The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-06-03

SAT- Lake City, Utah. Nay .. 1905
To Hon Il g. Payne. Washington. D.
/ My Dear Sir: I thank YOU Tor your
courteous letters of the 18th and goth
lnsts-. calling my attention to certain
assertions of one W. \. Tulloch ex-
cashier OF the Washington postoffCe.
and also the statement Of a Mrs Wi
mans, formerly OF Ohio. who is quoted
as saying that she was carried upon
me rolls OF the postofiice with the UNI
standing that she was not to render
service TO the government
He Was Deceived.
If Mrs. Winans did not render serv-
ices equivalent 20 the compensation she
received her superior officers were de-
celVed- I did not know the woman
when she was appointed, and had no
personal interest in her Her name
was among a large number always ca
my desk. and / recall that she was well
recommended for a position l did not
ana could rot attempt to personally as
certain whether persons appointed 10
positions in postofices rendered service
satisfactorily. 1 do remember that this
woman became a nuisance about the
postot1ce department and that I se-
fused 20 see her. She was reported to
me by my chief clerk as being persist
ent IN her demands for promotion or
more desirable work She at least pre-
Tended to my chief clerk. so he reported
TO me, 10 perform services Warranting
promotion or better compensation
Trusted Subordinates.
BY the same token, upon the same
line of comment employed by Tuloch,
nearly If not quite all Of the transac-
tons of the executive departments in
Washington could be called into ques-
ton and improper motives could be as
signed Necessarily, 1 could not follow
the details of the work Of pOstofice
clerks; 1 was compelled to- trust my
SubordiHateS and rely on postmasters.
We had a change Of administration a
war, the Americanizing of an immense
foreign service and the taking over Of
vast expenses of new territory But 1
mastered as many details as possible
and ! proudly hold myself responsible
for al that 1 did, for the humble part
1 took in the work of the department
I never appointed any person to any
position or rat- iaed any one in any po-
tsltion at any sIaft- With any sort of no.
ton or ideat,. ~ ~ she was not To
render fult ~ ~~5t service 10 the
government To- ,;,, Jay received. The
IntinlatiOn that here was an honorary
roll, upon which persons were placed
Tor political or personal or other puT-
poses than good service is a pure in
vention. It is a lie out of the whole
cloth. as are most of the imputations
of TullOch. If any persons were so APP
pointed or retained it was through
their own dishonest designs.
Mistakes Were Made.
There was a period extending over
! many months when many more men
4 We're demanded for service in Cuba
Porto Rico and at military camps in
! cur country than we could supply. We
drew through larger pOStOffices for men
r from the classified service receiving
many, but when responses from post
Offices ceased to be sufficient we drew
names from applications out of the
classified service and cOnscientOusly
selected those whose capab ihty and
, character We deemed best In this hur-
ried work Of appointments. hurried dis
patch of men and materials for the
scenes of action. some mistakes we're of
, course made. but these things occur
and viii so long as men live.
Il made a visit to Porto Rico when
the Spanish form OF postal service was
( taken over and placed under our sys-
item I did not geek the trip, and never
made a more grGeable one or one
where rendered better service or made
/ more sacrifice For every dollar eX-
pended vouchers were rendered and az
counting made 7 made trip 20 the
Pacific slope, ] believe in the spring Of
1898. in connection with conditions ex-
listing in poStCf1ces q Portland Ia
coma and Seattle incident TO the ham
ding Of the Alaskan mails and local
/ concessions FOR which q strict account
ing was made. Possibly TUlIoch did not
deem these trips necessary. but 7 doubt
if he had the slightest conception for
what they were made or what was
done upon them.
Gilmer Accused.
There are two personal references to
me in the TuHoch assertions that tfe
sire to mention briefly, and III, others
/ viii pass over as unworthy of men
/ ton or for reply from those WI have
lot
/ for those incidents occurred four or
five years ago.
Complaints were made 10 me by
clerks in the pOstOffice department or
to the auditor for the treasurer that an
employee of the latter named Gilner.
frequently entered their rooms and IN
a surly. offensive and peTemptOry man
ner demanded records and carried them
away without leaving any receipt or
simply helped himself and when receipt
was requested snubbed the clerk MAX
/ ing the request I VS. asked by our
clerk to request and did request OF
treasury officials that Gilner be in
srrUcted 10 act ike q gentleman, and
To protect clerks in the postohfce de-
: Epdrtment by leaving receipts for all
records taken by him from the depart
: ment. misplaced document would
s necessarily place censure on the re-
sponsible clerk. if, indeed. not a charge
/ Of dishonesty. What purpose Gilmer
had in carrying these records from Lhe
/ department I 90 not pretend to say.
This incident had no connection with
> Gilmer's work as auditor.
TulIoch's Discharge.
1.-THE other reference relates to Tul-
Ioch's displacement from the position Of
cashier in the Washington postoffice.
The first distinct recollection Of Tul-
loch was shortly after the induction OF
Postmaster Merritt and the appoint
ment OF new cashier A number OF
TullOch's friends called upon me
singly, and asked me TO intercede for
. his reinstatement. After I had steadily
declined to make any concession one or
; two men called and advised me as a
matter Of protection to have him rein
stated. / was advised that TullOch had
been collecting evidence OF imprOprie~
ties in the postofice. and il he were
, not reinstated he would expose them.