The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-12-01
spREsipENT ROOSEVELT SENDS 1T
70 PosToFFtcE DEPARTMENT
WITH MEMORANDUM.
INVESTIGATION IS REVIEWED
RESULTS OF POSTAL INQUIRY
COMMENTED UPON BY THE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE.

has been made public by Postmaster
General Payne, together with the
memorandum of President Roosevelt
relative thereto. The report Of Mr..
Bristow is voluminous, covering in de-
tail the investigation of the postofice
department. The memorandum of
President Roosevelt sums up the
whole matter, and is, in part as fol
lows:
Memorandum upon the various pa
pers submitted from the department
of justice and the p~ostofice depart
ment concerning the Investigation in
to the corrupt practices obtaining in
the postoflce department, notably in
the Office Of the first assistant post
master general and in the Office of the
assistant attorney general for that de-
partment. All the documents In the
case are herewith forwarded to the
postof1ice department, and will be held
ready for submission to the congress
whenever 1t may choose to ask for
them.
1T appears that in December, 1902,
Postmaster General Payne and Con-
gresham b. F. Loud, chairman Of the
committee on the p%ostof1ce and post
roads, held various consultations re-
garding the postal service, and as q
result of these interviews 1t was de-
termlned that as o o as possible
after the necessary appropriations
could be made by the congress an in
v%estigation should be made of the
service, both Messrs. Payne and Loud
agreeing as to the need for the investl-
cation and the time when 1t should
take place. Accordingly, al increase
Of $4,000 In the appropriation bill re-
ported in January was made for the
express purpose Of carrying on the in
vestigation in question. The reasons
for the increase In the appropriation
were known only to the postmaster
general, to Congressman Loud and to
Congressman Bromwel1.
Tending to Show improper Conduct.
subsequently, sometime in January,
Information was laid before me by Mr..
sSeckendorf tending to show improper
conduct of Beavers, general superin-
tendent of the division of salaries and
allowances, and Machen, general SUI
p~erintendent of the free-delivery sys-
tenn; and by Mr.. William Allen White
tending to show corruption by or I'M
der Tyner, assistant attorney general
for the postofice department. First
Assistant Postmaster General Wynne
also informed me that he had become
suspicious of the integrity OF both
Machen and Beavers. After full con.
s~ultation with Mr.. Payne 1t was decid-
ed that Fourth Assistant Postmaster
General Bristow should make a thor
ough and exhaustive investigation of
the charges in question and of all mat
tiers that might be developed in con-
nectiOn with them"
The president then commends Mr..
Bristow's investigation and tells OF
the appointment of C. j. Bonaparte
and Holmes Conrad as special counsel
to prosecute some of the postal Of
tenders, and quotes from the attor-
ney's review of Mr.. Bristow's report
in praise of the work of Mr.. Bristow,
in all of which the president cordially
agrees. President Roosevelt then con-
tinues:
1.-THE investigation made by Mr..
Bristow d%iscloses a condition of gross
corruption in the Office of the first as
sistant postmaster general and in that
OF the assistant attorney general for
the postofice department. In the case
of the superintendent of free delivery,
Machen, the evidence shows that his
misconduct began Immediately after
his appointment in September, 1893.
A Melancholy Feature.
In the case of the general superin-
tendent of salaries and allowances,
Beavers, it began soon after he was
appointed to that place in 1897. In
the case of Assistant Attorney General
Tyner it has gone on for a number of
years, but it is impossible to say *
actly when it began. A melancholy
feature of the case Is that with one
exception all the offenders have been
for a number of years in the govern
ment service. The following is a list
OF the fourteen postoffice employees in
the service at the time this investiga-
ton was begun, who are apparently
most seriously implicated in the
wrongdoing. together with an account
Of the steps that have been taken by
The government in each cas
James N. Tyner, appointed March
I, 1861; removed April 20, 1908: he
mas since been indicted three times.
"A. ". Machen, general superin-
tendent free-delivery system; remov-
ed May 81, 1908; indicted fourteen
times.
George w. Beavers, general super
intendent of salaries and allowances;
resignation accepted to take effect
March 81, 1908; indicted eight times.
James T. Metcalf, superintendent
money order system; removed June
~, 1903; indicted once.
Daniel V. Miller, assistant attor-
hey, postohce department; removed
fJax IS. 1908; indicted once; after
one m.strial was-retired and acquitted.
.ouls Kempner, superintendent
registry system: removed Oct. 81,
1919.
Charles Hedges, superintendent
city free delivery service; removed
FrIx, 90 f0n9