REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 61 
+ GENERAL ADMINISTRATION. 
~ In the conduct of the routine of the office and matters of administra- 
tion the Commission has continued to receive the efficient aid of the chief 
elerk, Mr. J. J. O'Connor, and the disbursing agent, Mr. Herbert A. 
Gill. 
g INVESTIGATION BY UNITED STATES SENATE. 
. ' During the latter part of the fiscal year 1890 there appeared in the 
public press a number of articles adversely criticising the administra- 
tion of the Commission, and making charges of inefficiency, extrava- 
gance, and dishonesty on the part of its personnel. These charges were 
given such a wide circulation that the Commissioner deemed it proper 
to call them to the attention of Congress, and at his request the follow- 
ing resolution was introduced in the Senate by Senator Edmunds on 
June 3, 1890: 
_ Resolved, That the Committee on Fish and Fisheries be, and it is hereby, instrueted 
to make an early inquiry into the administration of the affairs of the United States 
Fish Commissioners’s office, and especially in respect to the changes in the force, 
‘compensation paid to employés, and any alleged favoriti-m, or other undue admin- 
istration, and report to the Senate thereon. 
Resolved, That the said committee have power to send for persons and papers. 
On June 5, 1890, the resolution was agreed to, and the investigation 
was placed in the charge of a subcommittee consisting of Senators 
Stockbridge, Squire, and Blodgett. The first session of the committee 
was held on June 13, 1890, and was continued at intervals until Sep- 
tember 15, 1890. The testimony (Mis. Doc. No. 77, U.S. Senate, lifty- 
first Congress, second session) embraced 666 octavo pages of printed 
matter, and the report of the committee (Report No, 2361, U.S. Senate, 
Fifty-first Congress, second session), with a synopsis of the testimony, 
86 pages additional. Thereport is as follows: 
The Committee on Fish and Fisheries of the Senate, to whom was referred the 
resolution of June 3, 1890, as follows: 
Resolved, That the Committee on Fish and Fisheries be, and it is hereby, 
instructed to make an early inquiry into the administration of the affairs of 
‘e 
the United States Fish Commissioner’s office, and especially in respect of the 
: changes in the force, compensation paid to employés, and any alleged 
favoritism, or other undue administration, and report to the Senate thereon. 
a Resolved, That the said committee have power to send for persons and 
papers. 
Beg leave to-make the following report: 
| The passage of the foregoing resolution was owing to the publication of certain 
charges of a rather sensational character which appeared in the press of the country, 
seriously reflecting, not only upon the administration of the affairs of the Fish Com- 
mission, but also upon the character and integrity of some of the officials connected 
therewith. 
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