The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-03-29
Dispatch Published in Natal Day
Afterit Was Sent.
REFUSED HIS GOOD OFFICES.
Mr.. Macrum States That President
Mckinley Was Requested to Inter
vcne to Settle the Trouble Brew
ing III South Africa and
That He Gave an I'm
favorable Reply.

WASHINGTON, March 2s.-Charles E.
Macrum of East Liverpool, O., the Amer
ican ex-consul at Pretoria, appeared be-
fore the House Foreign Affairs Commit
tee to-day and told of the alleged indig-
mites he suffered at the hands of the
British during his sincumbency. When he
gave out his statement here some weeks
ago, declaring that his official mail had
been opened by British officials Repre-
sentative Wheeler. of Kentucky. intro
duced a resolution for an Investigation.
1t was subsequently arranged that the
Foreign Affairs Committee should take
the matter up of its own motion without
any direction from the House, and Mr.
gAIacrum was summoned to Washington to
testify
Mr. Macrum is a slight man. about
thirty years old He was asked by Chair
man Hit to make such state
ment as he saw fit regarding the
opening of his mail by the British censor.
He explained that when he asked
for leave of absence he desired to come
home for private business reasons and
also because he desired to place before
: the United States Government certain
facts which The deemed it essential should
be known here.
He understood, he said. that the Brit
ish had possession of our cable cipher.
He was not certain of this, but he had
since had information which convinced
: him tha tsailis suspicious were correct.
REQUESTED NEUTRALITY.
He also desired information as to his
course when the settlement came a the
end of the war. Further, he had pc
tition from some American residents in
the ETransvaal. asking that the United
States maintain absolute neutrality,
which he wanted to present to the State
Department.
The petition he read to the committee.
It was signed by Gordon, the consular
agent at Johannesburg.
Asked when he was first Satisfied that
his mail was being tampered with. he said
that war was declared October 18th. He
did not receive any mail between that
date and the second week In November.
Ordinarily he had box of mail every
week.
Ibid other people receive mail during
that period?" asked MIR. Williams, OF
Mississippi.
'tNot that i know off, replied Mr.. Ma
crum.
Pressed for specific information as to
how he got the intimation that the Brit
ish were opening and delaying his m1il.
he replied that when his mail did not
arrive he telegraphed our Consul at Io-
renzo Marques, requesting him TO inquire
of Cape Town why twas being delayed.
The Consul at Lorenzo Marques replied
that he also had had no mail
OPENED IETTlA-.-,.
Mr.. NIacrum said the de,ay of his mail
created conviction in his mind that the
British authorities were responsible. The
first actual evidence he mad was the re-
celpt of two opened letters. He produced
the envelopes which he said contained
those letters. One was from private
citizen, addressed to the United States
Consul at Pretoria, and the other was
to him by name from Consul Stowe, at
Cape Town.
Mr.. William Alden Smith. of Michigan,
interTogated the witness sharply on the
reasons for stating his belief that the
British authorities had possession Of
the State Departments cipher.
Mr. Macrum said ne could not affirm
that fact from actual !, knowledge, but
there were certain facts which con-
vinced him that such was the case. He
explained that on November 9Th he had
cabed the State Department in cipher
asking for a leave of absence. That
message had gone through Durham. The
next day, November 7th. he said he
had been Informed a newspaper at Dur
ban printed the fact that he had asked
for leave Of absence.
Mr. Smith was proceeding to interro-
gate Mr.. nacrum as to the character
of the code used by him in this dis
patch, especially as to whether he had
used what was known as the Slater
code, common code, purchasable any
where.
THE CODE USED.
Mr.. Hit thought it improper to touch
the matter of the code employed by
the eoyernment but it was fina lIy agreed
Continued on Fifth Paga.l n.