New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-08-24

LAW IN THE POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENT.
The Postmaster General has recently made
show of zeal in the enforcement of the new
act revising and consolidating the statutes
relating to the POST Office Department, and
especially those provisions which relate to the
Thanking privilege. Yet, in spite of numerous
remonstrances here is the Washington Post
master, Judge Edmunds, daily violating those
laws in the most outrageous manner for the
benefit of the Grant Central Committee OF
which he is chairman. Here are the commit
teemen violating the law by wholesale and max
ing use of the rooms at the Capitol to carry on
their illegal operations. Mr.. Creswell knows
it, for it is done under his very eyes. Judge
Edmunds not only knows, but directs it, and is
mainly responsible for the fraudulent distribu-
ton of campaign circulars under the franks
of members of Congress, and the other scam
dalous proceedings which are now going on
at the Capitol. In the Folding Rooms of the
Senate $4,000 copies of Mr.. Blanton Duncan's
Louisville circular have been folded and
franked under the direction of Mr.. Edmunds,
and sent all over the country; and we are
assured that strict orders were issued by the
same gentleman that nobody except the fold
ers should see what the circular contained.
We have copies Of this document, bearing
what purpOrt to be the franks of John A.
Logan and James Harlan. Other franks used
for the same purpose are those of j. Ii. Platt,
z. Chandler, and G. Hays.
The room of the House Committee on Pub
lie Buildings and Grounds is used for the dis
tribution of another Grant document, entitled
"What Horace Greeley Knows About Politics"
&c. A gentleman who sends us some copies
of this production, all ready, inclOsed and
franked, writes: "1his morning found some
" forty boys putting up the inclosed document,
and a young man ,criting the autograph of j..
" II. Plat, N. o., upon the envelopes"
Now it is by the direction of the Washing
ton Postmaster that this double fraud upon
the postal revenues is committed. In the first
place, none of these documents can legally be
sent as free matter. The franking privilege
of members of Congress covers nothing except,
I, their correspondence; 2, printed matter is
sued by authority of Congress; 8, speeches,
proceedings, and debates in Congress. And in
the second place the franks are forged, as
Mr.. Edmunds, who probably pays the person
hired to commit the offense, very well knows.
We call upon MessB. Harlan, Chandler, Lo
gan, Plat, Hays, and others whose names APP
pear on these envelopes, to answer whether
they have fraudulendy affixed their signatures
to matter which they know is not covered by
the franking privilege. And if they have not
done it, then we quote for the benefit of Mr..
Edmunds and his corps of forgers the nth
section of the revised postal law of 1872, which
reads as follows:
Amy person who shall counterfeit the frank OF any
person entitled the frInkng privilege, or wlfuly
utter or use any counterfeit frank with the intent to
avoid the payment Of postage shall on conviction there
of be deemed guilty OF misdemeanor and be punished
by fine of not less than fifty dollars moro than five
hundred dollars by Imprisonment not less than three
months more than twelve months, or by both fine
and Imprisonment in the discretion Of the court"
viii somebody look after the young man
who "writes the autographs" of Congressman
Plattf