Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-04-18
The End of the Foruy

I'OR more than two weeks a posse of De-
partment OF Justice agents plus 100
expert accountants. have been engaged in
q sweeping examination of the records. the
files and the stocks of the Bureau Of Engrav-
ing and Printing. This Investigation fol
lowed the summary dismissal of thirty
chiefs OF the divisions in the bureau and the
director OF the bureau himself in violation
OF the spirit il not the letter of the civil
service law.
When tho dismissals were executed
through executive orders issued by the
President, the men and women involved
were not permitted to return to the bureau
TO remove their personal effects Tho order
had been kept Il profound secret until the
big plant had been closed for the day and
the officials had gone to their homes There
upon White House messengers called upon
The chiefs Individually and delivered the
ukase OF the chief executive.
The following day other officials went
through the desks Of the discharged men
and sent to each such personal trinkcts or
papers as were not needed in prosecuting
the Inventory. The whole business was ex-
pressiye Of the distrust with which the adj
minisrntion regarded the men who were
turned out. Every circumstance Of the mat
ter tended to stigmatize these people
No direct charges were made but more
integrity of Director Wilmeth and his exc
cutivc staff. The country was left to as
sumo that there had been Irregularities Of
criminal character, perhaps wholesale ir-
rcgularities. 1t seemed inConceivablc that
action so drastic would he taken against a
group of officials against whom nothing was
to be alleged.
Then, to add to the popular suspicious
which the administration has carefully en-
couraged an order went out closing the bu-
reau itself while an inventory could be
made. More than 5000 employees were
laid off for ten days while the slcuths
sleuthed for damaging evidence. During
this period a boatman on the Potomac River
found package of watcr-logged Treasury
notes. A great mystery made of this
and the limitations were that the paper
money had been stolen from the bureau and
that the perpctrator OF the deed had sought
to destroy the evidence by throwing it into
the river. Up turned iantor in the Treas
ury, however. who confessed that he had
taken the old notes, all OF which had been
Cancelled and rendered unfit for passage as
currency, before it was stolen.
Finally the inventory was completed and
report submitted. This showed no ser-
Gus irregularities of any sort a few minor
eases OF bad recording and misplaced ma
terials were discovered, it seems, hut nothing
was uncovered that reflected upon the
honesty OF any one of the men who had
been relieved of his duties.
In view OF this development the natural
thing for the administration to do would
nave Ocen to issue n statement showing
that no crime had been committed and
vndicaiing the high character of the people
inVolTcd. Thereafter, the President should
have roinstated the bureau chiefs who hold
their Jobs under the civil service But
neither Mr.. Harding nor any of his spokos-
men have done anything of the sor1 They
have stood pat. and in doing ii they have
invited the reproach of all upright mon