The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-07-14
SENATOR MAXEY AND THE STAR
ROUTES.

Il NLA oA AhtCA Wow III bllC
ton Nea0s. He does not propose to
be alone held responsible for the star
route recommendations in Texas.
He says his colleague and the Texas
representative were equally in
favor of expediting star routes in
Texas. In this the senator is not
as generous as he should be
He was chairman of the COM
mittee on postoffices and post
routes. and holding this position, in
which it was assumed he would
know the justice of demands affect
ing routes in his own state, his col
league and the representatives
reasonably and naturally concluded
that any recommendation made by
him had been maturely considered,
and that it was reasonable and just.
A congressman has his hands full of
work, if performing his duty, and
the division of labor among commit
tees is very necessary to the dispatch
of business. Nearly all the work in
both houses is done ON the recon-
mendation of chairmen of commit
tees, and, according to the same
rule, when committee chairman
makes a recommendation TO the de-
partments, upon matters which it is
always assumed his committee has
fully considered, such recommends
tion has its force, for the assumption
is that it has had deliberate and care
ful investigation, and that the COM
mittee is satisfied the demand is a
proper one. This is the relation
which Senator MaXey held, as
chairman of his committee, towards
congressman and, especially, to-
wards his colleague and the Texas
representatives. His recommends
ton was in the nature of a guaran-
tee, and was so regarded by all. 1t
is, therefore, not just i'll him to at
tempt to shift responsibility in this
connection from his own shoulders.
1t would have been far more credit
able for him TO have made Just such
an explanation as the STATESMAN
makes, and then held to the defense,
that he regarded his friends, in
in whose behalf he made recon-
mendations, honorable men. But
he is most positive on this
point. He asserts his beliefthat the
star routes in Texas were run by
honorable men, and that the inves-
LEGATIONS will prove them so. He
says: eff there is single route rec
commended by me, in which fraud
was practiced, it was necessarily
after the papers were fled" and
then he adds: "Nor do | believe
that fraud will be found in any of
the Texas contracts" 1t is a pity
for the senator that the Arkansas
ring is running several of these
routes in which the senator is salts
fed there is no fraud. The cry of
fraud in these contracts was raised
nearly two years ago, and an
effort was made in Mr.. Blackburn's
committee to show it, but the opin-
ion was frowned d down then as it is
now by the senate chairman of post
offices and post routes, and the steal
went on more grandly than ever, un-
til Mr.. James, the postmaster gen.
eral, took up the thread, which Mr..
Blackburn was forced to throw
aside, showing that the star routes
had been one of the most corrupt
rings the country has ever
known. The STATESMAN has been
inclined to offer excuses for
Senator Maxey, basing them
upon his innocence, believing him
also the victim of flattery, and not
a man of wrong intentions. His
purity must be of a kind met with
only in an age, when he passes judg-
ment in advance as to the purity of
star route jobbers, and yet he
should have reserved all reference
to his idea that the Investigations
will prove failure. Even though
they do prove so, the bsser public
mind will believe score or so of
these contractors and their bosses
should serve out terms in the peni-
tentiAries.