The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-05-24
BACON REPLIES TO PLAfP
He Addresses The Senate on His
Cuban Resolution.
Denies the Assertion That the Is
land OReiaIs Are Filled with Cor
vestigatiOn Necessary to Unearth
What He Calls Mighty Thievery.

Mr. Bacon today addressed the Senate on
his resolution providing that s'the Com
mittee on Relations with Cuba IS hereby
directed to investigate and report TO the
Senate as early as practicable regarding
the moneys received and expended in the
Island OF Cuba by. through. and under the
officials and representatives Of the United
States, both civil and military. from the
date OF the occupation Of Cuba by the
military forces of the United States until
and including the Both day OF April, 1900"
as a method Of probing the postal frauds.
He made an argument in answer TO the
speech made by Mr. Platt OF Connecticut
yesterday, and disproved the statements
made by the latter. charging the officials in
Cuba with corruption
Mr.. Bacon referred to the statement Of
Mr.. Platt that a legislative investigation
was not necessary, as departmental in
vestigation was being made. He states
that he has seen nothing IN fact which
would make a Congressional investigation
Necessary said he
Now, with reference 10 the postal
frauds, which should be investigated BY
Congress, and net let alone, as the SCna or
hands CT an expert accountant An ex-
pert accountant might trap a tiI-tspper.
but lot the great. the mighty thieves who
have been obtaining millions in Cuba 1
want 10 md cut whether or 10. the SI4.-
O0o,6o0 expended was mostly misapPTO-
priated-
How far has the postofice fnvestiga-
| tiOn gomez Il is charged that this man
Neely has gotten away with some s45. 900
this year, but there are ether things and
I other men 10 be looked after. How about
the dishonest sales CT postal stamps2 I
want a commission provided with power to
swear and call Witnesses and search
everything. The report gives a general
expenditure Of over 5000. .0Ce in the depart
ment Of posts in the first six months in
1899 OF this over $4,000 is classed as
miscellaneous The people OF this country
must know and viii know what this money
went for. Then under the head Of salaries
comes an item Of S219 600. Now 10 whom
was this paidZ Who got the money! This
is what I want 10 know. The report itself
states that all Of the clerks. pOsJmasters.
railway postal clerks. and letter carriers
were only paid S145, Geo. Who got the bal
ance2
Then there Is an item OF $4,000 marked
per diem. Who authorized per diem pay
ments, and who got them2 Then S2.eC9
are marked carriage and harness Who
got these2 I also ind q discrepancy be-
tween The original report and the detailed
one Of over $3G00G, and I want 10 know
where this went"
--AII Of these things call for an immediate
investigation BY the Senate. I see in an
other place where The report charges UP
big sum, S506,oo0. to rural guard ard adj
miulstrGticn- I see IL this item q need Tor
The examination CT a great many witnesses
The salary list IS the EOst CEorDOIs ey-r
shown IN proportion 10 public expenditure
One CT the most remarkable matters IN
the whole thing is the fact that when we
called for reports the War Department sent
up the report for the last six months in
1859, and have failed 70 send the reports
for the first six months IN 1893. because,
as they state. the accounts have not yet
been returned Think Of this. and then
say that We should not have an iavestiga-
ton
Here is an item Of S23. GO0 for 'proyir-
cial depUtatiOn.' What is this2 Then the
next item S2I Geo for eventual expenses
Whac are eventual expenses and why was
S21- COO spent2 This is not newspaper talk
but the report OF the War Department
He then read from the New York Trib-
ure" and other papers in the orthodox
class. so that the Senator from CO1uecti-
cut cannot call them mud batteries. he
said.
Mr.. Fairbanks and Mr. PIatt attempted
TO defend the action OF the osiCiaIs in
Cuba By referring to the report OF General
Brooke.
This IS all the more reason for an IL
| vestigaJiol." said Mr. Bacon. ~ghsn Gen
| craI BrCoke's report saws one thing and The
| reports from the War Department contra
dict il and themselves