The Washington herald., 1911-08-04

observed, both In letter and In spirit,
every propriety of official procedure, as
the record will clearly show.
Entitled to Fair Treatment.
I feel that I am entitled. as a nat
ural and inherent right, to a fair hear
ing at your hands and a speedy deter
mination Of the charges against me,
solely because I am an officer of the
United States under your Jurisdiction;
and II seems to me, therefore, unnec-
essary and superduous to refer to my
more than twelve years of faithful serv-
ice to the government, and to the high
concentrations which my official conduct
and achievements have received from
my official superiors throughout that
time, or to remind you that the records
Of your department show that my ef-
forts. in many instances entirely at my
own initiative and without official sup
port and generally against great oppo-
sition from interested parties, have saved
to the government and to the Indians
some millions of dollars
While / must assume that you intend
to carry out in. good faith the assur-
ances which you have given me, and
while I know that that course cannot
fall to result in my complete vindica-
ton, I cannot afford to continue indefi-
nitely to await your action. as I have
done for two months past, and should
L fail to hear from you promptly in
response to this communication 1 shall
feel compelled to proceed upon the as
me to take other steps to correct the
injustice done me. Very respectfully.
J. X. FARR.
Secretary Fishers Reply.
The above letter was delivered at your
office by special messenger at about 1890
a. m. July IS. The following letters were
mailed (as indicated by postmarks) at
1:3o p. m. and 2 p. m, respectively,
July 1S:
Department of the Interior,
Washington. July II. 1911.
Sir: Permit me to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your letter of June %. 1911, in re-
gard to certain sworn statements which
you had made relative to a letter of April
20, 1911, from the Commissioner OF Indian
Affairs. asking that your resignation be
requested
In this letter you implied that I had
previously assured you that I would af-
ford you a formal hearing in the event
that my conclusions in the matter should
not be entirely in your favor.
In this connection / wish to direct
your attention to my letter of May 49,
1911, in which said it was not my pur-
pose to fix any time for a formal hear
ing unless upon further consideration
that seemed advisable You evidently
have misunderstood this language In con-
STRUNG 1t to mean that 1 would grant
formal hearing, provided my conclusions
were not entirely in your favor.
I have received communication from
the Indian Office in regard to your sworn
statements but have not definitely reach
ed a conclusion upon the matter. Re-
spectfully.
WALTER L. FISHER, Secretary.
Mr.. J. r. Farr. National Hotel, Wash
ington, D. c.
The Secretary of the Interior,
Washington, July II, 1911.
Sir: ! have received your letters OF
July 10 and II, 1911, relating to the in
vestigation now being made with regard
to your removal from the Indian Ser
vice. and shall give them such considera-
ton as seems appropriate.
Yours, truly, WALTER L. FISHER.
Secretary.
Mr.. ]. r. Farr, Apartment q, The
Brunswick. Washington. d. c.
Question of Formal Hearing.
did not, however, receive any reply
to my letter of July IS until after you
had received my letter Of July 20. quoted
below, when you forwarded to me your
letter Of July 20. also quoted below.
Apartment p, The Brunswick,
Washington. D. c., July 20, 1911.
Hon. Walter L. Fisher, Secretary of the
Interior. Washington, D. c.
Sir: I have your two letters dated
July Il. one referring to my letter OF
June % and the other to my letters of
July 10 and II. 1t is to be presumed that
these letters had been written prior to
he INT h,r nF Lott ~ ha
18th, although the fact that they were
not actually mailed until several hours
after the delivery of my letter TO you OF
July IS, and that have had no other re-
sponse thereto, might suggest the con-
clusion that they were called forth by
that letter. II they were completely re-
sponsive to my letter of July 1S. 1t would,
of course, be immaterial to me whether
they had been in fact written Immediate
ly before or Immediately after the re-
ceipt of my letter of July IS; but they
are not, and ] therefore beg to advise
you that, Notwithstanding your letters
dated July II, above referred to, I feel
entitled to and expect to receive from
you a direct reply to my letter Of July
is, in order that I may guide my further
course fairly and intelligently In refer
ence thereto.
l shall not at this stage present any
new matter which might be the occasion
of further delay; but invite your atten-
ton to some of the features of the record
already before you, in order that you
may clearly cover them in your response
hereto and to my letter of July Is.
In your letter dated July II. In which
you refer to mine of June %, you quote
from your letter of May 49, and then
say: You evidently have misunderstood
this language in constituting II to mean
that I would grant a formal hearing
provided my conclusions were not entire
ly in your favor"
Hearing Was Promised.
This understanding on my part Of your
letter of May 10 was based upon the
fact that you had previously not only
promised me a hearing, but had further
promised me lin your letter of May 15}
that you would, after considering my
written answer. call upon Commissioner
Valentine to furnish additional spec1f-
cations IL 1t should then be necessary for
me to have them in order to properly
protect my interests. and also upon the
fact that my sworn answer was then
promptly submitted to you in reliance
upon that promise and in response to
your request made simultaneously there
with.
I. Of course, presumed that when
you wrote your letter Of May 10 you had
not forgotten, but on the contrary held
clearly In mind, your letter OF May Is;
and as q failure to grant me a formal
hearing in any case would be IN deroga-
tion Of your express promise, and, un-
less your conclusions without a hearing
were entirely in my favor. would be
direct violation of them, / assumed that
the language in your letter of May 19.
which indicated that you contemplated