The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1916-01-19
Foulke Raps Gray
Continues From page one.)

that the motor delivery system was
established In Wayne county over his
protest
Representative Gray further states
that he sought modification of the mo-
torization order to retain established
routes out OF all the smaller towns of
the county.
He asserts that he secured the list
Of applicants eligible for appointments
as motor rural carriers from the civil
service commission at the suggestion
Of the postoffice department to facili-
tate the change In the service.
He denied In his letter that in such
action he had violated the civil service
law, declaring that it has been the
practice Of the commission to furnish
members Of congress with eligible
lists for fourteen years, even during
the time Mr.. Foulke was chief of the
commission.
He concludes his letter by declaring
that the two carriers out OF Cambridge
City, the two carriers out of Hagers-
town, the Milton carrier, the Center
vile carrier, the Greensboro carrier
and the Fountain City carrier were, in
each instance, the highest ''local elig-
ible." Carriers appointed to Rich
mond routes, A, B and c, he said, were
the highest eligibles in the county
who would accept appointments" and
that the carrier of Route D was ap-
pointed because he resided In the ter
ntory served by him.
Mr.. Foulke's second letter to Repre-
sentative Gray follows:
January 10, 1916.
Hon. Finly H. Gray,
House of Representatives,
Washington
Dear Sir:
Yours of January 18th received
When a man is caught with the
goods" his first effort is to raise dust
about some other matter and thus OBJ
scure the issue. These are your tao.
tics. What you told me was that
you did not ask for the Wayne county
eligible lists at all from the civil serv-
ice commission, but that it was sent
to you voluntarily. The commission
answered this enclosing copy of your
letter of October 80 asking for this
list and your telegram of November
LIST, Send Immediately eligible list,
rural auto carriers Wayne county, In
diana" You were in a hurry. You
wanted to get your men In quickly.
You don't deny one word of this but
when caught with the goods you say,
Il will explain to you again that I act
ed on the request of the department
to facilitate the appointments in or
der to begin the new service on De-
cember first" So it is not the COM
mission which is guilty now it is your
Democratic post office department.
You can change your base quickly, but
not quickly enough to escape from that
kind of delemna, and If you were so
badly mistaken" about what you did
or did not ask of the Civil Service
commission, may you not be equally
mistaken" as to whether you opposed
or approved of the rural motor sys-
tenn? How are we to know what to
believe? If you were opposed to 1t, it
in such a hurry to get 1t established
by the first of December, as you say.
Repeats His Charges.
Next you say that l have charged
violation of the civil service rules in
will read my letter you will find that
was not at all what l charged. Please
recall my language. I told you that
under Section 10 of the civil service
law you had no right to make recon-
mendations at all except as to resi-
dence and character and you told me
you had found the character of every
one Of the applicants to be good, so
there would be hardly any ground for
recommending one above another In
this respect. That is what l charged
and my Letter shows it, yet in your an
swer you try to twist this into some
thing else. That won't do. Our two
letters speak for themselves. You
might examine that eligible list for
perfectly legitimate purpose, for in
stance; to show that there was fraud
or that the system worked badly and
some new law was needed to correct
it. But If you asked for that list for
the purpose of making recommends
tions to the appointing officer you did
what was a violation of the law for
Section 10 provides that no recon-
mendation of any person who shall ap-
ply for office or place under the pro-
visions of this act which may be given
by any Senator or member of the
House of Representatives except as
to the character or residence of the
applicant shall be received or consid-
cred by any person concerned in max
ing any examination or appointment
under this act.''
Gray Without Power.
Now If the postoffice department
had no right to receive your recon-
mendation, you had no right to make
it and you are bound to know this,
for all persons are bound to know the
law You therefore used this list for
an unlawful purpose. That was what
you wanted it for when you telegraph
ed in such haste to have it sent 'im-
mediately." The purpose for which
you desired and used it was illegal
You say that it has been the prac-
tice and rule Of the commission to
furnish these lists since 1902. when I
was myself a commissioner. and you
roll this as sweet morsel under your
tongue and repeat 1t twice on a single