Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1895-10-19
POSTAL AFFAIRS.


Report OF Assistant Attorney. General
Thomas on the Operations OF His Once
for tho Last Fiscal Year-Lottery Bust
ness BADLY CrlppIed-Drafts of Bills Gov
'efing Needed Legislation.
~WAsHIsGToE, Oct. 14.--Judge John
l. Thomass assistant attorney general
Ion the post Office department, has sub
mitted to the postmaster general re-
port OF the operations of his Office for
the fiscal year ended June &c. 1895. :.
During the year 2l3 fraud orders
were issued 50 of which were against
lottery companies operated by, So
called bond investment" companies;
IL against ayowed lottery companies,
and 81 against miscellaneous games Of
chance. The remainder were various
schemes to defraud. T.
Judge Thomas says that the bond in
vestment schemes have been aban-
doned by all the companies except a
very few ~
| In reviewing the lottery question,
hesays It may be confidently asserted
thai the death-knell of the ayoYed
lotteries in this country has been
sounded and their business has been
vastly crippled, If not ruined; but he
is sorry to note the fact that many
business men think they must, In order
to succeed, resort to schemes to appeal
to the gambling spirit Of their people.
aud they accordingly sugar-coat their
legitimate enterprises with lottery at
tachments and thus create a desire for
other and more pernicious. modes OF
obtaining something for nothing by
hazard or chance.
The number of claims allowed for
losses by burglary, fire. ETC., during
the year was 1905, aggregatiug $685.
6s6 This amount does not represent
the actual monetary loss to the gov
ernment, as about $23,9l7 worth OF
stamps and other material was de-
stroyed by fire. At the end of the
year there were $50 claims not dis
posed of.
Judge Thomas renews his recon-
mendation for the passage of law
making postmasters and their suret
liable for the defalcations and acts Of
their subordinates, and submits that
1.-THE failure of the government to take
security from subordinates in post
offices, who number thousands, and
handle millions of dollars of public
money annually, or to hold the post
masters liable for the acts of their
subordinates is not only anomalous in
practice but dangerous to the public
interest" In this connection be has
prepared bill to be introduced in the
next congress to remedy this defect in
the law.
Judge Thomas says that his atten-
ton has several times during the
year been called to dangerous and in
furious matter deposited in the mails,
and upon investigation it was dis
covered that there is now no penalty
prescribed for depositing such matter
in the mails, and indeed, there is no
statute forbidding its being mailed.
He has accordingly drawn up a bill
First-Those which are dangerous to
life, health, comfort and body of the
employe or addresse, such as poisons,
live animals, reptils or insects, ex.
plosives, etc; and,
Second-Those articles which,
though liable to injure employees or
damage other mail matter when. loose
in sthe mails, when properly packed
may be safely handled, such as oils,
liquids not poisonous or explosive;
sharp instruments, dyestuffs and the
like, which may be mailed if properly
packed e..
No one is by this bill permitted to
mail the articles of the tirst-class un-
der penalty OF imprisonment or fine
or both at the discretion of the court,
nor to mail the articles of the second
class II not packed according to the
regulations prescribed by the postmas'
ter-general