The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-02-10

possible, not upon oilcehoidcrs ut n
but upon men OF standing aud pos
ton, who would not take office, and 9
whose integrity could depend.
Instances merely, I Will refer to Co
onel Cecil a. Lyon OF Texas. command
ing one Of the TEXAS National Guar
regiments, and n man of indepcnder
means, engaged In active business. an
to Mr. Pearl Wight, OF Louisiana, an
To Mr.. Coombs, Of Florida, also mel
of Independent means and of arg
business affairs all of them beinl
among the most respected men IN tnei
several States.
These men. and most OF the other!
upon whom ] rely, could not be per
suaded to take any office In my gift
and J could no more coerce or contro
their political action than could. for
instance, that of presidents of Cham
bers of Commerce or colonels of Ma
fional Guard regiments in similar States
in the North In all of these States
have done my best, when ] came to
appointing Republicans, to put the
best men In office---those whom the peo-
pie of the locality accepted as such
and regarded as leading cftizens--and
] have every reason to believe that the
average OF my appointments is very
high.
Dolting Delegations.
~
made to get UP boiling delegations
from the Southern States, and the
meetings at which these so-called del
cgates are chosen are usually an
nounced as mon otIiceholders' con-
yantions. AS rule this means only,
10 far as 1t means anything, that they
are held under the lead of persons
who wish to be put in office, but whose
character and capacity are such that
they have not been regarded as fit
10 BE- appointed under this admnistra-
ton In these cases. be ii remembered
that the failure to secure office is not
the result of the political action of the
men in questions: on the contrary, their
political action is due to their failure !
to secure office.
One OF the Charges.
You quote a newspaper as saying:
I'VE are now getting daily lessons
in civil service reform from the White /
House, which ought to attract national (
attention. The appointment of Taft
workers to post-ofiices in Ohio, and of
tho totally unfit George w. wanamaker
ms appraiser of this port, is now fol-
lowed by the Presidents refusal to
reappoint a good Hughes man as col
lector of customs at Plattsburg"
This article is good example of
Nc accusation made by those of our
opponents whose craftsmanship renders
them especially INSCRIPTIONS and UNI
truthful. Mr.. Wanamaker's appoint
ment was recommended by the three
Congressman from New York county,
and by the two Senators, the appoint
ment being made precisely as the hum
dred other similar appointments of
postnasters, appraisers. internal rev.
enue collectors, and the like, which
are confirmed by the Senate, are made.
and in conformance with the custom
which obtained throughout my term of
service, and throughout the terms OF
service of Mr.. Mckinley, Mr.. Cleve-
land, and my other predecessors.
In this particular case. as IL happens, !
Mr.. Wanamaker is peculiarly fit for the !
position, being already an assistant
appraiser, who has rendered good SER
vice in that place, and his appointment !
Is the promotion of a proper man
he was appointed assistant appraiser I
by President Mckinley twelve years
ago. has served as acting appraiser /
several times, and has q very good /
record
Particularly Comic.
Tho refusal to reappoint a good
Hughes man as collector of customs at
Plattsburg refers 10 the case of Mr..
Walter Witherbee, and the accusation
IN this case IS particularly comic, be-
cause Mr.. Witherbee was an open and
avowed Taft man. the classinate OF
Secretary Taft's brother at Yale. and
both Secretary Taft and his brother
requested his reappointment-the only
New York ofticeholder for whom they
made such request. The Congress
man from his district and the Senator's
have not agreed about his successor
and he Is still in office. These facts
either n no eIf forc ,.<
the paper in question or could have
been found out by the slightest In
quiry.
Ohio Appointments.
There remain the allegations as to
the appointment of Taft workers" to
post-oftices in Ohio.
In Ohio | have made fifty-eight post
office appointments; twenty-sevtn of
these were reappointments. thrty-one
were new appointments the last in
Guiding the cases where the incuIn-
bent had died, had been removed for
cause or had resigned Generally the
appointment was made exactly as in
other StatSs'upon the recommendations
of the Congressman from the district.
In various cases, however. as at Nau-
mec, Strasburg Button, Greenvi!Ie
and Lsips!c, the nominations We're made
upon the recommendation of both SEN
stors Foraker and Dick, or of one or
the other. In four cases the nomina-
lions were rejected by the Senate In
two OF these, Dennison and Uhrichs-
Vile. the nominations of the new men
Were made on the recommendation of
the then Con gresham Mr.. Smyser: in
each case the previous incumbent had |
not been giving very satisfactory ser
vices, in one instance he having failed |
to give sufficient personal attention to |
the Office, as reported by the Inspector, !,
and in the other case the postmaster
being also the publisher and editor OF /
a newspaper, and various Irregularities |
having been noticed, some resulting In |
violation of law in the interest of the |
postmaster's paper
The Usual Course.
The course followed was precisely
similar to that followed in the case OF
the various other post oftices in Ohio
In the districts represented by Com
gressmen Keifer, Kennedy, Cole and
others, and precisely similar to the
course followed as regards the recon
mendat!ons of this same Congressman
Emyser in other offices. At Spencer
Vile Investigation by tho Inspector
showed that it was inadVjsable to re-