Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1903-08-07
Seven Indictments Returned by the
. Federal Grand jury at Washington,
Charging Nine Persons With Con-
spiracy or Bribery-Former Super
intendent Machen Named Jointly
With Others in Four Indictments.


were William Gordon Crawford, who
was deputy auditor for the postofice
department from June H., 1898, to
Sept. Is, 1897, and is a member of one
of the exclusive clubs of this city;
Leopold J.. Stern of Baltimore; George
E. Lorenz of Toledo, formerly
prominent government official, and
Martha J. LorenZ, his wife; John T.
Cupper, mayor Of Lock Haven, Pa;
William c. Long, an Ohio man, who
has spent much time in this city in re-
cent years and who is an intimate
friend Of Machen; Maurice Runkle of
New York City, and Thomas w. Nc
Gregor, a protege of Machen, who was
messenger at the beginning of Ma
chens administration of the free de-
livery service and in recent years has
been in charge of the supplies for the
rural free delivery service.
CIandestine Agreement.
The postof1ce department has made
public a statement of the cases which
says in part:
I'm 1892 the department, through
the free delivery division, entered into
a contract with the Postal Device and
Lock company for the purchase of
carriers satchels for period of four
years. The manager of this company,
with whom all negotiations were con-
Quoted, was w. G. Crawford of Wash
ington, D. c. The satchels were to be
made Of coated canvas called pegam-
old instead of leather, as formerly.
The specifications Of this contract re-
Qulred the contractor to furnish straps
the same as in the Stern contract.
George E. Lorenz Of Toledo, O., made
a contract with Mr.. Crawford to aid
him in securing the contract and to
furnish the straps for a specific
amount per satchel Pursuant to this
agreement, which was a clandestine
| agreement and not matter of record
in the department., every time the
Postal Device and Lock company was
paid for a supply of satchels remit
lance was made by that company to
George E. Lorenz of Toledo, O., for
his part of the compensation Mr..
LorenZ, however, did not furnish the
straps. They were furnished by the
department through Machen and paid
for by the department. Crawford,
therefore, paid Lorenz for the straps
! which the department furnished, and
Lorenz, to show his appreciation of
Machen's LiberaIity
in furnishing free of charge the straps,
which he uorenz) was paid for, divid-
ed his profits with Machen. When
Crawford RENTED to Lorenz, Lorenz
at once RENTED to Machen. Machen.
. Crawford, George E. Lorenz, and Mrs.
George E. Iorenz, in whose name the
| money has been deposited, have been
indicted for conspiracy to defraud the
government.
'Crawford was deputy auditor for
J the postofice department from June
-, 1893 to Sept. Is, 1897.
I'm 1901 Machen entered into an
| agreement with Maurice Runkle of
New York to furnish small leather
| case for the free delivery service, for
which the department paid 80 cents
| each. This contract was entered into
| without competition and the cases
cost Runkle about 80 cents each. The
| inspectors have conclusive evidence
| that Runkle divided his profit of 60
| cents per case with Machen and Nc
Gregor. This is analogous with the
| Baltimore case in which McGregor and
Upton figured and have been both in
! dicted.
'"Machen and Runkle have been in
dicted in this case.
"In 1898, through the free delivery
division. a contract was made with
Leopold ]. Stern of Baltimore for car
riers'- satchels. The specifications re-
quired Stern to furnish complete
satchels. including the shoulder
straps, the choulder strap being spe-
ciically described as a part Of the
satchel and to be furnished by the
contractor. After the contract was
entered into. Stern
Was Relieved by Machen
from furnishing the straps, the full
| price being paid for the satchels. In
consideration of being relieved from
furnishing the straps by Machen,
Stern paid to w. G. Long q large
amount Of money which Long divided
with Machen. I
":The straps which Long had been
relieved from furnishing were pur-
chased by Machen from a New York
! firm without competition. He re-
Quired this New York firm. however,
to pay q commission of cents per
strap, which commission was collect:
ed by w. c. Long and divided be-
tween Long and Machen. In this
transaction Machen not only secured
money from Stern for relieving him
from furnishing the strap, which he
had contracted to furnish. but re-
quired the man from whom he bought
.he straps to pay him commission on
The strap which he was giving to
Stern. Long was used as the inter
mediary in both transactions. Over
$4,000 was paid by the department
for straps that were furnished to
Stern. though Stern had contracted to
furnish them himself. Long, Machen
and Stern have been indicted in this
case for conspiracy to defraud the
government" s. ~r~.s s..,.... 49,.
The statement then tells of the con.
tract entered into with J. E. Cupper
Of Lock Haven, Pa, by which the lat.
ter was to paint posts, package boxes
and letter boxes at exhorbitant fig.
ures. A part of the money Cupper re-
ceived for painting was paid to Long
who divided It with Machen.