysetjnrton rostCffca: who owed her appointment
10 the classification transfer method was promoted
from September J. Ntu TO Juiy lSli trorn sre 70
81 COO wear ry direction or the department ard -
doing the work formerly done by an emPloye who
received a compensation OF cnly Si-o' year
The information disclosed ~ TIE lnNSstizatlcii
seems 10 warrant the statement that appointments
10 classified positions IN the Washington posrothce
ythouf ex pnination bv the devious method Of ap-
pointment in small unclass.aed Offices in Offices
s tbs aTDoirf- ~ rhoss Ia ab0rers VIII, were
of the present postmaster. show a wide departure
in policy from a strict rd for the puohc inter
used the Washington pOstCffce for political and
personal purposes TO an extent wkich left he au-
thority Of the postnaser tn transfers ana appaln5
and placed the Offices IN many respects In the re-
latiOn Of 4 bureau TO the department
The Investigation seems 10 show clearly rnar