The Washington herald., 1911-07-12

Wayne Macveagh, SON of the present
lsecretary of the Treasury, was attorney
for any Of the Cameron or Hale inter-
ests in the company. Mr.. Boyer said he
did not know.
Before the committee at its private
hearing on Saturday, Robert S. Person,
the former Auditor for tho Interior De-
partment, told in full tli, many woes
the Treasury Department, and particu-
larly his bureau, experienced in its flu
| tile effort TO escape assuming quarters
in the Union Building, and of how
chief clerk, whom he stated was re-
sponsible for the contract, was denoted
to minor clerkship for the good OF
the service
Opposed to It's Use.
Backed by authentic copies Of letters,
which passed between himself and the
officials of the Treasury Department, he
related how he had reported against the
advisability of removing his bureau to
the Union building, stating that it was
far removed from the Treasury Building
and that it was not fireproof.
! 1T is not suitable in appearance or
| location for the employment of a high
| class clerical force composed Of genteel
men and women" one Of the letters ran.
\ 1.-TWO livery stables are adjacent to ii,
and offensive smells from these stables
permeate the rooms, especially during the
heated season."
Acting upon Persons recommendations,
Secretary Cortelyou wrote to Senator
Hale, and later the conference committee
h.
appropriation, then pending, be made in
ment could select its own extra quarters.
Notwithstanding these protests, the spe-
cifc appropriation for the Union Building
was forced through. Letters were pre-
sented to the Committee on Expenditures
of the Treasury Department to show that
but a portion of the Interior Department
the Cortelyou term. Shortly after Sec
retary MacVeagh assumed office, the re-
mainder Of Auditor Persons Office was
removed there, and it was followed by
other Offices, until to-day the Union
Building is occupied by the auditors of
two departments and by the Public
Health and Marine Hospital Service.
Counting in a postal station on the
ground floor, the government is paying
a rental to the owners Of $34,7OO.
Found Himself Out of Job.
Until he related the circumstances
himself to the committee, the real story
of how Person found himself out of
job at the Treasury Department had not
been disclosed for general circulation.
The narrative contained the late auditors
respects to Charles Dyer Norton, former
ly Assistant Secretary Of the Treasury
and private secretary to the President,
as a man of political tragedy" The
Democrats of the committee grinned at
Persons frank delineation of how Norton
was the go-between in an incident where
by a worthless clerk in the auditors
office was promoted to a salary of 81, 400
thereby demoralizing his entire force OF
clerks. Norton, he said, apologized for
the part he was forced to play in the
incident.
Norton was a misft in the Washing
ton game as it was then being played"
said Person. He is now a wiser man,
and I apprehend his experience during
his somewhat meteoric career will satisfy
his political ambitions for many years to
come. His case is not altogether un-
like that of other men who play an i'm
portant part on the political stage-soon
or late, most of them, like wild beasts,
come to tragic end. Norton's career
was brief, but dazzling, and from start
TO finish it was full Of comedy and trag-
edy, according to the point of view, but
it was political tragedy to Norton. He
has the sympathy of all who understand
his case