Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-29
Action on the Porto Rican
Smuggling Cases.
WILLOUGHBY'S COURSE
RESULT OF CONSULTATION WITH
THE AUTHORITIES.
Chief Hord's Separation From the Serv-
ice Due to the Fact That He over
stepped His Authority.
spec,a, Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

I Special Correspondence OF The Evening Star.
SAN JUAN, p r.. May 20, 1903
Judging from editorial comments that
have reached Porto Rico wrong INFER
ence has been drawn concerning the atu-
tude of Treasurer William F. Willoughpy
In the matter of the resignation of John s.
Hord the chief of the internal revenue bu-
reau I'm Mr. Willoughby's office. 1t Is but
lust TO Treasurer Willoughby, whose per-
sonal integrity and loyal Amer1canlsm are
beyond question, that some facts not mere
tofore printed should be published. Aho'
indeed. some partisan papers have SO deip-
erately misrepresented the attitude OF the
insular government that it also has been
put in false light.
Insular Officials in Accord.
Now that the smuggling cases have been
definitely settled and matters have settled
down somewhat, the nature of ana reasons
for the action of the insular government IN
respect to them can be more clearly SEEN
The primary offense was one against the
federal customs laws, and only secondary
an offense against the insular excise sys-
tenn With action in reference to the
former the treasurer of Porto Rico had abb
| solutely nothing to do; the federal author1-
ties settled the cases in the way In which
offenses against the customs are frequently
adjusted-that, namely, by requiring the
! pavment of double duties and fine. The
insular government has always IolioWea
the general policy in the treatment OF or
: lenses such the present one or belnB
! largely guided by action taken by the red
eral authorities. 1t is evident that II ID de-
sirable that the federal and insular authori-
! ties should as far as possible, work along
J the same line. In the present case, there
| fore, the same procedure In setting the
cases against the insular excise laws was
followed as that taken by the federal gov
/ eminent This action by Treasurer Will
Ioughby, moreover. 1t is authoritatively
stated. only decided upon after full
consultation with the governor of Porto
, Rico and all of the heads of the insular
executive departments that were present
in Porto Rico, and received their unani-
nous approval.
Resignation Of Chief Hord.
In reference to the resignation of Mr..
Hord, the chief of the bureau of internal
revenue in the treasurer's office, Mr.. VIII
loughby. at the time of accepting his resig-
nation, gave to the Associated Press the
following statement:
Mr.. Hord rendered his resignation on
, April % the day after my return from
Mayaguez. 1t was Immediately accepted
by me, and Mr.. Hord's participation in the
work of the Treasury Department Will
cease April 80. This action arises from the
fact that Mr.. Hord during my absence,
caused informations to be filed before a
justice OF the peace against Commander
Mentz and others absolutely without my
authority to do so. and without consulting
in any way either myself (and 1 could
easily have been reached by telegraph or
the assistant treasurer, who was In charge
of the department during my absence"
From this statement 1t is clear that Mr..
Hord's resignation was due solely to the
latter acting without authority and without
consulting with his superiors. The effort
on the part of portion of the press to
make 1t appear that Mr.. Hord had been
sacrificed, although he had acted in the
line of his duty finds, 1t is asserted no
justification in fact. Mr.. Hord was purely
subordinate of the treasurers Office and
! had no authority to act except as such au-
thority emanated from his superior. Action
I In minor routine cases without specific au-
thorizatiOn in each case had been permit
ted; in all cases of any Importance, how
ever, the matter at issue was first sub
mitted to the treasurer or assistant treas
urer before any action was had In the
present instance not only was the matter
the most important with which the Treas
ury Department had ever been called upon
to deal, but the special course had been
pursued by Treasurer WillOughby of call
ing upon Mr.. Hord for a detailed written
report regarding all phases of the case;
such report had been made by him, and
the matter thus taken directly under the
immediate direction of the treasurer.
The Reason of Disapproval.
Mr.. Hord's resignation was thus due IT
10 explained. not because his action hap
pened to meet with disapproval, but be-
cause he took any action at all without
proper authority, and although the mat
ter was one of such great Importance. alb
solutely without consulting his superiors-
one of whom the assistant treasurer, was
in the office at the same time the action
taken, and the other. the treasurer,
could have been heard from by telegraph
within an hour.
1t is regarded as plain that a case such
as this one, of an unauthorized exercise OF
authority by a subordinate employee and
the failure even to inform his superiors
that such action was contemplated. and
the latter thus knowing nothing of the
matter until they were informed of 1t from
outside sources, was a matter that could
not be tolerated for a moment. The resig-
nation of Mr.. Hord therefore, was forth
coming, 1t Is asserted. purely as an ESSEN
tial measure of maintaining proper disci-
pline and administrative accountability. 1t
would have been necessary regardless of
the fact whether the action taken was or
was not such as was desired.
The comments of a portion of the Ameri-
can press have been misleading In making
II appear that the action taken, both as re-
CARDS the smuggling cases and as regards
the resignation OF Mr.. Hord was generally
disapproved Of On the contrary there Is
probably no one in Porto Rico who is
familiar with all of the circumstances OF
the case-certainly no one connected with
the insular government-who does not
heartily approve and indorse the action that
has been taken by the treasurer and the
administration generally in respect to these
matters.
SiYfeon Vaorc