Evening star., 1922-04-12
hould not receive favorable consio-

should not receive favorable eonsid-
Grafton.
Mr.. Davis in his statement con-
cerning the July dismissais reterreo
to published accounts Of his attitude
as inaccurate" but declared that
conditions disclosed to him. IL true
indicated the need of a houseciean-
ing" in the bureau. His statement
in full follows:
that forty sworn affldavits charging
former Director Wilmeth and his d.
vision with favoritism and misman-
agement formed the bulk of the evl-
dence on which the twenty-eieht bu-
reau of engraving heads were recent
ly discharged is inaccurate.
"Sjnce the action of the President
in this matter 1 have been several
times called upon by representative
of the press who had learned OF my
relation to the dismissals of laSt
summer and to each and every ore
/ have made the same statement, q.
follows:
Hearing Found Impracticabic.
"A number of those dismissed, approx
inately forty. feeling that they had bee
,,nius,tiy treated, endeavored TO get their
cases heard. and committee headed by
Controller CrisSinger was appointed tor
the purpose, as il was believed, OF giving
the desired hearings, but when the NUM-
ber desiring individual hearings was DIS
closed 1t was found ifnpracticable by the
Treasury officials to deal with the mat
ter in taat way. and / addressed to the
controller. Rs chairman OF the commit
tee, the letter of which extracts have
been printed and which, in fact, was
printed practically in full and edi-
torially commented upon by The Staf
last August.
Incidentally to my examination into
the matter. certain statements were
made to me indicating conditions IN
the bureAu showing an impaired
morale, weakening of discipline. fa-
yoritism and discrimination. .which
statements were presented to me ~
part in the form of ssfidavits and tE
part by personal relation of thosa
claiming to have frst-hand knowledge
Of the details Upon the informaticI
thus furnished me, at the request OF
some Of the parties in interest. prer-
pared q specific memorandum point
ing to the matters in question and in
di eating the evidence by which they
might be este 5lished.
"This memorandum. I am inform
ed reached the proper Treasury Off
cials. and I assume that it received
the attention which its character de-
manded. To eaci, and every inquirer
,, of me in the matter ! have advanced
ii as my assumption that this was
the beginning of an investigation into
the affairs of the bureau which cul-
minated in the recent action OF the
President. Beyond this ] have not
gone, and of course 1 do not know
how well founded my assumption is.
But that what was disclosed to me
in the manner above indicated, if
true, iFnperatively demanded a house
cleaning in the bureau there can in
my opinion be no manner of doubt.
Further Reduction Needed.
Further reduction of the personnel
at the bureau will be necessary, Di-
rector Fill announced this morning
under provisions of general order
from the Treasury Department to
bring down the number of employees
to requirements of the present needs
The best method of bringing about
the reduction under provisions Of the
order is being prepared very care
fully, Mr.. Hill said. and will be ef-
fected when possible. No time had
been determined upon for the reduc-
tion, he added.
The bureau personnel has been cut
down from its war size OF 5000 to
the present figure of slightly over.
5000, and careful estimates show. Mr.
Hill said. that it will be necessary
to bring the personnel down to about
$1,000, under terms of the order. The
bureau in 1915 employed about 1000
persons.
When the reorganization has been
effected. it is thought the rotating
furlough by, which each per diem EN-
ploye takes a furlough of three days
each month. on without pay may be
dispensed with.
The employees to be dropped are
designated under the general order
to be taken from the following three
classes: Persons on the extended re-
tirenent list. including those who
are past the retirement age; married
women whose husbands are working.
and employees who were taken into
the bureau during the war without
going into civil service.