Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-11-18
Civil Service Commission Pro-
poses to Get Rid of "Dead
Ones" at Washington
TO PUBLISH LIST or LETTERS
Sent to Federal Office Holders, Also
the List Of Contributors and tho
Amounts They Gave to tho Cam
paien Fund for the State Of Iowa
A Small Disagreement.
Special to Times Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines. Nov. 1S.-It is probable
there will be fought out right away a
little disagreement between the fed
eral office holders and those who man
age campaigns In Iowa. 1t will be re-
called that during rho cltuplig sone-
one gave IL out IN Washington that
Chairman Spence was violating the
civil service law by asking federal
office holders to contribute to the cam
paign fund for the state OF 1own. This
was heralded as u violation Of law and
the announcement wa3 made that tho
civil service commission would go af-
ter Spence with sharp stick. But
Mr.. Spence made no 9 or YEA 'rnen: cf
what he was doing. He did not 1esi-
tate to show the letters he sent and
to tell where tl1ey Wee senr lsei he:
did he conceal his chagc u over the
fact that some who ought to contrib
ute to campaign funds had made kick
about 1t. But Solicitor M. d. O'Con.
nell, of the treasury department, who
was in Des Moines soon after the first
sensational dispatches were sent out,
gave Chairman Spence the opinion
that he was well within the law. No
prosecutions followed at least during
the campaign.
Now it is announced that federal
officials here 1ayc learned that he Est
of those to whom the letters were sent
is to be made public, SO that anybnc
can see it. and also the list Of consrt,-
utors and the amounts they gave. 1t
Is supposed that this list will get Into
the hands OF the Iowa me nbers Of
congress, and 1t may have some effect
on the future distribution Of snull
That there Is to be q concerted
movement to get rid Of the crowd Of
petty office holders who hold the
places at Washington nominally as
from Iowa is shown by an announce
nent in the Mt. Ayr Record, edited by
Howard Tedford, state binder, who dis
.cusses the matter, saying:
"As rule these Washington clerks
do not come home to vote, and when
Chairman Spence asked them to con-
very indignant and reported the fact
to the civil service commissioner. 1t
would be good idea if the senator's
and congressman from Iowa would in
yestigate this matter and see if some
Of these Iowa stiffs at Washington
cannot be dispensed with in the gov
ernment service. But perhaps certain
ly the service could be improved if
some of these dead ones We're buried.
There are plenty of bright young men
in Iowa who could hold these positions
but they are prevented from doing so
by the civil service"
It was to investigate the proposed
campaign to get rid of the Iowa
stiffs" at Washington and to bury the
dead ones' who refused to pay their
campaign assessments, and to make
room for more bright young men Of
Iowa, that the civil service commits
sion this week sent to Des Moines
one Everett Partridge, special agent
Of the commission, who spent several
days here making an investigation. He
carried back to Washington with him
about all the information that was to
be had on the subject. It was very easy
for him to find out that the letters were
sent out by the state committee chair
man and that the fellows who are
under the civil service and imagine
they can hold their jobs forever didn't
pay up very we'll. Mr.. Partridge also
made inquiries as to whether or not
at the various district conferences
where postmasters and others are call
%o1 o;ert, ftoV-
it was not customary to ask the office
holders to pay up their campaign as
sessments. He also discovered that IN
this state the matter of making COL
lections from the federal office hold
ers who are credited to the second Iowa
congressional district was delegated
entirely to the local congressional
committee and the state committee got
none of the funds. The manner Of
getting the federal office holders to
contribute was left to the committee
in that district. The fact that the civil
service commission sent Partridge here
to make the investigation and that he
spent at least two weeks in the entire
investigation, indicates that the mat
ter is regarded with some seriousness
by some of the persons who might have
contributed something to the campaign
funds but did not.
The supreme courts decision yester-
day in the case Of Romano vs.. Capital
City Brick and Pipe Company has ef-
fects not entirely visible in the opin-
ion as it was announced. proml-
nent railroad attorney was one Of the
first to look over the decision and to
note its effect.
This is not railroad damage case"
said the attorney, but every railroad
attorney is interested. It goes to the
liability of railroad companies for kill
ing aliens. It has been regarded as
entirely safe for railroad company
to kill 'dago' They are aliens and
have no right in the courts. But here
the court has held that they have the
same rights as others. It will bs no