The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-06-02

NEW YORK. June IA dispatch
to the World from Havana, says;
General Leonard Wood. military gov
ernor- general Of Cuba, authorizes the
World correspondent to cable the fol-
lowing statement from him relative
to the frauds In the Cuban postal SER
vice and the general condition q the
island.
4 firmly believe that the irregular
flies in the Cuban postal service which
amount 70 plain theft only, are all
that will be discovered" he says, "The
postal service has not been under my
jurisdiction. l learned of the frauds,
instituted an inquiry and took steps
to secure the punishment OF the men
implicated.
II have since inaugurated a thorough
investigation into all the departments
and am confident that conditions OF
the affairs OF the postal service does
not exist In any other OF the branches,
OF course there have been many ru-
mors, inspired by the postal scandal.
" fraudulent transactions In the 9TH
er departments--the customs service.
the engineers department and the de-
partments OF parks, have every rea-
son to believe that these departments
have been conducted In a most busl-
ness-like and honest manner.
If there is one department am sure
OF, IL is the customs bureau. You
can readily understand that men who
have been in the habit OF swindling the
government under the Spanish regime,
do not take kindly to the introduction
of the methods inaugurated by the
United States. think that on the
whole the entire public service Of Gu
ba has been improved"
Should you discover the existence
OF irregularities in any other depart
ment. general. what would be your
action?"
II would institute a thorough in
vestigation and punish the offenders. ="
replied the general. firmly.
Has an intimation been conveyed
that the administration at Washington
would. for political reasons, rather
that no other scandals be disclosed.
and that the full extent Of the irregu-
larities in the postal service be kept
a secret as long as possible?" was the
next question.
Il have not received such an intima-
tion," was the answer. 1T is my place
to find out whether the government
service is properly administered. II
find it is not. shall insist upon the
immediate punishment of any offender.
no matter who he may be, or what
influence, political or otherwise, may
be exercised to protect him. am
responsible for the honest conduct Of
the government of Cuba and any per-
son found guilty OF wrong doing will
be punished"
''N, hat have you to say regarding
the reports Of unwarranted extrava-
gance on the part of the officials sent
By the United States government"
There is nothing in the condition Of
affairs TO justify such statement
know number OF officials who nave
been compelled to send for more mon
ey in order TO maintain the dignity Of
their rank and country, than the Unit
ed States has allowed them. They
have drawn upon their private incomes
to do so, and the government has not
been called upon to foot their bills"
How many have been found guilty
Of fraud and either been quietly drop
ped from the service or placed under
arrest?"
Very few and, with one exception,
all We're in civil branches Of the SER
vice. One Of sixty thousand soldiers
sent TO the island, but one man has
been directly charged with embezzle-
ment. He was a volunteer officer and
the amount Of his stealings was $780,
He was tried, found guilty and SEN
fenced for three years"
Aside from Neely. Reeves, Rich and
other men implicated ia the postal
scandal, there a number of men
awaiting trial for perpetrating frauds
in the customs service. If guilty they
will surely be punished"
How about the general condition Of
the island?"
1T is most satisfactory. The reve-
nues are in excess Of the expenditures
There is less discomfort than you i'm
agine and while the advancem snt Of
the people is slow, 1t is undoubtedly
more satisfactory than the old con-
ditiOn. A most significant indication is
furnished by the fact that the prepar-
ations for the election of municipal Of
icials on June 16, have been conducted
in most orderly manner. have not
received a single request for troops.
The registration Of voters foots up
1000, one-half Of the voting strength.
In order to preserve the best feeling, l
decided to give the minority party
representation on every board Of alder
men and other elective bodies. do
not anticipate trouble Of any charac-
ters as result Of the elections"
GERMAN MEAT BILL.