Show SUMMARILY REMOVED general har mons discipline 1 demoval of U S attorney clayton of alabama because he is run for congress precedents cited oct 17 glenry t clay ion united states attorney for the mid he district of alabama was today summarily removed from eby the lent mr clayton was a delegate to the chicago convention is cow a candidate for congress from the second district of alabama and is a son in law of senator burh of that elate assistant district attorney F F more has been placed in baaree baree of tho office some correspondence led up to action by the president early in october attorney general wrote mr dayton a letter stating that newspaper clippings and letters showed that b was a candidate for end his duties as district attorney made the positions inconsistent with each other to this let ter ho reply was received on october jtb attorney general wrote mr clayton another letter in which he assumed that bis first letter had not been received by mr clayton he repeated much of bis aret letter in bab stance and concluded f please advise ma upon receipt of this what you propose to do in view of the rule which makes your for another office inconsistent with the bold inn of your present position mr clayton on october ath replica from montgomery mecy alabama to this last letter of attorney general harmon he states that be was the regular of the democratic party from the montgomery district for and was en railed in abe discharge df bis duties as 1111 DO complaints to his hie work but that he araa making speeches ie behalf of his candidacy he concluded as follows 1 I ane not aware that any 0 the duties of my office have been neglected 1 thought aliet man though a otyce bolder hadtke right oi right toce pire to represent abe people I 1 do oct believe that ny retea dionot abe of district attorney should preclude me from those rights of ritte enship which are enjoyed by my fellow citi iene I 1 therefore lechne to adada that my candidacy for Ori grese ie inconsistent or with my poll position attorney general laid the before the deat and tad at 2 thie telegram tete gram vw bent department of Juet ioe H tenry D clayton office S attorney montgomery ala for appearing in OUT corres prett deot has today re H oved the office of at terney biti you now daod you will cavern accordingly tc ailed today Attorney General the ettea herein referred to reads aa department 0 justic wae Hc neten D at ala sir amr letter of alx inet reee ired today and a with abe president ait aler tor your wac i made 0 you have jort been advised by wire and of which I 1 now en cloea copy it hardly necessary to kiy that this edep was rendered imperative pera tive by wilful and persistent stent disregard of abe settled rule and practice of the department to which I 1 expressly called your attention in my letter of the arnt but it is fir f ir to assume you knew before this rule has been acquiesced in with r to nominations for congreve Cong reee by no esa than three V S attorneys dirin the present year andrew F fox northern ot aad cor celiaa 3 walt S district of west both of whom Tolan resigned their offices to accept nominations for offices and wm H childers of the district of mexico who declined to become a candidate for because ol 01 the rule you from your letter either not to know or tt lock appreciation of the obvious upon which this rule ie founded I 1 attempted briefly to mention bome of in a letter dated june last to tha hon edward 0 walthall one of tb senators from who had with me on abe subject in behalf of mr fox among 0 her th engaged ini abe prosecution of against uie government and la abe collection of lubs due it some embarrassment naturally a canvass in which he would be soliciting the voles ol 01 witnesses and parties while in the case of an honorable and upright man like mr fox the interests would not suffer a precedent would be ormed which might arise as precedents have to vex the department ae reatter my observation is that the danae ioos precedents would hardly be made in bad cases moreover there is always room tor the charce that the repeated and prolonged absences and the demand on bodily and mental pieer which the making of a imposes especially in a presidential year would afford ground for criticism based upon neglect of official duties while I 1 am sure mr fox would not in fact neglect any duty for the sake of hia canvas it is sometimes necessary fur officers connected with the department of justice to avoid appearances as well ns realities in a recent letter to mr lassiter united states attorney for the castern district of virginia which was widely published I 1 bad occasion to treat the same subject in connection with the united attorneys actinic as members of campaign committees which letter has doubtless reached your eye you must have been aware when you wrote your letter of the instances which I 1 have named above in which this wholesome rule was recognized and nc quie eced in bv others it must have been quite parent to you therefore that your letter in which you say 1 I therefore respectfully decline to admit that my candid cy for congress is inconsistent or incompatible wita my present p would make your prompt removal necessary not only to preserve the discipline of the department but aso to keep faith with the other officers I 1 have named the references in your letter to tho right of tree speech etc ere eo manifestly ir that no reply seems necessary t very respectfully i signed attorney general |