The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-04-19

mis- place had been at the disposal OF
the Administration for some time. but II
mad been supposed that when his success
sor was selected somebody familiar with
cuban AFFAIRS would he nominated. SO
far as Is known General Lee Is quite az
nOrant OF cuba and Of the conditions OF
the1nsurrection there, and he Is not at all
tho sort Of man 10 conduct an investiga-
ZION such as it has been supposed the
Administration was Ia need OF. lie is IL
southern gcnucn an OF the old school. the
bent OF whose II ina Is toward beliserence
rather than Impartial observation. IN
docd, u IS declared by those who are
familiar with the Generals recent career
that one OF the principal reasons Tor
his selection for a new post was Inc ne
costly FOR getting MN out OF the post mat
he now occupies.
General Lee was appointed two years
ago 70 10 collector of internal revenue
al I.ynchhurg, and considerable OF an
ado was made about the appointment at
the time. Nothing more popular has been
done by the President, so far as the
Ola Dominion IS concerned, In this Ad-
miuis4au9n But very soon there began
10 10 wh'sr erings Of irregularities in the
I.yncnburg district. The returns were not
always a;cnja'., and gel eral air Ut
o.lice. GcnOial Lee was the soul Of honor
and t.de Southern gentleman, and he
had snowu The frequent injudicio1sness OF
the true Southern gentleman IN his Sc
lection Of sUnordinates.
His fore consisted almost entirely NJ
ex-COnfe0cratc veterans. who knew about
as mucn about the business details OF
collec.h,s and tabuiating internal revenue
rs about file arts Nobody was I'M
f~h Z. 1lGnOnEEfN.
but N somc way there was much trou-
bio abOu- making figures correspond,
ana a1ogotbcr the once was IN so bad a
way that & thorough reorganization was
impcratyei.- demanded. Then the CUBAN
vacancy ocO Ired TO the Presidents mind,
and ne saved the LynchbuIg office and
agtzhugq .fCs feelings at Tic same time
by sending Ice to Havana.
The charges and the insinuations OF the
above article are both reckless and false.
General Lee has been collector OF the
western district OF Virginia only one
year. and not two. as stated. There were
some irregularities in the accounts OF
olerk under General Lees predecessor IN
The once. which did not, however reflect
IN tho smallest degree upon the capacity
or character OF that predecessor. Since
General Lees appointment 10 Office the
reports Of the governments inspectors OF
the ONCE have beer very strong and
complimentary il regard TO the manner
an which Genc,al Lee has managed MS
once. Those reports are on nie IN Wash
ington. and are opcG to the inspection Of
All the word. The last one was made
very recently AID shows that everything
III the office Is IN trs.-ciass condition.
OUT OF more thsn dozen persons en-
pioyed IN the clinical force OF the once
II so happens that there are only two eX-
Confeie-n es. This is because Confeder-
a,e veterans, as a rule, are not fitted by
age. and often IN other ways Tor such
positions. General Lee took the force
lust as his predecessor IN office, Mr.. Shep-
perd let 1t, and. with the exception OF
nInnz one or TWO vacancies. that have
occurred since re has made no changes.
these are the facts OF the case, ana
the Boston Journal can easily find them
out - lie TIE facts, ana we say, without
Iiicuuy, ina: the character Of Boston's
ordination Is In CtSure on tIldl III
this case II the c, immunity will tolerate
q newspaper Vs., Ictring an honorable
ana eminent gel ;Jtman as the Boston
Journal las sjandereC General Lee. and
refusing then to make the simple In
vssigatioa Necessary for correcting its
false statements, tier the community
cannot be much better than the offending
newspaper. The whole thing is shameful
and dlsgracefui, and every honorable man
connected with the newspaper. or. in
deed, IN Boston, should feel his cheeks
burn until the Boston Journal retracts
what 1t has said ana humbly apologies
IN General Lee.