The Caucasian., 1894-01-11
NO. H..
CAPT. OLDHAM'S
STATEMENT.
rHf wfIAI>.rus aHx~N~.EH
WOULD Nor rtulIsH
~ fttI-
Aad TIE ssnss u &c The tsse..Ian wAtsa
Publishes shs Nhsts Truth aad s~ss
Justirs ae all ~fi...
WILMINGTON. Jan. 9Th.

" RNbANN4 AF= ON.
EDITOR THE CAUCAsIA S.-The
foiloSing Is a copy Of statement
which | sent {" The Messenger but
that paper did no, publish Il as |
wrote il. ] send IT TO You for publ
cation:
Ma EpiroK-As the statement Of
the Winston correspondent concern
ing the postoilice appointment which
Was copied IN your paper on sunday
might give an erroneous impression.
must claim the right 90 give INV
version of the matter. and ia wha, /
am to say no feeling of disappoint-
men. has any influence.
senator Ransom makes nv letter
of sept End, pretex,. lie never
intended that ! should be appointed
If IN his power 10 prevent il. As far
back As last March-aboui the time
of the inauguration-he told two
gentlemen of this city that Morton
would get the Wilmington postoffice.
Notwithstanding this fact, he made
me all sorts Of promises, and con-
unued his efforts 10 make me believe
that | should have the appointment
up to the time that Parmalee and
Well arrived in Washington, Dec.
9th, 1898.
before this visit, Ransom told me
he was perfectly well aware that |
had no intention to offer him a bribe,
that he knew | was too honest 10 do
SO. But the day following this as
snrance he said, he feared il might
become known that he had received
such a letter, and it might injure
him. So he felt in duty bound 10
lay the letter before the Postmaster
General, and see if he could consent
10 my appointment
Now ! learned while in Washing
ton, that Ransom was perfectly will
ing to accept the offer contained in
my letter, until he learned that the
Office of the custodian OF the post
office building had no pay attached
to it. Then he became indignant
and could see nothing but bribery in
the proposition.
One of the Senators told me that
Ransom thought ! had tried TO cheat
and not 10 bribe him, inasmuch as he
expected pay and the Office Iii ques-
ton could not furnish it, Ransom's
talk to me about the large salary of
the postmaster lead me TO believe
that bonus was expected, and not
me alone. An ex-member of con-
gress remarked: "The - scoundrel
of his aversion to paying his debts,
and this lead me TO offer TO divide the
pay of custodian.
One of the worst features of the
whole case is that Ransom tried TO
shift the responsibility for my defeat
on to Senator Vance, who had in fact
been all along IN favor of my APP
pointment. ] had TO make three vi
SITS TO the house of Senator Vance
before Ransom could be convinced
that there was no truth in the alleged
opposition, and | even had to get a
written statement from Vance.
Ransom made frequent appoint
ments to meet me, out paid no atten-
ton to them. Indeed, he avoided
me with much industry. lie never
answered any of my letters though
| sent as many as fifteen. He prom
ised at the last interview ] had with
him that he would see TO 1t that |
was provided with a place. | asked
how he could consistently recommend
person guilty-ss be seemed to
imply-of an offense which should
disqualify him for public office.
Accompanying this statement l
hand you the typewriter statement
Of my interview with the assistant
Postmaster General. You might add
that Ransom is nothing more nor
less than an Office broker in Wash
ington.
w. L. OLDHAM.