The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-04-01
NO WARNING GIVEN
Decree Abolishes Office
of Six Chiefs of
Divisions.
POLITICAL MOTIVE
IN MOVE DENIED
Hill Succeeds as Head of
Greatest Printing Plant
In World.

DraStically. without previous not
ice or intimation. the Buresu NJ E,-
craving and printing was reor-sn-
lzed by an Executive order signed
by President Harding at s:45 O'Clock
last night.
All Of the thirty-two executive
heads of every division in the bu-
reau are effected by the sweeping
order. Twenty-eight Of them were
suInmarily dismissed.
James l.. wilmeth. Director Of The
Bureau was among those dismissed
Louis A Hill. formerly assistant
chief Of the division OF engraving.
was Immediately sworn into ofice
as the newly appointed successor.
OaIy First step.
The reorganization. which aha
ishes the Offices Of six division
heads. and the general chance q
personnel. was decided upon as a
preliminary step toward a complete
readJustment Of the bureau 10 a
peace-time basis. after an "etxen-
sive examination into the conduct
OF the bureau" the Executive order
stated.
/ The official Executive order
stresses the declaration that nc
political reasons" are behind tht
order.
Hill. the newly appointed director.
states that a corps Of accountants
will be put TO work in the morn
ing checking over the supplies now
on hand at the bureau. and that he
will not sign a receipt" until this
work has been completed. approx
mately three weeks hence.
500 Must Go.
The dismissal OF 500 eunpIoye,
Of the bureau within the near fu-
ture, 50 as TO work the least hard
/ ships on those concerned. as ar
ranged by former Director wilmeth
VIII be carried out under the new
regime, according to Director Hill
A half hour after the Executiv.
order had been signed the names
OF eighteen new division executives
had been submitted to the Presi-
dent by the new director and were
approved They will assume sheir
duties when the bureau opens this
morning.
Executive heads included in the
dismissal, who were eligible for re
tirement. were entered upon the
retired" list simultaneously witi
the signing of the order. These
were the only exceptions noted IL
the dismissals.
Secret Service Suspected.
Owing 70 the suddenness Of the
drastic reorganization and the ap-
parent secrecy OF the preparation,
former Director wTlmeth havIng
discussed his future force reduction
plans TO newsEpermen during th,
late afternoon-the belief that IN.
vestigations had been made BY Sc.
cret Service operatives grew rather
| general last night
Other than TO state that he woulS
mot sign a receipt for the sock or
hand a the bureau" until a corps 90
accountants had completed a thor.
ough investigation. the new direc-
l tor, Hill, refused 20 discuss a
length the causes leading up 1,
the change in personnel or his plans
/ for the future.
Speaking OF the sudden move
Hill said last night: This Is onc
OF the most drastic steps in reor-
Ganization of government bureaus
in years. The outgoing officials
were not transferred. they were
dismissed from the service. am
not prepared to give the reasons
/ The statement given out by the
White House contains the substance
Of all that will be made public al
this time. There has been a secret
investigation Of the bureau for tn,
past three months. This has beer
made at the instance Of President
Harding in answer to numerous
complaints"
Complaints Numerous.
Questioned regarding the nature
Of the complaints Director Hi
said they were Ito numerous tu
mention"
No drastic changes in the admin.
istration OF the bureau are con
templated. il was announced. 'ws
may have further reductions ir
personnel" the director said. hut
this will be based only on our plan
to get back on a peace-time basis
No further reductions in conncc-
ton with the investigation are con-
templated."
For the good Of the service
was the reason set forth for TIN.
action by the executive order. but
no details were made known.
wnmeth Keeps silent.
James l.. wilmeth. the outKoinu
director Of the Bureau Of Engravtus
and Printing. would make no state
ment for publication regarding the
sudden dismissal. 1T has been &C
sudden ] have not had time C.
think about IL. only heard that
was dismissed an hour ago" the
director said.
No intimation OF the Presidents
action preceded announcement Of
the wholesale dismissal Of the Ru-
reau officials. Many Of those Rf-
fected could not be reached last
night and will not learn that their
positions are vacant untn this
morning. Practically every oncIai
interviewed last night was DUN.
founded at the suddenness Of the
dismissal.
wilmeth intimsted that he would
see the President today.
One hour after Wilmcth. the -u'-
going director. Learned 81 ~ ds-
uissai his personal files and b~-
longing were removed Grom .hc o.
nee Of the director and sent to his