Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1881-06-25
WASHINGTON LETTER.
From our Regular Correspondent.
Wy .surNGroN Iuna % I,


we have in Washington now has
its central focus in Room 59' Of
the Pos. Office Department. 1t lie
in this room that the case against
the "star-rOute thieves is being
made up, and the daily secret ses-
sions Of the attorneys, detectives
aud agents are the objects of no
small degree Of interest. Piled
upon a table in one part OF the
room are the papers and dDcu-
ments from which a portion Of the
evidence las been gathered, and
around another table 81 Attorney
General MacVeigh, special agents
Gibson and woodward, and Col.
W. a. CJok, the cele rated Grim
inal lawyer engaged 10 assist in
the prosecution. At some of-the
sessions Postmaster General James
is also preseat. 1t is musing o
read ia the ''5tar-route' organs the
the fierce denuncialions of these
secret sessions and Of the agents
employed IN working up the Gov
erumeut case. One of them, own
81 by Brady and his friends, says
these proceeding OF notorious de-
tectives and spies" Will some day
"cause the blush Of shame to man
lie the cheeks Of American citi-
zens." 1t denounces the admin
istration for establishing a "star
chamb r" in one Of the Depart
ments. What the Brady crowd
would like is to have The doors all
left open so that the doipgs Of the
Government officials could be
watched, the documents stolen,
and all the evidence and witnesses
hunted up, bought up or spirited
away. The employment of 4. NJ.
Gibson as special agent j. also
bitter pil!, and beca"se he has
heretofore written some harsh
things OF General Ga field an at
tempt is made to put the latter in
a false posi- ion. Mr.. Gib-en was
for several years the Wasting ton
correspondent of the New York
San, and one Of the sharpe8t Of
sharp LOT Of Journalists. He has
what they call decided "noSe for
news'-an eye that can pierce a
brick wall. 1t is knowledge of
this feet that worries the "star-
route thieves. Then the engage
ment of Col. Cook isanother source
of trouble to tie STARS" TIE
Republican says it is because of
his familiarity with the methods
of the class who are usually de-
pended upon here 20 furnish
such evidence as may be needed
to establish any theory of defense
that may be determined upon;
that his skill in manipulating per-
jurers is to be used against the
poor, innocent "star reuters" 1t
is just possible that Cooks skill in
this direction did have something
to do with his retention. But it is
silly for anybody to charge that
the Government has any interest
in using these methods TO convict
innocent persons 1t is to prevent
their being used to enable guilty
rascals to escape that this precau-
ton has been taken, and that
move knocked good many pegs
from under the feet of Brady,
Dorsey & Co. They are ready TO
spend a good pile of their ill-got-
ten swag TO get clear, and the fact
that the Government has gone to
work by such a careful and tho
rough system is what makes them
howl.
1t is possible that some Of the
persons supposed to be implicated
in these mail frauds are innocent.
Perhaps it may turn out, as some
claim, that there has been no
frauds-at least none that can be
proved. But whatever the result
of the cases now under investiga-
ton there are circumstances which
raise very strong presumption,
and give rise to opinions which