The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-24
IN ANSWER TO TULLOCH
CASTLE AND TRAcEwELL DENY
 CHARGES.
Former Says Every Item in Ports Rico Believed to Be Illegal Was Disallowed-a Charge Against
 Gilmer.

Washington. May 23.-Postmaster Gen. eral Payne today made public the ans wers of Henry A. Castle, the auditor of the treasury for the Postoffice Depart ment. and Comptroller Tracewell of the treasury regarding the TuIloch charges of Irregularities in the postal administra- ton.
 The answers specifically deny aliega- tions of wrongful procedure. Comptroller Tracewell charges T. W. Gilmer. former fy an expert of his office, with abstractine but subsequently, returning upon demand the letter authorizing Mir. Giimer to ex- anime the accounts of any postoffsce ex. cept Washington and New York MT Tracewell alleges this letter was written by Gilmer himself without any suggestion from the Comptroller.
 Mir. Castle says that the sum of the tentative disallowances by Expert Gilmer and the Comptroller aggregate 1882. that the credits finally disallowed out of a to- tai of a quarter of a million were S165. of which he claims only $7 was incor- rectly audited. This. Mir. Castle says, is the basis of MT. Tulloch's charge of dis allowances of $30000 or $40,000
 The Postmaster Generals statement says that the letters are made public at the request of the two officials and that 1t will appear from them how much foun- dation here was for the Tulloch state ments.
 MT. Castle in his answer says that Mir Tulloch shares in a prevailing misappre- hension that an auditor is charged with the responsibility of keeping other off, cials correct and honest" and in deter mining the necessities of the service. The auditor says that such functions would be fatal to administrative freedom by the head of department.
 Regarding the settlement and subse- quent revision of an account of the late Postmaster Willett of Washington which involved alleged irregularities in Porto Rico during the military operations there the auditor replies that every item be- lieved to be Illegal was disallowed by the auditors office.
 The wide discretion given in the lan- guage of the appropriations for military postal service, according to the auditor s answer. shows that Congress intended to exempt the disbursements of those appro- prlations from many of the ordinary regu- lations. Ihe auditor adds:
 Men could be employed. compensation fixed and expenses allowed as circum- stances demanded
 Every expenditure made was authoriz- ed in advance by the department; every voucher was approved and actually paid by a postmaster weeks or months before the presentation to the audltorS once Tor allowance Many expenditures were unusual and a few of them were by us held to be Illegal and were disallowed. As to whether the service was necessary or the compensation extravagant, the de- partment was the sole judge. But 1t is significant on this point that of the S50o- 900 appropriated, only $249 666 was actually expended in two years. the balance be- ing covered back into the treasury. @.-
 Some months after one of the quarter ly accounts of the Washington postofice reporting $2559e6 in expenditures for all purposes with several thousand distinct items had been settled, T. W. Gilmer. representing the Comptroller of the Treasury withdrew the same for revision, as authorized by law. He was new, to postal work and raised many entirely irrelevant questions in letter asking for explanations (whtch Mir Tulloch errone- ously cites as a letter from the Comp troller disallowing certain amounts.)
 One after another the objections were abandoned by expert Gilmer or overrul@d by the Comptroller. who had secured from the officials pledges that the irregular practices exposed by Tulloch would be discontinued until the amount ultimately disapproved was reduced to $932, S6.