The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-23
EMPLOYEs INCENsED
ANGERED BY REGENT ORDER OF
 POsTMAsTER GENERAL.
CorteIyou Forblds, Under Pain of Dss- nsissaI, Petitionin& sf CcnEress
 for Incxease In Pay hy gs Clerks sad Carriers.

Washington. Oct. 22.--fSpeciai.) )-- Railway postal clerks and letter car rIers are very much ircensed at an order recently issued by Postmaster General Corteiyou. forbiddIng them, upon pain of dismissal. from petitioming Congress for an increase in their salaries. The order states that that is a matter for the department and not for them.
 The clerks look upon 1t as a very arbitrary use of power and an infringe ment upon the Constitutional right of assembly and petition. They assert that when they enter the government service they do not thereby lose their citizenship or any of the constitutional rights guaranteed to citizens. They look upon 1t as but an example of how far the present administration is going in ignoring the fundamental law. They point out that their organizations have met and peacably petitioned Congress, and that their representatives have the right to carry their petitions before that body.
 And yet to prevent that being done Postmaster General Cortelyou has sent notices to every member of the service advising them that if they do so they will be immediately dismissed from the service.
 A prominent railway postal clerk. who runs out of Washington as a clerk in charge, which Is the designation of the head clerk of a crew. said today:
 T know that the order of the Post msater General Is but an old order is- sued by Charles Emory Smith resur- rected, but that makes 1t none the less odious It is the most arbitrary viola tion of the letter and spirit Of the that have ever seen. If you will take the trouble to look at the first amendment to the Federal Con- stitution you will find that its last clause says that Congress shaN make no laws prohibiting the rightNof the people to peacably assemble and to petition the government for the redress of grievances.
 T am no lawyer, but if this means anything it looks to me as if 1t means that we have the right to petition Congress, as we have done in our con ventions. and that every fair minded man will have to admit that this order is notoriousiy violative of the consti- tuition. If Congress cannot make no laws forbidding the right of petition think of the gall a cabinet officer has In promulgating regulation that does forbid the exercise of that right.
 And yet that is just what Cortel- you has done. But what are we to do about 1t? The recent order of the President giving cabinet officers the power of summary dismissal puts us at the mercy of the Post master General, and Is but little short ,f suspension of the civil service, so ye would be almost like the fellow who xicked when he had his head in the ions mouth if we did anything.
 But personally advocate concerted .ction on the part of clerks against this 'ulIng. We ought to make a test case ut of it. We ought to have clerk IT two violate the order and let them Ire those clerks. We could then take he matter before the courts and tnow that we would get a favora- ,ie decision there. We would then how these government officials that hey cannot with impunity do what he constitution expressly prohibits Congress from doing.
 But 1t is a case of the mice putting he bell on the cat. Who win bell he cat"
 R. II. Watkins.