Evening star., 1922-04-04

cleaners, or that of storekeeper 4
custodian of supplies The who'll
thing smacks of a cheap suhterfugt
which was unworthy OF the Sdmtnfs
tration." -.
Commends Foraer Direstsr.
Mr.. Byrns. i'm commending former
Director Wilmeth. Mr.. Ashwofth ant
to the Secretary of the Treasury
dated March 81. in which Ut wal
| stated, Your committee regrets thai
1t found several discrepancies IN, tnt
records of the controllers Office whicf
were corrected in accordance with tA<
made to conform to the records o.
the custodian.
In conclusion. Mr.. Byrns said:
"The public should know swhethe,
this is the. beginning of an insidiQus
attack on the civil service. for ff civ1
service laws and regulations are u
be disregarded, and civil service en-
p1oyes- are to be dismissed Wffhou'
hearing; and. without even an Sexpia
nation, except the very general. in
definite and misleading :statemen'
that it is for the good OF the service
then no civil servioe employe., hiyn OF
low, whatever may, be, his KTaae, .cAI
feel safe under this admiristr OF
unless ilat is backed by powerfu po'
liticar support e'.:" d,
( uttepsd Severe Cfif1cfsm.
The Attorney General several day,
ago uttered some very severe eritt
cisn Of the civil sefvices From. hfs
statement we. are certainIy; justified
\ in beiieving that he has O. copremps
| FOR the civil service, and he would
IL he could, HAVE his ways return te
| ing even the minor clerks in his de-
apartment. The newspapers. tell Us
that he. was one of two high officials
| who was, present and ADVISING thf
| President when this order was signed
at 6:45 o'oioek on Friday evening. II
Is singular that the head of the
| Treasury Department, in which this
bureau was located, or none OF his
|assistants WIS reported to have beer
present. Is the country to. be left
! to understand that the President in
dorses the sentiments Of the Attor-
ney General?"
MeIlon'A Explunattsn.
Secretary Mellon yesterday explained
the action OF President Harding on the
grounds Of "efflciency,' in discussing
the subject for the first time with news
paper men, adding that no charges in
voiving the integrity of any OF the, re-
tired officials had been filed. -
The reorganization, Secretary Mellon
said, had mot been made precipitately
| given the appearance of haste. II was
| the natural result, he said, of a number
Of Investigations into the operation OF
the plant, following complaint of the
| efficiency of its operation.
Several Treasury offlcials had con-
Quoted Investigations. the Secretary
said. Assistant Secretary Wadsworth
going deeply into the situation. Director
of the Budget Dawes, had brought
J from Chicago A. r. Barnes. proprietor
t<f. Lii
large as the governments here, and a
| further expert examination had been
made
Results of these showed, Mr. Mellon
said. that conditions in the bureau
were such as to force some kind of a
change in the interest Of efficiency
Waste was found, he said, losses to
the government running into large
/ sums. because OF sheets Of paper
being spoiled in the new presses. lack
of up-to-date methods for keeping
plates and other unsatisfactory condi-
tions. 1t had been decided. the Secre-
tary added. that Louis A. Hill, ap-
pointed to succeed Mr.. Wilmeth. was
the man to take charge of the bureau
The assignment of Department o1
Justice agents to the bureau, Secre.
tary Mellon said, was in no way a re-
| Election upon the honor of the dis
missed employees. as no charges OF
lifreguiarity or defalcation had beer
I
lover of accounts and stock in the
Iplant upon the changing OF directors
Mr.. Mellon said
/ Polatfcs Not Involved
4 Regarding a charEs Of politics laid
, ,against the administration for max.
ling the change. the Secretary SAID
THAT while the politics of the forme,
lofflcials of the bureau were known ir
La general way. most of the employees
lcould not be catalogued politically, a.
Ithey had no vote.
| To request an interview with the
President that they might ask him
directly to explain his order of lasl
Friday summarily dismissing then
from the government service. James
L. Wilmeth. former director. ant
sixteen former executives Of tht
bureau of engraving and printing
| White House late yesterday after
Inoon.
| President Harding and Secretar,
VChriStian were out when they called
and, after waiting nearly an houl
for their return. the callers presented
or the White House. briefly wordeC
request for an interview addressed
to the President. They called atten
| ton in it to the reflection cast upor
| the characters Of those busted by tbs
President. and stated that the.
1
fever has been charged against them
I Statement to President.
The group gave out the following
statement regarding their call. which
in it's phraseology is substantially
the same as left for the attention o.
President Harding:
| I'VE came to the White House to.
day for the purpose of requesting the
| President to see us. in order that We
might inquire of him the reason fol
lour summary dismissal from the serv-
lice. In view of the implication Of
| the executive order and the White
House statement accompanying 1T
and the many newspaper articles rel
| ative to our dismissal from the bu.
reau, which have cast a reflection
either gross inefficiency or, what i!
worse. corruption of some kind, W.
felt that as American citizens w
have the right to know the nature
Of such charges and by whom the,
were made. Furthermore. as civi
| service employees. we felt that oul
rights had been violated and that thu
| provisions of the civil service Law
| with respect to the dismissal of EN-
| ployes, was totally disregarded in oul
| case.
| 1--WE feel that we have a right t.
demand to be confronted with what
ever has been said against US. to thu
end that the opportunity may b'
| given US to clear our good names.
I'VE did not come to see the Presi
dent seeking reappointment, but tt
insist upon justice"
| Neither former Director WilmetI
nor any other member of the delega
tion. according to their answers tt
1 inewspapermen, had any idea of tn,
nature of the charges which prompt
81 On, 0f f1rAv <Rt