The Washington times., 1911-07-15
ATTACK ON WILEY
TO BRING REFORM
One Result Of Present Upheaval Will Probably Be a
More Strict Enforcement of the Pure Food
'1 Law in the Future.

President here il wondering whether
the Chief Executive is going to make
the mistake Of letting the case drag
along to indefinite lengths until It as
sumes in the public eye the proportions
that the controversy between Ballinger
and Pinchot assumed.
The men who are most friendly TO the
President want him to exercise the least
possible delay in, making It known. he
does not regard the charges against
Wiley as serious, and such as warrant
him being .ousted. They point out
that the case is simple and easily under
stood. and that 1t ought to be disposed
Of almost as soon as the President
gets the documents in, the case. For
the President to let the matter drag
along. will throw him open to the sus-
picion of sympathizrng with the en-
deavor to force Wiley out
..... +, =. See Plot.
It is regarded here on every hand as
remarkable that the enemies of DR..
Wiley should have hatched a plot of the
boldness they have and should have
hoped to "get by with 1t. On the face
of things, the fact. that the head of
a bureau allowed a scientific expert a
greater per diem. than he was lawfully
entitled to under strict Interpretation
Of law Is not a case Of heinous Offend
ing, and does not call for summary
punishment which the personnel COM
mittee Of the Department Of AgrIcuI-
ture proposed to rnete out to Wiley, Is
wholly out Of proportion to his offend
ing that has caused the general feel
ing here that there was q deliberate
eonniysncs GS at forcing t,6rO him out and = that
Wickersham abetting the plan, to get
1t carried out before the facts became
public.
Representative William Richardson
Of Alabama said today he did not be-
ieve the President would permit DR..
Wiley to be driven from the public
service.
Richardson, who is ranking majority
member Of the Interstate and Foreign
Commerce Committee, intimated that
no more than had been indicated, he
would be an enthusiastic supporter
Of the doctor.
He said the charges seemed wholly
technical.
My acquaintance commenced with
DR.. Wiley when the hearings took
place before the Interstate and For
eign Commerce Committee of the
Fifty-seventh Congress on the mat
ter of pure food legislation" Judge
These hearings extended through
the Fifty-eighth and Fffty-nirth
Congresses to the date Of the enact
ment by Congress of the pure food
and drugs act.
Believes Wiley Faithful.
IT do not hesitate to say that I be-
lieve DR.. Wiley has been in all re-
spects faithful in the enforcement of
the pure food law. in conformity with
the true intent and purpose of Con-
gresa He has never. in my opinion,
yielded or surrendered his honest
convictions to the importunings of the
great combinations that assailed the
pure food law.
His removal from the position he
holds as chief Of the Bureau of Chem
istry would be a severe blow to the
maintenance and support of the food
and drug law. AS to the charges pre-
ferred against DIR. Wiley and the re-
quest for his dismissal from his Off
cisl position, I am informed that they
are entirely technical, and that they
in no manner. directly or indirectly,
impeach or reflect upon his personal
integrity.
Il cannot believe that the President,
after he has opportunity to consider
what hear is the purport of these
charges, will permit DR.. Wiley to be
driven from the public service to
which he has been an ornament. Of
course, DR.. Wiley has had conflicts
with strong interests, and like ali
men he has doubtless made some mis-
takes. But I believe that where he
errs, 1t is on the side of the en-
forcement of the pure food law"