Evening star., 1947-03-24
Letters to The Star
Authoritative Criticism of Office
OF Recorder of Deeds

Authoritative 0r1tIcISm OF Omce
OF Recorder of Deeds
To the Editor Of The Star:
A lot has been written in the past
few weeks dealing with the operation
of the Office of Recorder Of Deeds for
the District of Columbia. As former
employe of that of1ce who worked his
way up from part-time laborer to
first deputy and acting recorder,
followed the recent House investigation
and the news reports of it with great
deal of interest.
Beginning in 1881 when President
Garfield appointed my great grand
father, Frederick Douglass, to the post
of recorder, Negroes have held this po-
sition with but one exception. And up
until the present administration there
never had been any charge of inef-
hciency or maladministration. I was
not surprised to read that the Horan
committee had found, upon inyestiga-
tion that the Recorder of Deeds Offices
present an example of fagrant ineffi-
cheney that requires prompt remedial
action. Neither was surprised to read
that they found the present recorder
does not devote sufficient time to his
government duties. I am sorry to say
that I know both of these charges to
be well founded. If the Horan COM
mittee had not been charitably disposed
toward the recorder. who is an active
minister. they might have found the
basis for making charges of a more
serious nature.
More EmpIoyes-Less Efficiency.
When Rev. Marshall Shepard took
over the Office In 1914, only 735 papers
were waiting to be copied. Today ap-
proximately $4,000 await copying. This
is true despite the fact that in 1914
there were only u employees as COM
pared with 81 today. This backlog is
not attributable to any heavy increase
in work as Mr.. Shepard contends, be-
cause Mr.. Shepard's records show that
in 1941 the Office collected $240, 900,
whereas in 1916 the receipts totaled only
$159, 100, with nine more employees than
we had in 1941.
Money which Congress appropriated
for clerical help which would have kept
the work current was diverted to pay
salaries of executives whose jobs were
created by the recorder for patronage
purposes. Every recorder since 1881 had
gotten along without any of the posi-
tions referred to. These positions are
as follows: Executive assistant to the
recorder, CAF-9; secretary to the execu-
tive assistant, CAF-4; employe counse-
1or, CATS; disbursing officer. CAF-6;
audit And budget officer, CAF-7.
At the time of their creation none of
these jobs had been authorized nor
appropriated for by the Congress.
Naturally, therefore, money which
should have been used to hire more
typists and comparers was used to pay
these useless jobs, all of which currently
are filled. The backlog Of work there
could be cut down tremendously if these
positions were abolished and the money
used to hire 10 more typists, pending
the necessary legislation to put in a
photostatic system of recording. Such
a system would not only keep the work
current and give a more efficient serv-
ice to the public, but would cut the
operating expense of the Office by at
least one-third.
If employees of this Office, like other
District employees, were appointed
through civil service channels, more
efficient clerks and officers would be en-
ployed. AS matters now stand, en-
ployes are not selected because of ability
to do the job but on the basis Of party
Endorsement. The result has been that
employees who had become efficient be-
cause of years of experience on the job,
were replaced under the patronage sys-
tenn with inefficient persons. This situa-
ton contributed its part to the backlog
OF work. I therefore heartily indorse
the movement to put the Office under
the civil service system.
Spoils System at Work.
I also find myself in agreement with
those who believe that this Office should
be under the Commissioners, and that
the Commissioners should make the ap-
pointment do not believe that Negroes
should claim property right in any
job or position because of their color.
7 believe we should aspire for any
position in the government and strive
to qualify to fill it. When we claim
one or two special positions, we bar
ourselves from consideration for other
positions. We should ask no favors be-
cause of our color but should insist on
our right to fill positions of trust in
spite of OUR color.
The recorder Of deeds office per-
forms function that is local. It's ex-
penses are paid in full from the tax
money of local citizens. We own the
building, the Buick the recorder pur-
chased, and we pay his salary of $10,-
900 year without one cent of it coming
back in taxes. The present recorder is
a taxpayer in Pennsylvania. He does
not own one piece of real estate here.
He owns no car here, yet we pay his
| salary without having anything to do
with his appointment nor the manner
| in which he operates our office.
I have no basis for believing that the
Commissioners, If given the authority
would break the precedent of giving this
position to Negro, and I can think
of no logical reason for opposing the
| placing of this Office under their juris-
diction. I know several other Negroes
of responsibility who share this view
but for fear of being called Benedict
Arnolds, they hesitate publicly to ex-
Y,raSS fhoir viouc