Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-02-21
SHARPLY CRITICISED
EDITOR MURRAY nHIsKIy
TAKEN 10 TASK.
Commissioner Foulke Writes In Rela-
ton to Charges Against a Gov
eminent Bureau.

In recent issue Of q trade Journal
known as Price Current. the editor there
OF too occasion to make some caustic criti-
cism Of the civil service commission re-
garding the organization Of the statistical
division Of the Department Of Agriculture.
The editor Of the journal, Mr.. Charles B.
Murray, is a member Of a committee re-
Gently appointed by the National Board
Of Trade to inquire into the charge that
politics played an important part in the
organization of the statistical division
The civil service commission is very much
exercised over the matter and Commits
sioner Foulke has written as follows to
Mr.. Murray:
I'm this statement it is conceded that
you did not furnish US the Information
asked for. The case, therefore, stands
thus: Your committee charges that the
statistical division OF the Department of
Agriculture is organized under political in
fiuences making it impracticable for the
stat1stician to reconstruct the service on a
basis OF qualification and efficiency. On
november ~ we asked You to inform the
commission, whose official duty It was to
Inquire Into the evils complained OF in
what respect these influences exist by
whom and upon whom they are exerted.
and the source of your information in this
particular. You did not furnish this in
formation.
Refused to Detail Evidence.
"on January IA met you. together with
Mr. H. A. Wroth, another member of the
committee, and Mr.. William s. Harvey.
also member, who came in during the
conversation. asked you the sources Of
your information and you referred to the
division of statistics itself, and to Mr.,
Hyde, the chief of that division. in par
ticuiar. l asked you in what way the
political influences were exerted. upon
whom, and how, and you did not tell me-
1 asked you to let me see the testimony
which you had taken and, upon which you
based your report, and you declined You
spoke of old men being employed in the
DIVISION OF statistics, and asked II found
that old men were thus EMPLOYED who
could not be dismissed whether I would
infer that they were kept In by political
influence. / answered that it might be
poiltlcs or 1t might be compassion. and
then asked you whether 1t was wholly as
matter Of inference that you charged
that political influences existed. Mr.. Wroth
denied this with energy, insisting that you
mad specific information, but although I
asked l was not able to find out what
II was, Mr. Harvey saying that it was
confidential
1T is hard to understand either the pub
lie spirit or the reliability of those who
mus pubilsh serious charges against a
decline to furnish either specifications or
evidence to those whose official duty It is
TO investigate. The public must Judge how
Iar the so-called report of your committed
OF inquiry into agricultural statistics is en-
titled to credit or respect when those who
sign and publish it decline to substantia1e
or even to specify their charges. 1t hardly
lies in the mouth of any of the authors OF
such charge, when refusing to substan-
tiate 1t, to say: 1t is not plain to us that
the commission need find much difficulty in
discovering the conditions which Justify it,
1t Is upon you and your committee that we
have the right to call for the specific infor-
nation.
Mr.. Hyde's Statement.
"Since our conversation. however, 1 have
made further inquiries of the head of the
department in question, and learn from him
that Mr.. Hyde is of the opinion that by
political influences the committee does
not mean craftsmanship, seeing that there
was absolutely nothing brought out In the
course OF the inquiry, nor was there any
thing that might have been brought out to
lend countenance to such a statement. He
suggests that the term political influences
was probably used by the committee as de-
scriptfve in a broad way of all those cir
cumstances and conditions that differen-
tiate the government service from clerical
or other service in, the commercial world Il
IF this harmless meaning was intended
by your committee no charge such as you
have made should have been couched In the
language you have used, and your words
ought to be modified or retracted with as
much publicity as was given to your origi-
nal report IT, on the other hand, the
charge as you made 1t were true, why were
crate with our commission in investigating
it?"