Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-05-15
EAST E R ".
A New I'r..rture in the Contract
 Office.

Office.
 WAsHINGrON, May 9.-On the 7th instant awards for carrying mlIls in v..uCGs parts of the country under ,he miscellaneous advertisement of March 10th were finally decided upon at the PostOtiice Department. The letting of these contracts Is not what is known as the regular letting, but consists of service on such routes as from various causes cannot be adyer- Used and let At the usual time and manner. In opening proposals for contracts material departure has been marie from the usual custom in such Cases. The law reads that all proposals for carrying malls shall, be- fore being turned over to the Contract Office, be opened and marked. Here tofOre, with one exception, occurring several years ago, the custom has been merely to open the bIds and stamp them, work which some off, cial in the Department says Is prac- tically of novalue and evidently not what the law cOntemplates, as no rec ord was made, and others could be added after the opening of the bids and blanks filled in so as tO secure contracts, or be withdrawn so as to give some favored bidder the contract, p6rS8ged. Some ie" years ear ago qurte a scandal was created iu the Depart ment by some of these very doings, and several employees of the Contract Office were dismissed in consequence, out still, with the exception before alluded t', n" change Iu Ghe mauuer If opening was made, aru POsGmas- jer-GeDerai James authorized the change tU be made, a5 follows: After the bids were opened they Were stamped with the date Of opening and with an engraved device of which there is put one in existence. They were then numbered cOnsecutIvelI arranged Dy routes and a list made Oi them, glvIng the nuuEer of the bid, name Uf bidder, number of route on which service Is 10 be made, the amount Uf bid, and the defect In form aiIly or irregularities disco, cred. Alter this the bIds We're turned over 10 the Contract Office and list tur nished the Postmaster Gt neral with the device mentioned before. These Oids were turned over 10 he contract office. They were always either un- der the eyes of committee appointed tO examine aud mark them, or in the vault, the keys of which were in the exclusive pos -essiOn of the committee. IL will be seen that under this plan there is no opportunity whatever for Jampering with bids by any one dis posed to do SO in the Department without certain discovery, and that no ,bids can be abstracted nor new ones admitted. It Is so good a plan that the Postmaster-G General will probably cause it to adopted for all future opening of bids for the star routes and other contracts.
 Outrage In Colorado.
 DENVER, May 10.-A telegram re- ceived by the Governor states that on the 9th, in Laplatte county, ranch was attacked and 40 head of cattle run of. Three ranchmen were killed. Some think Indians, and others say white desperadoes.
 DENVER, May 10.-The News fur nishes the following additional infOr- nation regarding the depredations The Governors telegram was dated Durango, and said the Indians had committed the murder and that the ranch was the property of John Thur man. Upon receipt of the telegram the Governor telegraphed purport to General Pope and also sent cOur- fer from the end of the telegraph line to ascertain the truth and what band and how many engaged in the mur- der and if chief Ignacio was at the southern agency with the main body of the tribe, No reply can possibly be received until tomorrow after noon. IL is thought the murder may have been committed by renegade In- disns who are located in the south west corner of Colorado and who rec OgniZe no chIei. If these Indians be long 10 Ignacio's tribe then the situa- ton IS considered as being very seri- ious, and q universal outbreak may be expected any moment. When the news reached them of the indictment of the Indians for the murder of Jack son, Ihe indications seemed to be that they would immediately take the war path. General Pope answered the Governor, saying the report seemed incredible, Ps Durango was only If miles from Fort Lewis where four companies of infantry and one of cav airy were stationed, and If outbreaks had occurred as far back as May 9th he would have been notified by the commander of Fort Lewis and stated that the reports received today by him from the UncOmpshgre and White River agencies indicate everything peaceable. Nine companies of regu- lar troops left Kansas City for Un- compahgre to-day.
 Refuse to Confirm Stanley Mathews.
 WAsHINGToS, May 9.-The Senate Judiciary Committee this morning voted 10 report adversely on the nom .