Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-06-09
TIE POST OFFICE. ERA UDS
The DummIes Only of the Ring Caught,


The Dummies Only Of the Ring Caught,
ftUN'iitfat'i t-----. ir tts .iahf ~
THE CHEF cULPRlTs YET TO BE EXPOS
ED-now SAWYER AND PETERSON
pRofITED ny TIE fRAUDs--sESAToR
spENcER's FRIEND.
WASHINGTON, May7.-Thc exposure
of tho corrupt practices by which con.
tracts for carrying the mails are oh.
tanned has OF course caused futter
among the thieves who have so long
had free pickings in the postofllcc De.
partment, The lead struck in this in.
quiry will, il followed up, develop into
an immense bonanza of fraud and cor.
ruptlon. Kettle, who has been caught
along with Kinds, is only fgurchead.
Back Of him will be found +. p. Saw
yer and B. II. Peterson, the champion
Ring contractors for the Southwestern
mail routes. In the spring of 1871 the
routes in the Southwest were let, and
as usual they were let to the straw
bidders. The principal contracts
We're awarded to A j. Terry, J. w.
Armstrong, J. A. Moore and G. Ed
dmgton, and at nominal rates. II was
apparent to intelligent men that there
was something about those men that
needed investigation. Their bids were
so low that any one familiar with the
country through which the routes
passed must have known that the sue
cessful bidders could not fulfil the con
tracts. II was the duty Of the Post.
office Department, under those circum.
stance, to be very careful and make a
thorough inquiry into the character
OF the men and their securities before
awarding them the contracts. The
law does not require the Postmaster
General TO lot the routes TO the lowest
bidders, but to the lowest bidders ten
dering sufficient guarantees for the
faithful performance Of the contracts.
But in those days John Andrew Jack
son Creswell presided in the Postoiiice
Department, and 1t was
THE GOLDEN AGE OF STRAW BIDDERS
and fraudulent contracts. According
ly, contracts wero made out and sont
to Terry, Armstrong, Moore and Ed
dington on March 30, 1871, and three
months were allowed TO clapse with.
out any steps being taken to ascertain
who the successful bidders were, or
whether their securities were respon-
sible, The result was that at the end
Of three months these men failed to
perform the service, and then tempo
rary contracts were made by Il. p.
Sawyer TO carry the mails over twen-
ty-one routes, for which he was paid
in the aggregate s4Ol,773 a year,
while the total annual amount at
which they were originally let was
SAG, 100 only. II will be observed that
this man Kettle, whois caught in these
late developments, did not put in his
bids in his own name, but in the names
of lddings, Laughlin and Hinds. 1t
was the intention that these men
should fail after q month or two to
perform the contracts, whereupon Saw
yer would be awarded contracts for
temporary service at his old rates. 1t
is necessary that the Ring should al
ways have some one Of their tools for
lowest bidder. If they fail to put in a
lot OF straw bids some honest man
might make fair bid and obtain the
contract and honestly perform the
service. Therefore it was of the ut
most importance that the Ring should
know what bids were in and who were
the lowest, that they might arrange
their straw bids few dollars lower
To do this, clerks and messengers
were bought and
A STAMP couNTrRrEIrED,
and all the contracts carried off one
Saturday night to J. J. Kinds at Sena-
tor Spencers house, where they fixed
up bids for Laughlin, Iddings, and
Kinds. These were mixed up with
the regular bids, and the whole batch
returned TO the contract office. 1t is
said by the Postoflice officials that
the government would have lost no
money by these frauds, because the
bids were the lowest of all put in.--
This is q cunning dodge Of the ofli-
cials to prevent the public from know
ing what is behind. Had not these
discoveries been made at this time, the
government would have been robbed
OF nearly hall q million dollars annu-
ally for four years. The same sort of
appliances are used to control the
mail lettings for the West and North
west. There are Ring routes in Mon
tana, Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico
Oregon, and Washington Territory
controlled by Salisbury, Barlow, and
the Huntleys, oat of which they make
nearly million and n half dollars. If
the Postoflice Department onder the
new regime is to be cleaned out and
put upon an honest footing, Mr. jew
oil and his new assistant Mr.. Tyner
will have lively time Of IL this sum
mcr and fall. They can save five or
six millions of dollars to the govern
ment and fill q whole corridor of cells
in the Auburn penitcntiary.
40 KINDS AND SPENCER.
The j. J. Kinds who was caught in
this business along with Kettle was q
captain in the regiment to which Geo.