The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-12-05
Cristow's Fin iings and Recommen-
dat.ons Published.
President Roosevelt Declares the
Prime Need Is Punishment of
the Offenders.


tai officers. Contracts where fraud has
been discovered have been annulled.
AS result of the investigation four
officers and employees of the depart
ment have resigned and Is have been
removed. Forty-four indictments have
been found. involving 81 persons, ten
OF whom have been connected with the
postal service. Attached to- this re-
por, is list of those who have been
separated from the service by resig
nation and removal; also a complete
list OF the indictments and the persons
involved
MIR. Bristow estimates that the total
amount which the perpetrators of these
frauds themselves received will aggre-
gate between $500. 900 and $4,000 The
loss TO the government is many times
in excess of that amount, but cannot be
estimated with any degree of accuracy.
Perry Heath Scored.
A feature OF the report is the pages
devoted to the alleged frauds in connec-
ton with the purchase of canceling ma
chimes, and it is in this branch of the in
Quiry that testimony was taken seeming
to implicatc Perry S. Heath. former first
assistant postmaster general.
President RooSevclts only reference
to Perry S. Heath is in the single SEN
tence: The case Of eX-Eirst Assistant
Postmaster General Heath, who had left
the service July 81. 1900, is set forth in
the report of Mr.. Bristow.'
Memorandum of the President.
After detailing the course pursued in
setting aiuot the investigation, the
president says:
The investigation made by Mr. Bris-
tow discloses condition OF gross cor
ruption in the Office of the first
assistant postmaster general and
in that OF the assistant attorney
general for the post Office de-
parlmcnt. In The case of the srperin-
tcndcnt of free delivery. Machcn. The
evidence shows that his misconduct be-
gan Immediately after his appointment
in September. 1893. In the case of the
general superintendent OF salaries and
allowances, Beavers, it began soon after
he was appointed to that place in 1897.
In the case of Assistant Attorney Cen
eral Tyncr it has gone on for number
Of years, but it is impossible to say cX-
actly when ii began. A melancholy fea-
ture of the case is that with one excep-
ton all the offenders have been for a
number of years in the government serv-
ice"
! list is given of the IA post Office en-
ployes in the service at the time this i'll
vcstigation was begun. who are appar-
entity most seriously implicated in the
wronsduing, together with an account
of the steps That have been taken by the
government in each case. A list is also
given of 20 persons outside the postal
service against whom indictments have
been found, and in several cases more
than one bill was returned. The presi-
f, dent continues:
Justice to he Melted Out,
mo crime calls for sterner reproba-
tion than the crime Of the corruptionist
in public life, and of the man who seeks
to corrupt him. The bride giver and the
bride taker are equally guilty. Both
alike sin against the primary law of the
states safety All questions of differ
ence in party policy sink into insignifi-
canoe when the people of this country
are brought face to face with n ques-
ton like this, which lies at the root of
honest and decent government On this
question. and on all others like it, we can
afford to have no division among good
citizens In the last resort good laws
and good administration alike must
rest upon the broad basis of sound pub
lie opinion. A dull public conscience, an
easy going acquiesccncc in corruption,
infallibly means debasement in public
life, and such debasemfnt in the end
means the ruin of free institutions
Self-government becomes farce il the
representatives Of the people corrupt
others or are themselves corrupted.
Freedom is not a gift which will larry
long in the hands of the dishonest or of
those so foolish or so incompetent as to
tolerate dishonesty in their public serv-
ants Under our system all power comes
from the people, and all punishment
rests ultimately with the people, The
federation of the wrong, not the exposure
of the wrong. is the real offense."
THEODORE ROOSEVELT"
THyn Men V1oxyu In DIooo.