New-York tribune., 1920-11-02
Say Chancellor
Had Mania for
Defamation,
tcontInued from page one)


member of the Board Of Education of
the District of Columbia from October.
1906. to July l, 1912, part of that time
as ,vlce-presldent. | am thoroughly fa-
miiar with all the facts in the case
of William Z. Chancellor, formerly
superintendent Of Schools in Washing
ton. who was dismissed by the Board
OF Education while | was a member of
the board, January 4, 1908.
Guilty of All Charges
Gle was adjudgcd guilty of all the
charges which had been preferred
against him November 1S, 1907. after a
fair and impartial trial, in which he
was represented by counsel. These
charges included incompetency. inefi
cheney, INSTRUMENTATION ard acting de-
ceitfully toward the Board Of Edu, alton.
He was removed from his Office en- these
charges, all of which were sustained.
Il was the first member of the board
to directly charge him with being the
author of libelous article in The Ed
ucational Review of February, 1907.
In open meeting of the board I asked
him if he was the author of that ar
ticle, and he absolutely denied all
knowledge of it. He was afterward con-
fronted with the article in his own
handwriting, and he mad to acknowl-
edge his authorship O. the article,
which had been published anonymously
"Whenever he desired to remove any
OF the teachers or officers of the public
schools he never hesitated as to meth
DDS, and in one case, without any proof,
declared that certain anonymous let
ter which he produced before the Board
of Education was written by super
visor. On this letter he based his cf-
fort to remove this man. Chancellor
had his way at the time, but after his
own removal as superintendent this
supervisor was reappointed, and is now
doing good service in the public schools
in another position.
SIandcrs Without Foundation
"Other ISLANDERS were traced directly
to Chancellor, involving the good name
Of officials who had been long in the
service Of the District. and these
ISLANDERS were shown to have no founda-
tion in fact. He did not hesitate to
ruin anybody's character
"Ae had mania for defaming
people and especially of dragging in
matters of moral character. He espe-
cially fomented racial dissension in
the school system. 1t seemed to be a
part of his mania. He was totally un-
balanced and unreliable and left Wash
ington discredited and. despised
"Thc article Chancellor wrote in The
Educational Review reflected particu-
larry on the young men of Washington,
and generally upon the conduct of the
public schools in the city. 1t was
vicious and slanderous and the charges
he made therein We're untrue
"ELLEN SPENCER MUSSEY."
Subscribed and sworn to me, before
RE this first day of November, A. d.
1920. RUDOLPH T. HARRELL,
Notary Public, D. c.
James f. Oyster, Of Washington Dis
trict of Columbia, being first duly
sworn, deposes and says:
Guilty of Inefficiency
81 am resident of the City Of Wash
ington, member of the Rent Com
mission, and was formerly president of
The Board of Education of the District
of Columbia:
"William E. Chancellor, supcrin
tendent OF Schools in Washington, D.
c., in 1907, was dismissed by the Board
az the time, January 4, 1908, after
beng found guilty on charges preferred
against him November 10, 1907.
He was found guilty OF incompe-
toncy and inetficiency, insudbordina-
ton, opposing and antagonizing the
Board Of Education and conduct unbe
coming a superintendent
"He was temperanlentally unsuited
for the office and lost the confidence of
the public and school employees.
Gle refused to obey orders and de-
stroyed discipline.
"He was found guilty Of ridculing
officials of the district government.
He was found guilty of lying.
Denied the authorship Of an in
fammatory article against the District
Of Columbia, its officials, its govern
ment and its citizens, and later the
manuscript in his handwriting was
found This article appeared in the
Educational Review of February, 1907.
"Hc stirred up racial dissenson in
the school system.
"He was erratic, eccentric and man
Of wild ideas. He couldn't be trusted
He was unreliable and willfully un-
truthful by his own admissions.
Efforts were made BY Chancellor's