The Evening critic., 1883-06-09
THE DISPUTED MAIL ROUTE.
An Interview with John n. MIner,
EastNeeanN

the contractor.
A Post reporter called on Mr.. John n. Miner
yesterday for his statement In relation 10 tho
recent action OF the postonico Department In
regard to the contract for the service on the
mail route from Fort Niobrara 10 Deadw wood,
which has been tho subject OF n letter "A.
dressed by Senator Van wyck 10 the Postm as
ter General, as published yesterday, and
which has been the subject OF newapApcr com.
ment. The reporter inquired OF Mr.. Miner
whether no was willing " state tho facts IN
regard TO this matter, TO which he promptly
replied .
the public all that know In regard 60 this
matter. This route was advertised - bo let NJ
the letting OF tho dth OF March last was a
bidder on q number Of routes advertised TO bo
let at that letting and was tho lowest bidder on
this route; my bid was sl2,0S0. In
consequence OF criticisms that were made
in regard to It In the Senate by soma.
tor Van Wyck, the Department dotermiuod
not to award q contract for that SER
vice. 1 had filed with the Department,
according to the requirements OF tho law,
certified check for 5000, and tho Department
having determined, as have stated, not 10
award n contract for this route, this certified
check was returned to me. In the latter part
of last April was informed by tho Depart.
ment that they contemplated putting on the
service, and was asked whether would per.
form the service ut my bid. replied that
would. was then asked TO put proposition
on file to that effect, which 1 did. was also
asked to deposit n certified check for tho
amount required-s9o0-which ] also did"
"Did you then receive the contract ?" asked
tho Post
"a few days after this the Department sent
TO me at the courthouse, by Mr.. Dlackmar,
who has been attending the pending trial as
ono OF the Governments assistants, n contract
TO bo executed by me for this service. / exc
cuted the contract In the courtroom; took toe
necessary contractors oath before tho assist
ant clerk OF the court, Mr.. Williams, In tho
courtroom. II was witnessed there and Mr..
Vale signed the contract as surety. These
nv foa ata IN I'm y 81 q I n N
mnilY"
Mr.. Miner replied, 'T ordered six Concord
coaches to be put on tho line and took the
necessary steps to procure the STOCK necessary
to run the route and put the service on
promptly on the 1st day of July, as the law re-
quires."
mer action of the Department 2"
"Of that have no personal knowledge. /
know that from the time received back
the certified check until was asked by tho
Department to accept the service gave no
further attention to It. Whether Senator
Manderson and Representative Valentine In
fluenced the Department to put this service
on or not, have no personal knowledge. II
any influence were brought to boar upon the
Department TO induce 1t TO put on this service,
have nothing whatever to do with IL, and II
is a parallel case to many OF those that arc
parties solicited the Department with.
out any knowledge and without any In
from me- to take nrS,cs action
| routes. II is not an unusual thing for this to
be done, and In this regard the matter In
| question does not differ from many others In
| such respects. What have stated covers my
| eutire connection with this matter. II there
| is a controversy, as there seems to be from
| what have seen in the newspapers, between
Senator Van Wyck on the one hand and Sena
| tor Manderson and Mr.. Valentine on the
other, 1t is q matter which they must settle as
between themselves, and with which have
| nntl inu tn 1n Il mr. me n IN ftfnr
| and Senator Manderson think that this service
| is needful and / take 1t for granted thai
| Senator Van Wyck is equally consclentiou;
in what he is doing In respect of the matter
| He has written, as appears from what II
| published in the papers, unkind and uncalled
for things about me. will only say in regard
| to matters OF that kind that there Is no com
| bination or conspiracy between me and any Of
the officers OF the Postohlce Department In
respect OF this route. l accepted the service
have stated, and have incurred expense, as
have before stated, for the purpose of perform
Ing the service. These are the facts of the
case, and the public is welcome to them, 81
| far as / am concerned"
"Where is Fort Niobrara?"
"Fort Niobrara Is the present terminus O.
| the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad, which ha!
recently been completed to that point, and is
as am informed, the nearest railroad point t
Deadwood. The Sioux City 4 Pacific road II
being built to Deadwood, and Is In process o
| construction"
"If the department reverses Its action wha
Will be the consequences to your"
"The consequences would be serious los.
to me, because the months extra pay allowed
| by law would not nearly compensate for the
expense already incurred. believe that thu
Department has acted In good faith in thi
| matter and this must ultimately prove to be
very important route, and will demonstrate
the wisdom of the Department in putting ol
the service. This route is the nearest aut
most direct route from Chicago to Deadwood
requiring the largest proportion of railroad
and the smallest Of stage travel between thos
| points" - Wash. Post today.