The Washington herald., 1911-08-04

May l. and at the meeting in your Office
on July "a, for you have never met or
talked with me on any other occasion.
Requested a Fair Hearing.
On the first of these occasions I had
come from Northern Wisconsin for the
sole purpose of requesting fair hearing
upon serious charges which Commission
er Valentine had filed with you against
me, after himself denying me hearing
upon them, and upon which you had at
his request called for my resignation
without the Offer of a hearing or even
the formality of calling upon me for any
answer to them, and I had waited in
Washington three days for opportunity
to see you. and when 1 was finally ad-
mitted to your presence found Mr.. Val
entine already with you, and when left
he remained with you. In that inter-
view I was in earnest, II is true, and l
would have been less than a man II I
had not been, for my good name had
been attacked and I was seeking fair
opportunity to defend 1t, but I was hon.
est and sincere, and that I was also
courteous and duly in line with the pro-
prietieS of the situation Is sufficiently
you granted my request for a full hear
ing to be had later, for if I had not been,
or If my behavior at that time had war
ranted the action you have now taken,
you should have taken such action then,
and not have kept me waiting for three
months without any notice of your views
on this point and in the expectation Of
having opportunity to clear my good
name effectually in the fair hearing
;o6 Io
the charges made against me.
Details of Conversation.
On the second and last of these occa-
sions our conversation or conference
was much more extended In response to
your letter of July 20 I went to your
office with my attorney at 1870 a. m,
July "a, and remained until about !
o'clock. In the presence Of the First AS
sistant Secretary, the Commissioner and
Second Assistant Commissioner of In
dian Affairs, and Messrs. Merritt and
Kinney, of the Indian Office. my attor-
ney and 1 thoroughly discussed with you
every feature of the charges against me.
This discussion" as you have termed
it, was the only hearing you have ever
given me upon the charges brought
against me, and at the outset of II l
made formal request to have a record Of
II made, and offered, II necessary, to
bear the expense thereof, informing you
that had brought with me for that pur-
pose in order that there might be no de-
lay or possibility of unfairness, an ex-
pert court reporter. But you refused to
permit any record to be made of this
conference" and the reporter accord
ingly remained in the anteroom through
out the meeting. You stated, in denying
my request, that you were not conduct
ing a formal trial or hearing. but had
merely called together the persons who
were present for the purpose Of a full
discussion Of the case.
All Charges Were Refuted.
In this conference or discussion"
however. every point in the charges
against me was taken up by my attor-
ney and by me and the charge so COM
pletely refuted and all your questions,
objections, and arguments so completely
answered that you were in every case
finally forced to admit that the case
against me was demolished; and when,
at the conclusion of the conference, you
called upon Commissioner Valentine and
his assistants they had nothing to say,
(thus verifying my statement to you
under date OF May 16 that Mr.. Val
entine would not dare TO repeat be-
fore my face charges and insinuations
which he had made behind my back.
and you took refuge finally In the state
ment that, regardless of whether or not
the charges against me were true, It was
not possible for Mr.. Valentine and me
both to remain in the service. You said,
to use your own expression: IT have no
intention. at the present writing, to dis
miss the commissioner" When my at
torney thereupon called your attention
to the fact that I had been for three
months earnestly seeking opportunity to
meet fairly and fully the charges against
me and to bring out all the facts con-
nected with them, whereas Mr.. Valentine
had stood mute in the face of charges
on which any man Of honor would clamor
for hearing. you then, at last, and for
the first time. conceded that these
charges against Mr.. Valentine, which ]
submitted to you formally and openly
more than two months ago, taking full
responsibility for them and expressly Of
fering to prove them, but which you
have never even acknowledged or re-
ferred to in any Of your communications
to me, would haye-to be Investigated" /"
But you did not then give me, and you
have not yet said that you will ever give
me, an opportunity to prove the charges
which have made.
Charges known to Be False.
But IN all this interview my attitude
and demeanor were respectful and oour-
teous and not in any manner unbecoming
in a man who was defending himself
against charges which he knew to be
false, and offered to prove to be so. but
which were of such nature as to affect
seriously not only his integrity and char
acter as a man and a public officer. but
even his ability to earn a livelihood in
his chosen profession, to which he has
devoted his entire life.
Without pretending to sustain the
charges against me, although they were
the only reason for my being before you
and for the very good reason that,
despite the efforts of the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs for months, with all
the power and authority which his posi-
ton gives him. / was able to show you,
even In the hearing which you finally
did give me, and In spite OF your evident
matter against me. that the charges
against me have not been and cannot be
sustained: without giving me any op-
portunity to prove completely Gas
have offered to dol the charges which
have made against Commissioner VAL
entine. even though have already sufi-
GENTLY proved most OF them; and al
though the facts clearly established. un-
questionably justified and absolutely re-
quired n decision from you which would
necessarily have cleared me Of the