Evening star., 1939-08-09
HatchActRuIinq
U. 5.
Workers Status
Justice Department
Expected to Issue
Statement Toduy

A statement being drafted at the
Justice Department concerning ap-
pllcation OF the Hatch Clean Poll
tics" Act may clarity the status of
Government employees who have
been holding municipal Offices in
nearby Virginia and Maryland COM
munltles, 1t was indicated today.
Officials said the statement would
be designed to clear up some of the
questions Federal workers have
raised regarding their future con-
duct in view of variously interpreted
provisions of the new, act.
An old civil service rule permitted
Government employees residing in
nearby communities to take part in
municipal politics, and President
Roosevelt suggested in a message to
Congress accompanying his sigma
ture OF the Hatch Act that the new
legislation should be modified to
conform with the old rule.
The Justice Department statement
was expected to touch particularly.
on the extent to which Federal en-
PAoy % may pal LASl dIC III IIlS
Democrats convention starting to-
morrow in Pittsburgh. 1t first was
expected to be issued Monday, but
because Of problems raised it was
said this morning that the statement
would not be available until at
least late today.
Hatch Defends Law.
Meanwhile, Senator Hatch. Dem
ocrat, of New Mexico said the "un-
American tag placed on his clean
politics law by Pitt Tyson Maner,
president of the Young Democrats
OF America, indicated complete lg-
norance of or total lack of sympathy
with the principles for which our
party has stood since it's inception"
Senator Hatch sponsored the new
law which curbs political activity OF
Federal employees not engaged in
pollcy-making jobs. He took the
position that any Federal worker
who attended the Young Democratic
Clubs Convention as a delegate and
was seated as such would violate
the law and be subject to dismissal.
d. G. Delegates Replaced.
Officers of the Young Democrats
| convention have said the Hatch law
has made lnroads on many State
delegations and that most District
OF Columbia delegates had been re-
placed because of their Federal Gov.
eminent connections
Despite that statement, the JUS
tice Department reported it still was
receiving inquiries from club MEM
bers here whether they should 90 to
Pittsburgh.
! You can go as lockers if you've
got the carfare. but do not act as
delegates was the advice given
them informally, pending compile
ton OF the formal ruling.
Senator Hatch said he greatly
| deplored' the Maner statement, is
sued in Pittsburgh yesterday, which
called the act the most un-Amerl-
can piece of legislation that has
been passed in the last Is years"
II this law is un-American, then
George Washington was un-Ameri-
can Senator Hatch said. because
he followed its principles in making
appointments based on merit.
Preached for so Years.
The thing Mr.. Maner calls un-
American has been preached by the
Democratic party for more than so
years. We have been a party of
ideals. Now that we are in power.
1t should be our task to make our
professed ideals realities. This is
what the bill I sponsored the Con-
gress passed and the President
signed seeks to do"
The Senator added that it "ill-be-
hooves any Democratic organization
to repudiate those ideals, least of all
the young Democrats"
AS for the National Democratic
Convention in 1910 to name a presi-
dental candidate, Senator Hatch
said the law would bring a marked
physical change in its personnel.
Contending that about 300 of the
1000 delegates to the PHILADELPHIA
convention in 1886 were Federal
offceholders, he observed:
1T might make a world of differ
ence that there will not be 800 Fed
eral officeholders as delegates to
the l94O convention. 1t will be bet
ter to have semblance of obedi-
ence to the law rather than have
the convention packed with Federal
employees"