The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1881-06-28
THE SOUTH KEHTUCKIAN.
ADVERTISING RATE.
WASHINGTON LETTER.
WAsuiiNeros, June 25,, 1881.

I -
Pretty much all the excitement we
have in Washington now has ils ceii-
tral focus in "lsoom 59' OF the Post
Oflce Department. 1t is in THIS
room that The case against, tho 'slar
route" thieves is being made up, and
the daily secret sessions OF the atIor-
neys, detectives, aud agents are the
object OF no small degree OF interest.
Piled upon table in one part OF the
room are the papers and documents
rom which portion of the eyidencr
has been gathered, and around anolII-
or table sits Attorney General Mae
Veagh, special agents Gibson and
Woodward, and Col. w. A. Cook,
the celebrated criminal lawyer EN-
gagged to assist in the prosecutions.
At some Of the session Postmaster
General James is also present. !, is
smusing 10 read in the "star route"
organs the fierce dcnunciations of
these secret sessions and OF the agents
employed in working up the Gov
crnnient case. One of them, owned
by Brady and his friends, says these
| proceedings Of notorious detectives
and spies will some day "cause the.
blush OF shame to mantle the checks
of American citizens" II deuounccs
1.-THE Administration for establishing
"star chamber" in one of the De-
partmenis. What the Brady crowd
would like is TO have the doors all
left open so that the doings of tho
Government officials could be
watched, The documents stolen. and
all the evidence and witnesses hunted
up bought off or spirited away. The
employment Of A. NJ. Gibson as y
special agent is also a bitter pill, and
because he has heretofore written
some harsh things of Gen. Garfield an
attempt is made TO put the latter in q
false position. Mir. Gibson was for
several years the Washington cores
pondent OF the New York Sun. aud
one OF The sharpest OF sharp lot OF
journalists. lie has what they cnll n
decided nose for news AN eye that
can pierce brick wall. II is a
knowledge ofthis fact that worries
The "stpr route" thieves. Then tie
engagement of Col. Cook is another
source OF troubleto the "stars." The
Republican says il is because OF his
familiarity with the method of the
class who are usually depended upon
here 10 furnish such evidence as may
be needed TO establish any theory OF
defense that may be determined
upon; that his skill in manipulating
perjurers is to be used against the
poor. innocent .star routers." Ii is
Just possible that Col. Cooks skill in
This direction did have something to
do with his retention. But it is silly
for any body 10 charge that the Cow
ernment has any interest in using
these methods to convict innocent
persons. 1t is TO prevent their being
fused to enable guilty rascals to escape
that this precaution has been taken.
and that move knocked a good maly
pegs from under the feet of Brady.
Dorsey Il Go. They are read IL
spend good pile Of their IN gotten
swag to get clear, and the fact Tint
the Government has gone 10 work by
sucn a careful and thorough system il
what makes them howl.
| II is possible that some OF the per!
lsons supposed to be implicated III
these mail frauds are innocent. Per-.
haps il 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 case now
under investigation there are circum-
stances which raise very strong PIE
sumption, aud give rise 10 opinions
which even failure TO convict will
never remove. 1t seems quite nat
ural that when offices are souglt
after which involva great labor and
responsibility and carry very .inoaerr
ate compen sation, suspicion should
be cngendercd that thcro must be
something attractive IN them which
does not appear on the surface.
| When it Is also seen that many oftho
| incumbents. OF these offices who went
in poor as church mouse. retire
| with large fortunes, the gossips will
not be satisfied with the explanation
almost invariably given, that the sud-
denly acquired riches came through
fortunate speculations in stock or
real estate. These are not few per-
sons now resident In Washington
maintaining political and costly es-
tablishmcnls, and moving in good
society, who came here IRON their
former homes with no more than one
suit of clothes TO their backs, but
after holding Office few years go
out and ever after fare sumptuously
and clolhe Themselves in purple and
fine linen. Ex. Assistant Postmaster
General Brady may be, as his friends
) say. innocent OF any wrong doing;
but the fact that he was not a rich
man by any means when he was APP
pointed TO the Office little over four
) years ago and that while the salary
ID only $500 per annum he has
grownimmensely wealthy, goes far
10 give credcnce to the charges
against him. He is now said to be
worth $l,0O0,000 and lives accord
lngly, besides indulging the luxury
o. two dailies and one Sunday news
paper to defend his good name. Yet
it is moi impossible that all this was
gained by lucky stock speculations.
/, II there is no other evidence against
him we shall have to assume that 1t
: was. We shall soon see.
/. In prowling around the Post Oilice
Department in search OF something
interesting got Into the dead letter
office recently and found regular
curiosity shop Win reserve the ac-
count OF what | saw aud learned for
another Letter. Tho grand old Con-
gressional Library is also an inter-
esting place to spend idle hours, and
mean shortly TO tell you all about