New-York tribune., 1918-10-30
Amateurs Given
War Work Berths,
Republicans Say
Only S Out of 40 Knew
Business When Made Ex-
plosives Inspectors
Especial Dispatch to The Tribuno)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29.-Appointivc
offices Of serious Importance to the
prosecution of the war--thosc of Fed
cral explosives inspectors in the forty
nine states and territories-have been
filled on purely political grounds with
grossly inexperienced partisan ap-
pointccs, according to Investigations Of
the personnel and methods of the
present Democratic Administration
made for the Republican National Com
mittce, which charges that:
OF the forty-nine Federal explosives
inspectors fofsy-ninc are Democrats.
OF the forty-nine inspectors forty
five had no knowledge of explosives
when appointed.
OF the forty-ninc inspectors two
may have had q bowling acquaintance
with explosives while general store
statesmen.
Of the forty-nine inspectors two
may be said to have come into more
or less intimate contact with cXplo
sives in their careers as miners.
That is the record of Federal ap
pointecs under the act Of October 6,
1917, to regulate the handling and sale
Of explosives for the period Of the war.
the House of representatives. Rcpub-
lcans, fearing just such use Of the new
offices for political patronage, made
strenuous objections to the lack of
a civil service provision. Congressman
(now Major) La Guardia, who returned
this week from his station. with the
American air forces in Italy, proposed
an amendment to place the offices
under the civil service and to strike
out the provision that the inspectors
should be appointed "without regard
to civil service requirements"
Opposed Civil Service
Democrats in charge of the bill ar
gued successfully against this amend
ment by pleading that civil service re
quirements would prevent the appoint
ment of experienced men.
Representative Wingo, or Arkansas,
declared that under civil service the
Bureau of Mines would not be able to
obtain the best qualified men.
Representative Foster, of Illinois. de
MED the purpose was ito give any Dem
ocrat or other partisan politician q
job" He claimed: at is absolutely
necessary, if the bureau is to be ad-
nlinistered efficiently, that this pro
vision should remain in the bill.
The Bureau Of Mines would be con
stantly hampered in doing its work il
this was not in the law"
In the Senate those who objected tC
the entire bill, claiming that employees
of the Bureau of Investigation in the
Department of Justice could do the
work Of the proposed inspectors, were
told that the Investigations regarding
explosives should be handled BY men
more technically qualified than the en-
ployes of the Department OF Justice.
La Guardia's amendment was killed
in the House, the bill was passed unal-
tered in the Senate, and these ''more
technically qualified" men now turn out
to include three clerks, one cigar sales
man, three life insurance agents, five
real estate agents, two physicians, -four
newspaper men, six lawyers, two farm
ers, one travelling salesman, four sher.
ITS, one tailor, two storekeepers, one
automobile salesman, one labor leader
one druggist, one business man, one
publisher of a retail grocers' magazine
one saloonkeeper, one buggy maker, one
contractor, two bank employees, one
lumberman and two miners.