Show FALSE CHARGES In American politics today there is no question so important as that of Civil Service Reform The Democratic party is pledged to it and President Cleveland has in every way sustained the pledge Of I late the papers have contained a great deal about Postmaster Jones of Indianapolis Indian-apolis and his violations of the law on civilservice The charges were so strong I and in many cases came from such sources that it was impossible not to give them some credence and give rise to a wish that at least an investigation might be made The CivilService Commission has made its report and that report exonerates ex-onerates Postmaster Tones from the charges brought against him and the conclusions of the Commission are as follows FirstIt does not appear that the postmaster post-master has made any appointment or removal re-moval in violation of any provision of the Civil Service Act or RuleR Only the first and second rules place any limitation upon the authority to remove and no violation of either of these has been charged or proved Second The facts as to the conversations or declarations charged related rather to matters of taste and official prosperity than to anything which is in itself a subject for investigation except in so far as those declarations de-clarations might shed light upon any questionable ques-tionable case of appointment or removal The evidence shows that the postmaster inn in-n conversation declared his purpose to make removals and appointments according to the theory of political discrimination which is quite repugnant to the system of filling them through examinations In dismissing this part of the subject as to which it is not possible pos-sible to reconcile the testimony the Commission Com-mission thinks he has not had any intention of resisting the rules but that he now more clearly understands that any political discrimination dis-crimination in making selections from among those examined will he a violation both of the spirit and letter The fact that one of the examiners held that position under the preceding postmaster and continuously contin-uously since the inauguration of the system and that three of the first five places made vacant by removals were filled by promotion from among the old employee are not without with-out significance as to the purpose of the postmaster Third It is matter of regret on the part of the Commission that it wan not practicable practic-able for the Chief Examiner or one of the Commissioners fo be present at the examination examin-ation of June 10th inasmuch as only one of the three examiners was familiar with the duties of his position Investigation has shown that the examination was not as thoroughly thor-oughly supervised as was desirable But a most searching inquiry has failed to show that there was any cheating attempted or any injustice done Indeed there is no evidence evi-dence of any such a suggestion Commissioner Commis-sioner Thoman and Chief Examiner Lyman reviewed the markin g papers of nearly one half of all the examined including those marked the highest and those marked out and failed in a single case to discover evidences evi-dences of unfairness or discrimination It will be borne in mind that the papers can be re marked as readily and accurately as on the day after examination The significant fact that not a single person whether marked high or low although the opportunity opportun-ity has been ample has complained that any injustice has been done him or any favor shown any other person Rules 1 and 2 of the civil service referred re-ferred to in the same report are in the following language Rule 1 No person in said service shall use his official authority or influence either to coerce the political action of any person or body or to interfere with any election Rule 2 No person in the public service shall for that reason be under any obligation obliga-tion to contribute to airy political fund or to render any political service and he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so It is a genuine pleasure to know that the charges brought against Mr Jones were false When the charges were made at the same time it was sought to bring in the name of VicePresident Hendricks and to place upon him the responsibility re-sponsibility for such doings in the Indianapolis In-dianapolis postoffice as were falsely charged against Mr Jones In the light of the report of the CivilService Commission Com-mission these charges fall to the ground and those who started them stand beforetime before-time public as base calumniators Had the charges been true no doubt the President would have requested the resignation of Mr Jones and in that request the whole Democratic party would have joined It is a most significant fact that not a single person whether marked high or low or altogether altogeth-er marked out although the opportunity has been ample has complained that any injustice has been done him or any favor shown any other person That the Commission Com-mission could make such a report is the greatest vindication that Postmaster Jones could have had As time moves on and charges against the Administration are made and are investigated they fade away in the light of truth and that which seemed dark becomes bright |