New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-07

the law his bids cannot De GtJcCicu'
orp,U RIMS AND FRAUDULENT BONDS
WASHINGTON. JAN 6.-The President sent to the
Senate to-day the following letter from the late
Postnlaster-G General with regard to the responslDi
itv of the sureties upon bonds accompanying pi"s
and contracts for mail service during the last ior
years: No. o,.,.,cp DEPARTMENT.
wAsmINGroN, ID. C., Jan. 8, lssI.
SIR: have the honor TO tranmlt heISwun uoi of tbe
ron ,e t iiol for tIe prosecution of tho star Route
cases and report OF Inspectors IldDaI a4 & the
the result of amos careful examination lhlo uo
rT%ni,sihiy of the sureties upon bonds accompanying
hids and contracts for mail service during '"7 S '
years 4 see,s 70 show conclusively that there have
& &p5e I m GOO o1Is The snreties upOr which We're with
NerLapa few exceptions utterly Worthless anu
There is reason to believe that the same parties
viii present large number OF proposals % az tne c SIS ia ia
the mail service west of the Mississippi KyGr ~cn ,d T.
i. 10 take place the 7h Of this month ana am am gu, @
1sed ibat the PustmasterCeneral would nave no au
thory to reject such bids II regular IN IOr Mu Mt -
iUposeihc properly TO Investigate the responslDtS M U
r,rj.l nder these circumstances it seems TO Inc
1rop.r that the attention of Congress should De caea 10
some mower NAV be vested in the Department to deDaI
from bidding persons VINO have hitherto boeh ens"seu
AZ in order to make the remedy effective at the next
bidding immediate action upon the part Oh C94RrgSs f
har call attention 10 lhe HhattI ~
stead Of leaving it TO my spcGessqP HeIs
The President
The following is The letter from Mr.. Bliss referred
TO- WAsuryGroN DC. Dec. 80 1881.
Hon. THOMAS L. JAMES PoStn dSteT- Ge9cuL 49,, ~
DEAR SIR: have, yOn incidentally rcquesJeu. hle
10 do examined the law with some care 10 see WheI.oI
aS tS sT reIa form because the bidder has been
heretofore engaged in fraud upon the Government IA
presenting similar proposals IN when the oonus
by law to accompany them we're in the Ofoa4est sTse
OF tuat expressive term bogus where the ] Ho.,''to @
we're either nonresident worthless, ana Where per
jury and subornstion of perjury characterized ever!
fro M the ea56sate report Of Inspectors Tdbal and
shalicross, il appears that within the past iour
iSIi6 d for carving the mails involving $sOs4l52
of bonds and have obtained 296 contracts, lnvovlhg
a few exceptions, utterly worthless. This appears ne
yond a question. The surehcs themselves now aitit ~
i and tell the whole tale Some OF them are touhy ln
Government service Independently Of the admissions
Of the surcties. the records prove the facts, ,,.
letting Of all the mail service west OF the Misslsslp9
takes place on January When the o1 m 6 10 0 Oo6
There WiI PIooaog service ice iiT must Commence on
July l. the contrasts must I ne am4Tofn Nanlf
gaze the responsibility OF the suretes even Is hSl
6@t s have s asT eS Gd ID @ S
10 them When contracts are aWaI9e3I, ,g umi9 % Uan
dies default much better under the bonds ON pro
posas than tracts and IT s the 1ofhcr "HcH le
ordinarily sued. as ! am informed,
N"S. incTe is absolutely conclusive evidence that
~, iipieIGs 70 eood tIe bap7r,ncnt with pi,ls The
indications are tB he is pursuing the same system o
bogus bonds. Under these CIRCUMSTANCES you ask me II
YOU % have the nsGsd tds 10 r9tdLS do I not tinR You
have this right IL seems to clear that there
fs stated i'm This report of Messrs. Tdba aud shall
were brought to the attention OF J1 US
making change propose within day OF IWo 10 hak9
such OF some Of the lacts Htaicd III AS IcVr. "a
relieve you OF any necessity TO Keep II rom .e
IT, therefore. yoU with me, Suggest that before
you OF office you r2nsnlt copy ol !ne IepoIt ~
Congress with a request for Legislation Aoar ODeathI
servant GEORGE BLISS, special Council
The report of Inspectors Tdban and Shallcross,
which accompanies the foregoing letters sets forth
that as long ago as the year 1877, Albert o. Boone,
who was then clerk in the office OF the Board OF
Health of this city, associated with himself. a mum
Der of well-knOwn mail contractors, including JOm4
w. Dorsey, John r. Miner. J. NJ Peck, Alvin ..
Buck, Samuel q. Cabel and Others, and began max
fng bids for Star Route service putting in as sure
ties On the bonds which the combination submitted
with their proposals, meu who, it has since been
ascertained were utterly worthless and ilrespon-
sibie. .
MAIL CONTRACTS on STRAW BONDS
By means of these straw bon IS, which II is alleged
were supported by false representations and perjury
Boone and his associates succeeded III obtaining IN
the course of the next four years large number OF
contracts Of mail service most of which arc still IN
operation. The report of Inspectors Ildball and
Slalcross gives with great fitness of detail the his
tory of these illegal transactions and the proof of
their fraudulent character The following cases
are illustrations: Under the advertisement of No
vember l. 1879 the regular letting, Boone bld on
945O routes in North Carolina, south Carolina,
Georgia Florida Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee,
kentucky and Ohio. The aggregate of the bonds
ACCOMPANYING his proposals amounted TO
81 600, 700 He secured at this letting siXty-nine
contracts and was required to file bonds in the total
enm of $40 700 His sureties for this service were
William ;. BaIIingcr and Samuel n. Hoyt, an ut
tcry worthless bond.
Barringer VINO lives in this city, has made an afh-
davit III which he says he does not, and did not at
the time Of executing the bond, own any real es tate
OF other property that the lands he he owned
were not his; that sham deed of some property al
legged TO be located in Georgia made By Alvin
g. Buck To him fOr the purpose of enabling him TO
go upon bonds and that the whole transaction
a fraud concocted by Albert +. Boone, Alvin Q.
luck and James Nicholas Callan notary public
oi this city.
- Inder the advertisement of February 10, 1881,
f,r mail messenger and station service in the large
cites Boone p 1t in twelve bids with bonds aggre-
gazing $lG4G0O. He secured three contracts, two
ln Boston and one in Brooklyn. The aggregate of
the bonds required for the awarded contracts was
S13IOO The sureties for the service were Samuel
\ uoyt James w. DOnOhoc and William ". Jack
sm Hoyt IL irresponsible. Dopohoe has made an
affidavit. explaining the fraudulent part taken
by Cabell and himself in the matter Jackson
did not pos ess the real estate lie swore he owned
in Braxton County, W. Va, at the time he
executed the bond. He hag made an afhda-
Wit in which he says that the land he
ewore he owned was decided to him by Albert L.
Boone for the consideration Of 81 for the purpose OF
enabling him To 20 upon bonds for Cabeil, Boone
and X. II. Armstrong. lie admits that be knew
nothing about the land and acknowledged the entire
Transaction 10 have been farce. Boone, himself,