The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-21
Corruption FIourIshes in Postal Department and the
 End is Not Yet
OFFICIAL PROOF GIVEN OF
 OUTRAGEOUS ROBBER|ES
Men and Women Placed on PayroIIs Who Have Never Performed Any Service, While Officials Ride
 tn Palace Cars for Graft.
BY wArTERsoN sTEALEY.

BY PATTERSON sTEALEY
 Washington. June 2O.-(special )-No one. not even bitter republican partisan,A can fall to read the report of Fourth As- sIstant Postmaster General Bristow with the reports of the postoffice inspectors ac- companyIng it. without admitting the enormities of the frauds committed, and the gross and wholesale reckless extrav- agance which has prevailed in the post office department for the last five years. It Is inconcelvable that the ugly truths told by Mr. Bristow and his aids in the investigation would fall to arrest public attention and awaken deep and effective interest in the public mind. It Is hardly possible to think that people should remain passive and unconcerned when abundant and conclusive proof Is furnish ed them from high official sources that 5. they have been systematically and out rageously robbed by their public ser wants. That the public has grown call lous as to corruption in the government service is perhaps true, but surely the recent startling disclosures in Washing ton can hardly pass unnoticed.
 GlarIng Frauds Committed.
 The postoffioe investigation winch has been progressing here for the past six weeks proves that the most glaring frauds have been committed, not only here, but throughout the entire country In fact from Porto Rico and Cuba, with the Philippine Islands yet to hear rom, to great and small postoffices in the United States, from one end of the coun- try to the other, fraud and corruption has honeycombed the postonice depart ment.
 The chief source of revenue derived by these dishonest officials, who were paid handsome salaries by the government to begin with, has been in government con- tracts. It appears from the proof sub mitted that fraud connected itself with nearly all of the contracts let by the gov ernment for it's enormous supplies, aggre- gating annually millions and millions of dollars. In many of these contracts the government was forced to pay from 90 to 50 per cent more than the goods were worth and the officials who manipu- lated and pushed these fraudulent con tracts through shared in the 30 and 50 per cent profits. This was their graft and rake off. In furnishing cash registers, time clocks, printing, fuel and in fact of all supplies the lowest and best bidders never had chance to secure a contract from the postoffice department without he first agreed to divide the profits with the official gang of thieves who so shame lessly conducted the public business. It is all a most wretched and disgraceful story of trickery and robbery.
 Opinions Rendered for swas.
 Opinions favorable to them were paid by the swindlers in 'get-rich-quick' con cerns to the officials who controlled the law office of the department. It Is shown that i've contracting concerns divided the swag of their dishonest contracts with high postoffice officials.
 Men and women have been placed upon the pay rolls of the government who never performed any service, and all they did was to sign the pay roll, and doubtless pay to those who appointed them from 30 to 50 per cent of the fraudulent salary they obtained.
 Postoffice supplies of a superior and costly style were shipped to postoffices throughout the country. where they had no need for them. and in many cases these articles had to be put away in storehouses. This was done to satisfy the greed of the dishonest contractors and their pals in the government service.
 High and excessive rents were paid for the occupancy of buildings, and the own CTS and agents of these buildings shared in all charges over an honest rental with the government thieves.
 Railroads Had Pull.
 Railroad companies that had a pull with the insiders in the department were paid exorbitant mileage for carrying the mails where congress had not specifically, ap- propriated.
 Any official In the postoffice department who stood In with the gang of looters could take seat in palace car.
 The foregoing are the most glaring feat
 --T~~ ru6f n and the end Is not yet
 All of this reckless and criminal waste and squander of the peoples money; all of this rank fraud jobbery, robbery and corruption has been going on here ever since the republicans came into power. One-tenth has not been found out and never will be until change of admins tration occurs. Even the sensational dis closures which are now being made came to the country purely accidentally. The first sign that there was rottenness in the department came when the high off, cials got at loggerheads as to their juris- diction over certain affairs and bureaus in the department.
 Wynne Wanted to Know Things.
 First Assistant Postmaster General Wynne could not understand how 1t was that by virtue of his position he could not have the same power and authority over the work of Machen and Beavers as had First Assistant Postmaster General Heath. Then that newspaper nose of Wynne scented rottenness. and he want ed to know things" They would not tell him and the result was row. Subse- ouent events have shown why Wynne was ignored The rascals were afraid to trust him in their rascality and they sized him m correctly Wynne was confident from the start that there was crookedness in the department and made no secret in speaking of it. He told his chief. the postmaster general. what he thought of the conduct of the affairs of the depart ment.
 TulIoch Made Plain Cases.
 It is true that nearly three years ago