Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1903-04-30
one HEAD DROPS
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
TYNER is PEREMPToRiLY
REMOVED.
HIS WIFE ROBS OFFICE SAFE
CARRIES AWAY PUBLIC RECORDS
FROM PosTcrFlcE DE-
PARTMEMT.
ATTORNEY CENTRAL TtNTS CASE
INSPECTOR DEMANDS PAPERS
AND is F1FUsEo RY MRS.
TYMER.

Washington, April 25.-Pos,master
General Payne has percmDtoTi!y re-
moved James N. Tyner, assistant at
torney ge1->ral for tho po;,:oiice de-
partmcnt on a criminal complaint and
handed over to tho department. OF
Justice all the papers in Tho case.
Gen. Tyner has been connected
with the department for nearly forty
years and has held the positions OF
postmaster general. fist assistant
postma or gen, ral, second assistant
postmaster general and attorney gen
cra for the department. He has
been member CT congress and twice
the United Sta.es delegate to the in-
t,arnatiOnal postal congress. He is
,venty-scven years of age. paralyZed,
b,', after this record and in his phys
ic1l condition. he is liable to criminal
prosecution. on a charge OF extracting
from his Office public records. The
penalty for that oifense is a fine of
$1,000 or Imprisonment for three
years at hard labor.
Carried OFF Public Records.
Gen. Tyner has been under investi-
cation and his resignation had been
accepted to take effect May 1. But last
Tuesday afternoon his wife went to
his office, accompanied by a safe ex-
pert, cpe!. i: tie safe and carried
away Ply. /. records which it was de-
sired s,lorld not fall into the hands OF
Fourth Assistant Postmaster General
I. i,,rr t1,, INV,
tigaticn.
Mrs. Ty::e- refused to deliver the
papers to The inspector Who called at
the house to demand them, and said
as excuse that she had taken them by
direction of her husband.
The revelation OF such high handed
proceee'%' -egs by on official under in.
vestigaton convinced Pcstin@ctnr
Ganeral Payne that the investigation
he had ordered is timely and that it
must be conducted without regard to
the high position Of some of the men
under fire, or tie reputation they have
as honorable end efficient public SER
wants. He has been convinced that
there is a condition of rottenness in
the department. and that it must be
Thoroughly overhauIed.
Mr.. Beay2.', chief of the salary and
was known lis division was to be in
vestigatel
Tho inspectors have been at work
in the Office of Gen. Tyner and they
have learned enough to convince them
that some of Gen. Tyners assistants
have been using their positions in an
Illegal manner There We're COM
plants from policy men in Chicago
and ST. Louis that they had paid a
nephew of Gen. Tyner to prepare their
advertisements so that they would be
accepted as legitimate by the attorney
general for the department.
These papers and others of an al
said to have been in the safe. and Mrs.
Tyner. by direction of her husband,
went to the office and took them. I'm
der the federal statutes she has COM
mitted panitentiary offense and she
may be prosecuted. The postmaster
general will not say what steps have
been taken to punish the crime, en-
cept that he has handed the matter
over to the department Of justice.
Later i'll the evening Gen. Tyner's
attorneys made statement in which
they said that the papers removed
from the safe were all of a personal
nature and in no way connected with
tho n7attarS now under INVESTIGATION
They added that the papers would all
be placed at the disposal of the proper
authorities.