The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1903-12-04
SCORED BY PRESIDENT
Roosevelt De,ounces the Men
VINO Have Been Indicted
for Postal Frauds.
FINAL REPORT HAS BEEN FILED
Fourth Assistant Secretary Bristow,
Gives the Details and Results of
the Extended Inquiry.

dSHluSIOIi, Dec. line uHal re-
port on the postal fraud investigation
has just been made public. 1t was
complied by j. L. Bristow, fourth as
sistant postmaster general, who has
had charge Of the inquiry.
The report is accompanied by a
memorandum signed by President
Roosevelt, in which official corruption
is denounced in amost scathirg terms.
The president refers to the operations
of Beavers and Machen as bribery
and blackmail.' He denies that Ty-
ner's failing bodily and mental powers
PALATE his offenses. He declares that
Tyner's office favored the get rich
quick concerns and similar swindles,
who paid them for permission to fleece
the public
In closing his memorandum Presi.
dent Roosevelt declares:
self government becomes farce
if the representatives Of the people
corrupt others or are themselves COR
rupted'
Bristow Reviews the Case.
Secretary Bristow, in reviewing the
investigation. says:
More than forty inspectors have
been employed upon this work, some Of
them continuously every day since the
investigation began. The records of l.
600 postoffices have been examined.
and the files of many divisions of the
department. covering period of from
six to ten years, scrutinized.
'The system of organized corruption
that has been disclosed began in 1898
and continued until stopped by this in
vestigation The amount of money Sc
cured by the corrupt officials and their
confederates is small as compared to
the total loss to the government.
ITO illustrate: Barrett received but
$4,000 from Arnold, yet that company
defrauded the people out Of over 49,
100000.
"Machen probably did not receive
more than $4,000 from the Croft
fastener. Yet the government has paid
approximately 100000 for that device,
department continued, by the terms Of
the contract for letter boxes, to pay
for the original fasteners.
Beavers and Others Got Little.
Beavers and his assistants re-
ceived less than $4,000 from the auto
matte cashier Yet the department ex-
pended $74 ,275 for this wholly unnecee-
sary machine.
1.-THE total amount that the per-
petrators of these frauds themselves
received cannot be definitely learned,
but it will aggregate between 100000
and 100000 while the loss to the gov.
eminent, considering the unnecessary
supplies that have been purchased and
the inferior quality of those furnished
by fraudulent contractors, cannot be
estimated with any degree of ac-
curacy
LAS the gross abuses have been
brought to light they have been
partment officers Contracts where
fraud has been discovered have been
annulled.
CAS- a result of the investigation four
officers and employees of the depart
ment have resigned and thirteen have
been removed. Forty-four indictments
have been found, involving thirty-one
persons, ten of whom have been con-
nected with the postal service"
Where Perry Heath Comes In.
A feature of Secretary / ristow's re-
port is the pages devoted to the alleged
frauds in connection with the purchase
Of canceling machines, and it is this
branch of the inquiry that testimony
was taken seeming to implicate Perry
S. Heath, former first assistant post
master general. One witness testified
that he gave Heath $4,000 worth of
stock in the company to which Heath
had given an order for large number
of canceling machines. Secretary Bris-
tow says, however, that the grand jury
did not consider the evidence SUI.
ficient to warrant Indictment.
President Roosevelt's only reference
to Perry S. Heath is the the single
sentence:
'The case of ex-First Assistant Post
master General Heath, who had left |
the service July 81, 1900, is set forth |
in the report of Mr. BTistow."
President RooseveIt's Comments.
President Roosevelt's memorandum |
discloses the fact that the investiga- I
ton was the result of a conference be-
tween Postmaster General Payne AID !
Congressman Loud in December 1902. |
At their request congress appropriated |
S., 900 for beginning the investigation |
President Roosevelt says that at the
time the reason for the appropriation
was known only to the postmaster
general and to Congressman Loud and |
BrOmwell.
President Roosevelt, in commenting
on the inquiry which followed, says:
MIR. Bristow's report is a record of
as thorough a bit of investigation work