The Washington times., 1903-06-18
BTiStoW on TulIoCh.
And the Position in Which the Report
Leaves Payne.

Leaves Payne.
General Bristow's report upon the
Tulloeh charges has at last been per
united to see the light of day. 1t has
been IN the actual and official posses
sion of the Postmaster General for
nearly three weeks, and what its sub
stance would be was known to him.
probably, for at least two months.
Reading it, we can understand how a
man of Mr.. Payne's peculiar makeup
resisted to the last, until forced by
public opinion, to spread its contents
before the country. Its publication
today leaves him in the role of a mis-
cradle buffoon, the laughingstoek Of
every decent community in the land
the object of contempt to every honest
man.
Where now, we may ask, are the
"hot arr" the 'grandstand play" the
"glttering generaities," the Stump
speeches" and the "stuff' about which
the Postmaster General talked so glib
ly at one time, and which he expected
the country to regard as an offset to
the specific charges of S. W. Tulloch 2
Where now, we may inquire, is the
"old guard"-Corporal "Get-Busy-
Quick" Heath, Fugleman Merritt,
Sergeant Clarkson, and Privates
Trace veil and Castle, REINFORCED by
the New York Sum-" the "Philadel-
phia Press" and other organs Of that
noble band of patriots or "unselfish
end warm-hearted philanthropists," as
our evening contemporary, the "Star,"
might call them-where now, we ask.
Is the "old guard" with its black
guarding illusions TO zone S. w. Tul-
loch," with its innuendoes and hints.
Its vague and misleading denials, its
miserable attempts to besmirch the
reputation of an honest mani Where
Is it9 Where is, above all, Mr.. Payne,
WHO not only lent a ready ear to all
this pitiful balderdash, but who fairly
tumbled over himself in his eager de-
sire to give circulation to this gro
tesque and disingenuous last-ditch de
fense Of scalawags brought to bay7
We say that Mr.. Payne is a man of
peculiar mental makeup. He is more
he stands by himself; there IS none
like him. No one ever held him re-
sponsible for the condition into which
the postal service has drifted. Yet,
here we find him pointing TO his pre-
decessors as the guilty persons and
loudly declaring: II am innocent" "
"QU s'excuse s'accuse," says an old
French proverb. Mr.. Payne may not
be held responsible for conditions as
he found them, or as others found
them for him, but he is responsible
for trying to belittle them, for pooh
pooling them, and for attempting in
every way possible to suppress dis
agreeable facts. His attitude from
the start has been one Of ill-concealed
hostility 10 an investigation. He had
10 be forced into it-and he knows IT,
The assertion that he and Mr.. Loud
planned a campaign against the Post
Office rascals in December last with an
appropriation which doesn't become
available until next July is indicative
only Of the ease with which he thinks
be can hoodwink the people.
The real density Of his mental
makeup, however, is not reached
until he seeks to drag in the name of
the late President Mckinley as a
shield between himself and the
charges of ex-Cashier Tulloch. "The
charge Of Mr.. Tulloch," says he, III his
statement given to the press yester-
day, SIS IN its essence against Presi-
dent Mckinley and Postmaster Gen
eral Smith" and then he adds whin
ingly: "President Mckinley is no
longer living; Postmaster General
Smith, who carried out President Ne