The Washington herald., 1911-08-04

through my attorney, requesting him to
make all necessary arrangements with
you relative to the hearing.
| f- Dodging the Issue. ..
In your letter of May IL you had ad-
vised me that the Commissioner Of In
dian Affairs had. Immediately after our
| interview of May 1, given directions for
the recognition and accommodation not
only Of me, but of my attorney also. In
the Indian Office in connection with my
examination Of the files in preparation
| of my answer. As I had made no refer
ence In that interview to an attorney, 1t
is to be presumed that Commissioner VAL
entine must himself have recognized that
the character of the hearing which you
promised me was such that the assistance
of an attorney would be obviously neces-
sary. There Is no other possible explana-
tion to his action as reported to me by
you; and / assumed that your reporting
II to me was sufficient indication of your
approval Of 1t. Nevertheless, when my
attorney filed my sworn answers with
you, and in due and regular form Of
| fered to enter his appearance in my be-
half, you did not see fit even to ac-
knowledge his communication directly,
but instead requested me Gin your letter
of May 19) to inform him that you did
not consider 1t necessary or appropriate
at this time to have any formal appear
ance OF any one as counsel in this mat
ter" and went on to say. 1T Is not my
purpose to fix any time for formal
| hearing. unless upon further consldera-
ton that seems advisable.
| AS your letter. taken in connection with
your previous assurances to me. and as
suming good faith and fair intention on
your part in all of them. necessarily
implied that you recognized the possi-
bility that you might clear my record
upon my sworn answer alone, thus max
| ing unnecessary the formal hearing which
you had promised me, and as knew that
the facts stated in my said sworn answer
were sufficient not only to justify but
in all fairness to compel Ypu to do this,
naturally 1and properly assumed that
this was the reason why you preferred
not to have any appearance OF counsel
entered at that time.
Relied Upon Promise.
Indeed, l felt compelled to draw this
| inference, for the reason that the rec
| ord up to that time did not seem to me
| to admit of any other construction, with
out involving also the clear implication
that you then intended to disregard en-
tirely the positive assurances and prom
ises which you had previously given me.
and upon which l had acted, and l did
not feel that il would be proper to make
such an assumption as long as your
| language was capable of being SO con-
strued as to be consistent with the In
tention in good faith on your part to
fulfill those promises. But in order TO
make sure that there should be no pos
sibility OF mistake, I Immediately wrote
you on May @, not only stating clearly
the meaning which your letter had con-
veyed to me, but also notifying you that
| / was still relying upon your promise
| OF a hearing and Of additional specifica-
tions II necessary to properly protect my
interests, and as you did not make any
reply to that communication. 1 supposed
that I had correctly interpreted Your
meaning as expressed in your letter OIL
May 10.
AS Mr. Valentine had left the city
few days before my sworn answers were
submitted to you. I made inquiry In the
Indian Office on. May % as to when he
would return, as was anxious to have
the case disposed OF as soon as possible.
In reply, Second Assistant Commissioner
Hauke said that II would not be neces-
sary to wait for Mr.. Valentines return
in order to dispose of the case. as Mr..
Valentine had already said all he had
to say about II (and in fact Mr.. Valen-
tine has expressly disciaimed all re-
sponsibility for Mr.. Hauke's letter of
July g. which is the only reply ever
filed to my sworn statements); that the
matter would be handled by the Of
fice." and that the office was ready to
go ahead at any time.
No Answer for Two Months.
In view of this statement. and Of your
intention to act promptly, which was
very evident when l talked with you
on May l. naturally expected to hear
| from you very soon in regard to your
| conclusions from my sworn answers.
and in regard to the hearing. but after
receiving your letter of May 1s, &C
knowledging receipt Of my sworn an
swers, I did not receive any communica-
| tIon whatever from you for nearly two
months During that time. in addition
| to my letter OF May %, already referred
to, l wrote you on June 10 and g and
July 10 and II, calling your attention to
the delay and to the fact that / was at
great expense in staying here awaiting
| the hearing, and respectfully urging as
early action as might be convenient to
you; but l received no reply to any Of
these letters until after you had received
my letter of July IS. quoted below, when
you forwarded to me your two letters
dated July II, which are also quoted be-
low.
Appeal to the Secretary.
Apartment %, The Brunswick.
Washington, D. c., July IS, 1911.
Hon. Walter L. Fisher. Secretary of the
Interior, Washington, D. c.
Sir: Under date of May l, 1911, you
suspended me from the position Of gen.
| eral superintendent of logging in the In
dian Service pending the hearing which
you had promised me upon charges MADE
against me by the Commissioner OF In
dian Affairs. Under date OF May 16
| submitted to you my written answer
under oath to the said charges. and un-
der date of May 10 you advised me that
the same would receive careful consider
alton, and I would be advised Of the
conclusions reached thereon, pending
which you would not fix any time for
the hearing.
Since then I have written to you, under
date of May @ June 10. June @, July 10,
and July II, for the purpose Of bringing
| to your attention matters which 1t was
proper for you to consider in connection
| with my sworn answer, and in several
of these letters I also called your at
| tention to the fact that being on sus-
pension without any pay, my continued
presence here is necessarily the occa-
sion Of great expense and hardship to
me personally, and requested that the
matter be disposed Of with all convenient
speed. I have, however. received no re-
ply to any of these letters, nor any COM
munication whatever from you since
your letter, dated May 10; nor have you
yet apprised me of your. conclusions
upon the consideration Of my sworn
answer, submitted to you two months
opo or cot time for a formal hear