Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-30
Reply to Personal Charges.

g. now come to notice the things that
Mr.. Tulioch says Of me personally-alle-
cations that are mostly spiteful and puer-
lie, and that seem to have no connection
with the general scope of his charges-alle-
cations too. that seem to grow out of
angry disappointment that after holding
the office Of cashier for twenty-one years
he was not permitted to hold 1t twenty one
years longer. or that. being rich and In
huential man. he was required to give way
to a poor one.
Mr.. Tulloch says that shortly after my
selection was announced informed gen.
tleman, who mentioned 1t to him, that
'Tulloch had to go; that General Heath
insisted upon it, and that no pressure
brought to bear could save him." No such
remark was ever uttered by me. Even II
the story were true, however. there would
be no apology due him for it, I had the
right given me by the law to choose my
cashier, and 1t seems to me to be In ex-
ceedingly bad taste, bordering upon i'm
pudence, for Mr. Tulloch to contest this
and to insist upon his right to stay when
/ preferred some other man.
Mr.. Tulloch also complains that I APP
pointed my "stepson." H K. Van Alstyne,
to the office of superintendent of the regis
try division Of the post Office, with a sal
airy of 5000 per annum. Two points OF
this interesting statement are false: Mr..
Van Alstyne Is not my stepson-is. In fact
not even remotely related to me-and he
never received $500 a year. He is now
a clerk in the money order division. with q
salary Of 81 900. He took charge of the
post Office at San Juan, for which he was
amply qualified. having had four or five
years experience in one of the presidential
post offices of this country, and he con-
Quoted its affairs creditably for nearly
year and without the loss Of a dollar to
the government.
Mr.. Tulloch speaks also Of me In rather
an angry manner because am, as he says,
an outsider" and he urges. quite irrele-
vanity. that the postmaster OF this office
should be a local man, and that all the
offices under him should be given to local
men. Feeling grateful for the kind man.
ner in which have been invariably treated
by the people of Washington and under
standing how natural it is that they should
prefer their own citizens for all their local
offices. I am not disposed to cavil at Mr..
Tulloch's criticism SO far as 1t affects me.
On the contrary, IL the realization of his
wishes were practicable. do not know
but that in the main should feel inclined
to agree with him. But every man who
reflects upon this matter can easily see
that such a thing cannot be-
Civil Service Rules Observed.
The civil service rules open the door to
all applicants for positions in the post Of
flee, regardless of where they may come
from, and there Is no law that prevents an
outsider from also coming into the postmas-
tership Out Of eighteen men who have
filed this Office since its establishment. only
two were born here: the rest were outsiders.
including Mr.. Tulloch's father, who was one
of the worthiest It is rather singular, how
ever, that Mr.. Tulloch should be SO strenu-
GUS an advocate of this principle Of home
rule when he himself is an outsider He
was originally brought here from q distant
state and put into office without even an
examination: and am told that he Is still
an outsider. having been a resident and
citizen OF Maryland for some years. It is
somewhat odd. too, that he should condemn
me for appointing my son cashier Of the
post once when his own father appointed