The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1903-02-08
POStOffiee Officials Charged With
Selling Coal TO Departments.
cONDONEO BY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
In Another Bureau a Certain Attorney
Manages to Get Employed 70 De,....
Threatened Fraud Orders.
AZ G. Arthnr MllllnmsA

ONCE department would be compelled to
quit the government service Some OF these
officials, II is said, have abused their po-
sltions and their authority to an unpre.
cedented extent The president is said to
know all about the existing conditions, but
to be afraid to act before March 4, for feur
congress will take the matter up and or
der an Investigation, the result Of which .
might be anything but beneficial to the ad .
ministation. The postmaster general, It I
is charged, also knows all about the al /
legged malfeasance OF his officials. but for /
reasons perhaps best known to himself he is I
protecting them. on result Of this att
tude 1t is limited, may be his resignation
from the cabinet despite the close relations
heretofore existing between him and the
president
Briefly outlined, this is a story concern
ing which there has been a great deal OF
talk In Washington during the past few
weeks At first comment was confined to
few officials ana others who happened TO
be IN possession of some of the facts, but
more recently the unsatisfactory condition
of affairs In the postofhce department has
/, been a general topic of conversation. This
resulted from the publication of numerous
charges against certain officials by one of
the newspapers OF the city. Ordinarily
Z w dSulnElOu newspapers are not ulAppNeu 10
d touch on anything tending to discredit gov
eminent ofhciadom In other words, the
'ins,' without reference to their politics,
, are usually immune from attacks or cuu-
cism Of my sort from Washington journals
. ~
But the Evening Times some time ago
proved itself an exception to this rule, to
an extent, ut least. For a time after the
t owner of the Times decided to discontinue
I.I,a all
his efforts on the afternoon paper Major
/ j. j, Dickinson. who formerly lived in
Texas and is yet well known there, acted
/ as managing editor Of the publication in
8 addition to furnishing the usual amount Of
/, the political comment for which he is just
4 " famous. 1t was during Major Dickin-
sons administration that the Times took
+, up the case OF certain officials in the post
office department and succeeded In convict
ing them IN the minds Of the people at
a least The Times showed that A, w.
Machen, superintendent Of the division of
{ free delivery, was a partner in private
/ business concern in this city, in direct VIC.
V latlon of the law relating to such matters
Further It is charged that while In bis
office AZ the postothce department he gave
much Of his time to the conduct OF the
affairs OF the private concern in which he
. is Interested, which happens to be n fuel
. company, the other partners In which are
two OF his brothers. one OF these Two
l. brothers, according to the Times charges
~ is employed under his relative in the post
- office department and draws a good salary
g as a secret service agent or something OF
Il that sort, without giving TO the work more
Il than an hour or two Of his time each day,
!, and without having his real name on the
roll Of employees.
= The Times showed that the fuel concern
II Of Machen brothers had been permitted
!. to sell coal TO the government in direct vio-
r lation Of u statute which prohibits any one
u in the government service from being con.
I nected with business concerns which fur
e nish government supplies of any kind. This
. particular feature Of the AFFAIR was brought
I, out during the worst of the coal famine In
: Washington, and the postmaster general
A. while admitting the truth OF the charge
a made by the Times, as well as the correct
n ness Of It's claim that the selling Of fuel
= TO the government by frm, the leading
Z member OF which was ID government en-
4. poye, was Illegal, attempted to Justify the
a. whole thing by the plea that the depart
lie ment was short Of coal and that 1t could be
u secured from no other arm but Machen
e. Bros.
The case was sent up to the attorney
r. general who, Il is said was inclined TO rule
r. against the postmaster general until the
"a president took q hand in the game and gave
"a Knox to understand that an adverse re
m port from him would probably call the at
= tention Of congress to the matter in such 6
N way as to bring about an investigation Of
T. some sort This suggestion seems to have
a. had the desired effect on the attorney gen
eral. At least nothing was done by him.
Later the postmaster general demon
strated that the charges made by the Times
in Ind had no effect on him by not only ex
. onerating Machen Of all blame, but by civ
at ing the latter's firm another contract FOL
va supplying the department with coal. Mr.
wan make state
in ment thanking Machen for coming TO tht
rs rescue Of the department as he did, despite
IA, the fact that IN taking this action the su
ut perlntendent Of free delivery plainly VIC
'st lated the law already referred TO.
Another official charged by the Times
OIL with official misbehayior Is George w
81 Beavers, general superintendent OF the al
Mt vision Of salaries and allowances. 1t al
legged that Beavers was a member of tbs
&c postofice trust and that members OF con
II gress who stood well with this trust coult
~ get ANYTHING they wanted from the depart
y ment One of the specific charges brough
- against certain OF the officials was that thel
A. were participants In movement, the oh
Ist iect Of which 70 make money by con
nd trolling the output OF letter boxes use
- along rural free delivery routes. Inspectors
*. IL was charged wepeh authorized to con
denim boxes already fMuse and TO requir
,st patrons to purchase boxes Of a certain kind
OF Senator Tillman made similar allegations Il
ST. the senate not long ago.
a. ~
od Now a charge is being made against an
.Qt other set of officials in the department
,ith AT least one man in Washington claims t
w. have in his possession evidence showin
that thousands Of dollars per month ar
al, being wrongfuily collected as tribute Il
do connection with the granting of FIRST elias
I'D mail privileges. 1t is claimed that when
me ever a firm of eny sort good or bad, |
I'D charged with a violation Of the postal reg
up ulatlons negotiations are conducted In sue
is, a wny that Il is induced TO retain a certai
:. attorney to represent II In the department
IN After the hearings II Is alleged, the cases
IRE instead OF being sent up TO Attorney Genera
ne Knox for final action are pigeon-hOed 4
~ the office OF the attorney general for IN
sli department and allowed TO remain there a
~ long as the firm {. trouble continues &
nav the attorney n stipulated sum eac
al month The original agreement, II Is said
az. "a made so as to provide for the payment Q
II this Zee so long as he prevents unfavorabi
~ actIon on the part Of the department off