The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-04-23
WHOLESALE CIVIL SERVICE FRAUD
IS ALLEGED
IT WILL Be LOOKED into
Senator Orerman and Others Assert
that Many Government Clerks in
the Department Are Credited to
States They Never Even Visited in
All Their Lives.

That a large number of Govern
ment clerks are on the rolls Of the
Civil Service Commission accredited
to states they never saw was enphat-
ically declared Saturday afternoon by
sIr. Overman and other Senators.
All agreed that this condition must
be terminated.
The Democrats Of the Senate, led
by Mr. Overman, started in earnest
after the Civil Service Commission
and the classified service. A DISPOSE
ton was manifested to weed out
many clerks, possibly thousands, now
employed in the various executive de-
partments who are alleged to have Sc
cured their positions by misrepresent-
alton. 1t is also proposed to prevent
the future blanketing into the classi-
fed service of employees by any Pres
ident, or the waving of examinations
by Executive order.
Earlier in the week Mr.. Overman
offered a resolution calling on the
Civil Service Commission for a mass
of detailed information covering all
Executive orders since its creation
and the present roster of clerks by
states. The resolution came up for
action Monday afternoon.
Mr.. Oyerman produced a letter
from Gen. Black, President Of the
commisson, saying it would be an ex-
pensive and endless task to supply
certain portions of the data desired.
Gen. Black dwelt on the matter of
expense, saying large force of addi-
tional clerks would be required and
the cost of printing the list Of 297,-
472 names would aggregate approx
imately $4,000.
This anticipation of action by the
Senate greatly irritated Mr.. Over
man, who insisted that the bluff" Of
the commission be called at no matter
what cost. Speaking of t large
number of persons on tt Il SER
vice rolls accredited to sta, S in
which it is alleged they never lived
and in some cases never saw, Mr..
Overman said:
81 do not charge fraud, but if half
of what is said concerning the admin
istration of the civil service be true,
there should be full investigation.
do not believe it will cost ten cents
a name to furnish the list Of clerks;
think $4,000 as the total cost
) would be more nearly correct than
$4,000"
Mr.. Overman spoke especially as
to conditions in relation to North
Carolina. What is true Of North
Carolina is true Of all other states,
said Mr.. Smoot. Applications were
filed and afidavits made alleging res
idence in states never seen by those
securing the Government positions,
he asserted. He denounced this as
dishonesty, said it should cease and
the benefciaries be removed from Of
fee.
Several Senators expressed horror
at the suggestion that large numbers
Of clerks had committed perjury to
obtain their places. That there must
be a thorough housecleaning was the
general expression Of opinion.
Senator Cummins not only approx
ed all that had been said but went
further. He desired laws enacted so
that no President could grant exemp-
tons from examination or cover
classes into the service. He thought
that authority never should have
been given, either directly or coli
structively. No person should be free
from examination, he declared. He
said the list Of employees changed
daily, and he believed it would be of
little value within a brief period after
it's receipt.
In order that the Overman resolu-
ton might be perfected and made to
accomplish the best results with the
least expense, it was referred to the
Committee on Civil Service and Re-
trenchment. 1t is the purpose of
Democratic Senators to obtain all the
information desired from the Civil
Service Commission and carefully ex-
anime it. 1t is planned to base on
the facts disclosed on investigation Of
the entire system and the manner OF
it's administration. The idea is that
each Senator, after reviewing the list
of Government clerks from his state,
can pick out those who are not bona
fde citizens.