The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-04-04

when the responsibility for efficiency of
the bureau il upon his shoulders.
Order Unprecedented.
But it is the upheaval i'm the bureau
If printing and engraving which has for
the moment focused everyh0dyS atten-
ton on the drive being made 10 abolish
the politically obnoxious phases of the
civil service situation. So far as is
known President Harding'S order sum-
marily dismissing the - men III the en-
craving bureau is unprecedented. Sen
ator Caraway of Arkansas says it's
plainly illegal and when it was pointed
out to him chat Mr.. Harding had not
acted until Attorney General Daugherty
had declared the step was within the
Presidents authority, Mr.. Caraway
said
'.The attorney general is political
associate Of the President and would
probably tell him ii was all right 10
suspend the constitution if he desired to
do SOL
Members of congress are curious to
know what led the President To dismiss
50 many men in the bureau of printing
and engraving. and Mr.. CaraWay'S reSo-
luton demanding an investigation will
probably draw forth some statements
from the administration. If anybody in
the government service has been guilty
of inefhciency or corruption, they should
have been dismissed said Senator Cara
way to-day, but no man ought to be
deprived of an honest living through Sc
cret investigation and without being
given an opportunity TO leaSn what the
charges are against him and who his
accusers are"
The Law.
The statutes have been brought into
the controversy for it Is contendcd by
the federal employees union that Mr..
Harding ignored q fundamental law.
Here is the statute:
NO person within the classified scrv-
ice of the United States shall be re
moved therefrom except for such cause
as viii promote the efficiency Of said
service and for reasons given in writ
ing and the person whose removal Is
sought shall have notice of the charges
against him and be furnished WitlLg-a
copy thereof and also be allowed a rea-
sonable time to answer the same in
writing and to file atidavits in support
thereof"
The reason given publicly by the adj
ministration is inefiiciency and the in
terest of the service. \ test case may
develop in the courts to discover what
the rights 'of government employee
really are as against an executive or
der 1t is true that a presidential or
der sUpersedeS most everything and that
a chief executive has the right to APP
point persons to positions inside the
civil service without examination and
he has the right to abolish jobs which
were previously covered by civil serv-
ice. The presidents technical right to
take both steps at once-abolishinG posi-
tons and appointing new men to va
cancies by executive order Is admitted
by most of the government lawyers.
A Doubtful Point.
But there is considerable doubt as to
whether a president has the right of re-
moval without furnishing evidence bf
the charges existing against a govern
ment emplOye. If he has. the whole
civil service system, it is contended, rests
wholly on the within of a president. The
tendency in congress has recently been
in the direction of abolishing civil serv-
ice requirements wherever it was pos
Siblea to tlo 50. The pOstOtfice laws have
been changed so as TO enable the gov
eminent TO choose any one of the first
three who pass the examinations, but
permitting the president to ignore the
highest man if he is Democrat or
even a Republican without political in
fiuence, and the house of representatives
has Just authorized the appointment of
100 additional pOStoffiee inspectors. In
the last 10 years not more than 30 have
been asked for and the charge is made
by the Democrats that the increased
force of inspectors is to be used to
hound Democratic pOStmaSterS and get
rid of them ON inefhciency evidence de
yel0ped by the inspectors. The quarrel
over the prohibition staff and civil serv-
Altogether the civil service system is
| sol, En-. ifC