The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-23
GALLATIN ROUTE
 T6;.BE RESUMED Resignation of AIIgood the Ne-
 gro Carrier Accepted NO DANGER REALLY EXISTS 
Payne Rtl ises to Say Whther the Def felt VIII Warrant the Removal of Superintendent Machen of the
 Ffse Delivery Service.

Washington, May 22-Pastmaster Gem eral Payne has ordered the immediate resumption of the suspended rural free delivery mall route at Gallatin, Tenn. The resignation of J. c. Allgood, the ne- gro carrier. who was intimidated and who refused to resume work, has been accepted and the civil service has been called upon to certify carrier to fill his place.
 The postmaster general gave out the following statement regarding the case;
 Tn the case of John C. Allgood rural free delivery carrier who states he was held up by masked men while in the dis charge of his duty on the 9th instant, in- vestigation was made by Inspectors Con- ger and Rs ins. From their report 1t ap- pears that the carrier was stopped by two men and warned not to continue in the service. The papers in the case show that this lawless. act Is not approved or sustained by the people in the village on route No. 1 or by the people in that vi- cinity, and that the persons guilty of the act are alone responsible.
 Can Safely Resume Delivery.
 ..It is believed by the inspectors that Carrier Allgood can safely resume the delivery of the mail on this route, as evidence of this fact that neighboring route Is now, and has been since the in- stallation of the free delivery service, served by negro.
 al olr 1,a partment is not disposed to hold the peo- pie on Route l responsible for the act of the two men referred to who were guilty for the threatened assault upon the let ter carrier, and 1t would be unjust to de- prlve ttsem sof their mall facilities under the conditions.
 Tt Is therefore ordered that. the resig- nation of John c. Allgood, rural letter carrier, be accepted and service on the route be resumed at once"
 The postmaster general stated that the civil service commission certifies only one name to him, and that person will be ap- pointed irrespective of color as required by law.
 Auditor Castle Sees Payne.
 Capt. Henry A Castle, auditor for the postoffice department, and Comptroller Traeewell of the treasury had an inter- view with Postmaster General Payne to- day regarding the postoffice investigation Mir. Tracewell submitted his answer to the postmaster generals request for sup plemental information regarding the Tul- loch charges. These and others will be made public tomorrow.
 Postmaster General Payne declined with some warmth, to say whether the circumstances surrounding the deficit Tn the free delivery service warranted the removal of A. w Machen, the general superlntendent who was relieved recent 1y, MT. Payne said that In his opinion the question was impertinent. He was questioned by the newspaper corresponds ents regarding the discrepancy between the s20. GOO reported by MT. Machen as the deficit. and the s227,3Oo subsequently, re- ported by the inspectors MT Payne re- piled that promptly on the receipt of the report from MT. Machen that there was a deficit of $20. 00O he gave instructions that this deficit should not be increased, and that expenditure should be curtailed so as to eliminate it if possible by the end of the fiscal year, June 30 next. Then, added the postmaster general, q imme- diately got the report that the deficit was s227,O00
 Subordinate Has No Authority.
 "A subordinate official has no authority to create a deficit without the authority of his superior officer, care not who that subordinate officer may be. If he knew on May that there was $2000 deficit and that very day appointed q large num- Der of carriers which would largely in crease the deficit the action was objec- tionable."
 The postmaster general said that he had not yet sent any communication to MT. Machen.
 T developel today that on May :, First Assistant Postmaster General Wynne. through his chief clerk, John J. Howley asked MT. Machen whether there were under his (Machens) division any other items than that of the map-maklng work, in which the appropriation was likely to be exhausted before the end of the fiscal year. MT. Machen then re- ported a deficiency of s2000Q in the item of the rural free delivery and 1t is al- legged, indicated that there was a surplus in the city free delivery appropriation. On May T. by order of the postmaster general. MT. Wynne sent peremptory order to General Superintendent Machen directing that no more maps of the rural
 
 or paid until after July and prohibiting the establishment, of any additional rural routes prior to that day. It is charged that MT. Machen did not obey the second order.
 An Error Corrected.
 Washington May 22--By request of the postmaster general the civil service com mission investigated the appointment of John C. Allgood as rural carrier at Galla- tin. Tenn, the purpose being to determine whether one Reuben D. Brown, also an applicant for the position, passed the ex- animation one point higher than Allgood, and. therefore, was entitled to the ap- pointment.
 The commissions report states that on the face of the record Brown stood high est of the available men, but that an error found in making the examination showed that Browns rating was wrong. The report finds that Allgood was entitled to a higher average than Brown.
 A-><-% %t><->%<->>AA>\ >\>\%><%<