The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1881-05-21
The Star Route Frauds.

The Star Route Frauds.
The disclosures made in regard
10 what are known as the "Star
Route" frauds have laid bare to the
! public gaze one of the many ulcers
| hat the Spoil System breeds in the
body polite. For several years a
systematic plan of robbing the Gov
eminent has been carried out with
| ne consent and connivance of
| the Second Assistant Postmaster
General. The Star" routes are
those over which the mails
are carried by horses and men.
There are many places, espe-
cially in the South and West, which
can not be reached by the railroad
or steamboat To these places the
mails are carried by stage or on
horseback These are called "Star"
routes, because they are designated
in the records of the Post Office by
three stars, which represent the
words Celebrity, certainty, and Sc
curity. ....
Here is the m9auS oberandf by
VIII CHI millions have been filcled in
connection with the "Star Routes"
from the public Treasury by band
of as interruptions pluderers as ever
made up the Tanmany Ring in its
worst days. When a contract was
advertised for one of these Star
routes, those in the ring put in the.
lowest bid, which was invariably
at figure that was impossible for
any one to bid and not lose money:
in a few weeks the postal service
| over the route was expedited p
that is, two or three trips a week
were substituted for one, though. in
some cases no more then three let
tiers a week passed over the route
With the increase of the trips the
| pay of the contractor was, of course
also increased.
Here is how the thing worked:
| One of these Star routes in Ohio
| was advertised. The lowest bid by
any one not in the ring was 81, 500.
The next was that of the ring man,
who offered to carry the mails
over the route for 5000 He, of
course, got the contract In a
couple of weeks, however, the SER
vice was expedited" and three
trips instead of one were made
| weekly, and the contractors paw was
raised from 5000 to S., 600 year, or
to twice the amount that the mails
| couId he carried for
This process of robbing the Gov
eminent has been repeated in hun
dreds of places throughout the
I country. The net result is that sew
z eral millions have been taken out of
the Treasury by dishonest contract
orr, who did their stealing with the
knowledge and aid of the Post
I Office officials at Washington. In
some cases service has been put
upon routes through regions where
the mails could not be carried at all.
and the ring favorites have been
paid thousands of dollars for work
which could not be performed
In the daily press we find the par
ticuiars of this latest method devised
by the thieving politicians to rob
the country. Out of the. many ex-
amples given, we take at random
what is known as route No. 3f.512.
/ The route was from Friotown to
Eagle Pass, Texas, with three inter
mediate Stations The distance
was ninety miles and the service
once a week The time schedule
fifty hours Ten contractors beside
the favorite of the ring put in their
bids. The latter offered to carry
the mails for $500 year, some 500
lower than the next highest bidder.
He of course got the contract. His
contract term began on January 1.
1879, to continue until July I, 1882.
| On July I, 1879, the number of trips
was increased TO three per week
and ST 200 added to the contractors
pay, and at the same time the run
ming time was reduced to 80 hours.
or three miles per hour, and $4,000
added to the contractors paw. On
August K, 1880, the number of
trips was increased to six per week.
and $3.50 added to the contractors
paw. But this ring favorite was
not vet satisfied. His greed grew
with the feeding, and before the
end Of 1880 the TRIP were increased
: to six per week, and the running
time reduced to twenty hours.
The upshot of the whole matter is
! that the contractor is now receiving
SiI,76o a year for work which he
contracted to perform for $500 a
year. This IS specimen of how
the Government has been robbed.
Washington was the place where
the official work was done, but the
! plans of these political thieves were