The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-30

TullOch's Charges Denied and Accusa-
lions Made Against the Ex-Cashier.


WASHINGTON. D. c., May 29.-The re-
ply of Postmaster Merritt to the charges of
former Cashier Tulloch was given out to-
day. Before / became postmaster" says
Mr.. Merritt. lone of the employees of the
postoffice was suspended from May 5 to
June 3, 1898. without pay, without any rea-
son Of record, so far as / have learned, and
without any departmental authority. Mr..
Tulloch, the cashier, retained this mans
pay for the time stated. amounting to $40,
against his protest, 1 am told, obtaining
his signature to the customary form Of
pay roll, however. and then sent the account
to the auditor for the Postofice Department
as though payment had actually been made.
The cashier probably had the postmaster's
order to do this, and it seems he did not
make personal use of the money. But the
transaction seems, nevertheless, to COM
prehend the presentation of a false voucher,
which Is made a crime by Section 5S3 Of the
Revised Statutes of the United States. The
money thus unlawfully taken was divided
by the cashier or by his direction among a
unmber of persons, upon orders signed in
the name or the postmaster by his assist
ant although in one case no order has been
81 s 9Ss wb Tn5il Is all no% OF In 1t t WAS off Ssed u up exeep5
of one Of the bureaus Of the Postofice
Department"
Postmaster Merritt, then speaking of his
removal Of Cashier Tulloch almost at once
after he became postmaster, declares the
removal was no mistake, and in giving
reasons therefor, says: Take this Incl
dent, related to me by Mr.. James 2. Will
lett, my predecessor, a few days after /
assumed the postmastership and fully con-
hrmed by the statement of others: He
said that his accounts for the last quarter
of his term were in a rather tangled con-
dition; that he was very much worried
about them; that his cashier should not
regarded ii as the cashiers duty properly
to arrange and close them; but that after
appealing to him for. his assistance he.
less he was paid $500 therefor. Upon my
advice, Mr.. Willett Indignantly rejected the
offer, and Mr.. Tulloch never gave him
any aid whatever. The work was entirely
and satisfactorily done by my own official
force"
Upon looking into the practice of the
cashiers office prior to Mr.. Tulloch's sepa-
ration from il L found that he had been
In the habit for many ears of making up
the quarterly pay rolls of the office In
ployes thereto, and filling in afterwards
the dates and amounts paid. / do not
charge that these amounts were ever i'm
any business mar at least, that such a prac-
tice presented an open door to fraud. In
going over in April. 1899. the accounts pre-
July 1 to Sept. 80, 1898, the controller of
the treasury discovered this grave irregu-
larity and thus commented on it,: 1T APP
PCdAo tAiob ClB alC CiSnCd III pidih Ol
your pay rolls. By what legal authority
is this done? No person should be required
to sign vouchers in blank, leaving amounts
and dates TO be hlled in over their sigma
lures. The existence of such a practice
makes receipts of little value AS soon as
this practice was brought to my notice /
The Irregularities charged by Mr.. Tul-
loch-though 1 am not informed as to the
details-all occurred before July 1. 1899.
when / entered upon the duties of the Of
flee, while Mr.. Tulloch was holding the Of
flee of cashier, and when, If he had regard
ed them as wrong. he should have officially
failed to do. AS you will see from the con-
t%rollers letter. some of the Irregularities
due to Mr.. Tulloch's own neglect or ignor-
ance, and all of them are transactions
which he had been habitually taking UP
for the postmaster as part of his accounts.
If there were any serious irregularities, as
Mr.. Tulloch claims, 1 think they were near
ly all corrected soon after the controller
called attention to them"
Mr.. Merritt denies that the Washington
office is tending to become a bureau of the
department, and says he has disbursed no
money except on written authority. He
says that appointments, promotions and
transfers, with few exceptions, have been
made on his recommendation, approved by
the department. He adds that there are no
superf1uous employees in the Washington
postoffice. Mr.. Merritt says he had discre-
tionary authority to remove Tulloch, who,
he says, was arbitrary in manner, occupied
AAidCh VI NhC lilLC VIZ lIlpOIldul pElNdl6
business, and was a "venturesome man in
the field of speculation"
Mr.. Merritt denies that either the post
master general or First Assistant Post
master General Heath directly or indirectly
influenced Tulloch's removal. Mr.. Merritt
says that his Office is now regularly paying
the employees of the departmental mail bag
and mail lock repair shops, and making
such other disbursements outside of its own
orSeSs' as M 1ss de dsher farse erS Sisb f,ms to n sdme
offices, he says, are doing the same thing,
and there is no improperly in this practice.
1t has existed almost from the beginning of
the government, and Is fully authorized by
custom and law.
Mr.. Merritt says the practice of giving
employees duties incompatible with their
positions was in existence when he became
postmaster and extends probably to every
large postofice, and constitutes no real
abuse. He says he has repeatedly called
attention to the present absurd and i'm
practicable classification of postoffice en-
ployes. Concerning alleged Porto Rican
abuses, Mr.. Merritt says the final account
out material loss.
Mr.. Merritt says that what Mr.. Tulloch
says were d~isallowances by the controller
of the treasury in the Washington account
for the quarter ended Sept. 80. 1895, amount
ing to some $4,000 or $40. 1000, were not such
in reality. They were merely. demands
made for explanation as to certain items
in the account which his expert examiner
had some doubt about. amounting to a very
considerable sum, and the objections were
finally withdrawn.
The reply of former Postmaster General
Charles Emory Smith will be given out on
Saturday. Fourth Assistant Postmaster
General Bristow's reply, which will be made
public later, according to Postmaster Gen.
eral Payne, denies that he ever asked in
vestigation of the first assistant postmaster
general. 1t is probable that some tempo
rary arrangement will be made with the
canceling machine contractors in case the
investigation continues beyond July /. The
contracts have been held up and the man.
ufacturers are making inquiries on the
subject.
Indiana Postal Notes.
Special TO the Indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON, May 29.-John E. Droud