The evening times., 1900-09-27
THE FRANKING PRIVILEGE.
The Charge That Senator EIkins Eie-
lated the Law.

~
lated the Law.
The charge that some on3 connected
with Senator Eikins, OF some friend Of
his, has been abusing his franking priVi-
lege on large ReaIe, by sending one OF
his recent speeches through the mails
free, with the false statement that 1t was
a part of The Congressional Record,
has been called to the attention OF the
Postoff1ce Department. but no action has
been taken regarding the matter. and it
is said to be probable that none will be-
There is no penalty for violations of
the franking regulations, as the law
stands at present. The various acts OF
Congress relating to the franking priyi-
lege set forth what classes Of matter are
frankabie properly and enumerate the
few officers of the Government in addition
to members of Congress who shall be al
lowed to use the frank The Yice-Presi-
dent and members of Congress elect are
| among these. Nothing is said regarding
violations of the regulations except that
matter known to be not entitled to the
| frank shall be held up for postage. The
! Intention of the law is construed to be
| that the honor of members of Congress
shall be relied ON entirely in that matter
The speech of Senator Elkins alleged to
have been sent through the mails under
| his frank was delivered by him in July.
| The charge is that very large number of
| copies of the speech were printed--a mil
| lion copies, according to one statement
and that these speeches were sent out
! in envelopes bearing Senator Elkins
frank, as part of the Congressional Re
cord" 1t is alleged that the postage on
! this mail would have been at least $o,ooO
| IL postage had been paid.
Inquiry was made in all the bureaus OF
the Postoffice Department. and In the Of
fee of the superintendent Of Mails foi
the District of Columbia, yesterday, anc
| it was learned that the matter has Ael
| come before either the Department OF tht
| local postoffice in a formal way and tha'
no action of any kind has been taken re-
garding it.
One officer made the statement that
the only possible action IN such d case
| would be to request Senator Elkins OF
the party who sent oHt the speeches tc
pay the postage on the franked matter
"A number of cases of Illegal use o.
| the franking privilege have been dlsc0Y-
cred from time 10 time, this oincei
| stated. but / do not know OF any case
| IN which the amount OF ulail was isfi
| It is the custom OF the department II
such cases simply to call the attention
of the member of Congress whose frant
has been used. and to hold Up addition
al mail for postage. / do not know !
there ever has been case where an at
tempt was made to secure the paymen
of postage on matter that had alread!
gone through the mails.
The local postofflce authorities every
where are direct ID to be very careful no
to interfere with the Congressiona
frank unless they have proof that th'
frank is being used illegally. They ar
instructed not to hold up any mail oil
suspicion. This of course, makes thu
: number OF cases where abuse OF the priv
ilege is discovered small.
: The difficulty in securing the paymen
5 OF postage on mail that has been sen
would be that there would BIZ no Why II
which the amount of postage due coul
be ascertained. Franked mail IS no
7 weighed or counted. or at least not wit
2 reference to any one particular lot O
mall sent in.
1T is probable that II the department
takes up this matter and finds that Sen
ator Elkins' frank has been used illeg
: ally he viii be notified Of the occurrence
/ II then his clerks or friends. WhoeTe
they are, care TO tell how much matte
| was sent out without the frank, Sena
| tor EIkins could pay the, postage.