The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-07-07
Commissioner Declares
There Is No Way TO En-
force Important Feature.
RESIDENCE CLAUSE
EVADED BY MANY
Official Declares Many Employees
Never Saw States From Which
They Are Credited.
By JAMES HAY, Jr.

nat men ana women are cons
tinually getting into the Govern-
ment service by Misrepresentation
and false swearing, and that the pres
ent Civil Service Commission be-
lieves Itself powerless to put a stop
TO such procedure, are the Startling
charges made today by men high in
Administration circles.
And of even more significance Is
the statement by Civil Service Com
missioner McI1henny that, under the
law, no action can be taken to pun
ish or prevent such acts in thd
future.
in my opinion. he said today.
there has been a great deal of this
sort of thing in the past few years"
McIlhenny Explains.
According to Mr.. McIlhenny. who
was one of the Roosevelt Rough
Riders" the false swearing is done
by the men and women who want
to make themselves out as citizens
Of States in which they have either
never resided or never been for
even day. In order to appear as
citizens of desirable States, they
conspire with the officer of any
given county to make an affidavit
that they were citizens of that
county and State for six months
prior to their application for ap-
pointment to the Government serv-
| ice. They also have to make sffi-
davit themselves that they are cite
zens Of the States they claim.
Attention has been attracted to thu
/ present administration Of the Civl
! Service Commission ever since Mr..
| Taft became President and there havs
| been complaints from men high in the
| service of the departments that ths
work OF the commission was little short
/ of farce.
/ These friends OF Mr.. Taft have neveH
/ taken the position that civil service as
an institution, is wrong, but they havs
! contended that its present administers
ton is entirely inadequate
Law Is Specific.
when Mr.. MeElmenny expressed his
belief that there had been a great deal
Of false swearing and what really
amounts to a conspiracy against the
! Government. he explained the cons
by saying:
the law is 50 specific in its express
| sion OF requisites of entering the serv-
ice that we cannot go behind IT, &c
provides that these anidavits shall be
made. When they are made. we havs
/ to accept them without question The
only way in which these offenders could
be punished would be for some one 70
come in hers with proofs that they mad
pertured themselves or had perjury
committed. In that event we would
dismiss them"
In other words, all the evidence is
THAT the Civil Service Commission. ia
the opinion of its present administrat-
ors, is controlled by law which it it
powerless to enforce. 1t can not have
investigations E.ade of suspicious cases.
1t can not ask for prosecutions by tia
Department Of Justice against those
| who have played with perjury as a
means Of getting a job. II must sic
/ qElesCent and unreSisting while the falsd
afhdayits are put over the desks from
day TO day.
Officials Surprised.
! Officials whose business it is to run
their departments for the best they
can get out Of them were dumfounded
4 q 49, ..,,,Fr,rreT rTfFF,
dence that the Civil Service Commis-
sion can be made subject &c such whole@
sale frauds
IF a man wants TO beat the COM
missin, Mr.. McIHhsnny explained by
having himself registered from such q
state that he would be apt TO set an
appointment earlier than would be tho
case il he were down on the lists as be-
ing from his own state or the District
of Columbia, he can very easily follow
this procedure.
HE can write To a county OF the
State. addressing himself 70 the clerk
as follows:
My father is or Ras a bona dde
resident of your county. I want 10 get
into the Government employ under tia
civil service. Please send me an affida-
. VII that / am bona fide resident OF
your county
HE gets the affidavit. although he
may have lived here in Washington all
his life or in some other state, and may
! I never have seen the county or state 10
which he has had himself accredited.
and in which he later swears he is a
bona fide resident"
No Right to Inquire.
Mr.. McIIhenny went on to say that
: the opinions Of the Department Of JUS
tice have been Of such a nature. and
the law is so specific that the commits
sion holds it has no right 10 INVESTIGATES