Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-06-12
the ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN POST
AGE STAMPS.

office department of vast revenue
for a year or two past in the wrongful
traffic postage stamps. Thiswrong-
full practice has reached out far and
near. The postage stamps andstamp-
ed envelopes which parties have OBJ
tanned at a discount here in Ottumwa,
and which We're put upon the market
through wrongful channels, have
been no small amount.
1t would seem to us that when par
ties have knowledge that the revenue
of the department is being wrongfully
preyed upon in this way, it is not
strictly in the line of duty to deal in
them.
We take from the Western Postal
Record the following editorial upon
this subject:
"After the active war on some of
the postmasters of the North and
Northwest, who chose to increase
their income by an unlawful sale of
postage stamps, the disgraceful traffic
was transferred to the Southwest and
attained gigantic proportions in Ar
kansas, Louisiana and Texas. The
special postal agents discovered in
that region, early in May, agreat ring
comprised of postmasters and a man
named Kirby, whose object it was to
defraud the Government. Kirby APP
peared to be at the head of the bust
ness. The outline of the method of
operations together with the final dis
covery and breaking up of the gang
are reported as follows: The rapid
increase of demands for postal sup
plies from insignificant offices of the
fourth class excited the suspicious of
the department.; and in many instan-
ces the orders We're not filed, or only
partially SO. At this point the fertile
brain of Kirby devised another plan
by which his nefarious purposes could
be carried out without detection. He
induced postmasters to order from the
department special request envelopes,
as provided for in the postal reguIa-
ton, the requisition being made for
either a fictitious party, or, if a real
party, one who had given no direc-
lions to make the requisition. This
new device for some time seems to
have imposed upon the postal author
tiles, and large quantities of special
request envelopes We're forwarded
from the department to Kirby's con.
federates, the postmasters, who
promptly forwarded them to Mr.. Kir.
by, at Little Rock. On their receipt
Kirby would turn them over to a
printer for redirection of the request
to return, which the printer effected
through a process only known, so he
claims, to himself. The object desired
is obtained; the original request to
return. is obliterated; a new bronze
lgilt-edged request to return substitu.
ted, and, as the process and scheme
hurts nobody, everybody is satisfied
and Kirby and his confederates are as
exuberant with delightat their smart
ness in having hoodwinked the Gov.
ernment, and having devised a Lawful
scheme to defraud it. The deceivins
POSTMASTER reports that he has SOLD
800 worth of special request envel.
Opes to Mr.. A. B., of his town; anC
on this representation the department
taking it for granted that the sale ha.
been made to bona fide patron O
his Office, and who ordinarily woult
mail his letters at such office, thu.
obliging the postmaster to do thu
work the law contemplates he should
do for and in consideration of thu
commissions allowed-that is, post
marking the letters to their respective
observation-disclosures said postmastel
$50 for selling such 800 worth O
special request envelopes. This lucky
POSTMASTER divides with his disinter
ested friend, Mr.. Kirby. The specia
. request envelopes having undergone
a transformation by the bronzing pro
cess, they become more captivating t.
the eye, and, though sold at dis
count, many establishments invest il
! them, and so great has been the de
mand for the Kirby bronzed gilt
edged envelope that nearly 800, 900 o
them have been disposed of within
the past six months to the business
J establishments of Little Rock. A.
fast as they can, the special agents arr
obtaining and forwarding to the de
J partment the names of the postmast
ers who are in the scheme with kir
! by.O