Evening star., 1903-07-01
HEARING THIS MORNING
POINTS AGAINST
AWARD TO HERMAN.
Mr.. Herman Declares His Responsible
ity to Carry Out Terms
Of Contract.

! ject today under discussion in relation to
| the Investigations being conducted in that
| department.
| A hearing was held before Postmaster
General Payne and First Assistant Post
master General Wynne as to the propriety
| of awarding the contract to Paul Herman,
| the lowest bidder. The hearing was grant
| ed upon the application of the Typothetae
| of America, the association of master
| printers which includes in it's membership
| the majority of extensive printing firms
in the country
| Before the hearing was over question
| of fact arose which will have to be de-
| termined by Assistant Attorney General
| Robb before a decision can be rendered
| Mr.. Robb was present at the hearing and
| this afternoon looked up the matter in
question with view to making a report
| to the Postmaster General at o'clock,
| when it was arranged Mr. Herman should
| be heard in his own behalf The decision
| of the Postmaster General will be made
| this afternoon.
| Behind Closed Doors
| The hearing was behind closed DOORS
There was group of newspaper men pres
| ent at IL o'clock, when the hearing was
announced to begin, with the expectation
that they would be permitted to hear the
| testimony in the case that has grown into
| unuSal magnitude in view of the develop
ment showing that the son of ex-Superin-
| tendent Metca1f of the money order div!-
| sion was the manager OF the firm of Wyn-
| coop, Helenbeck, Crawford Company, the
| former contractors for printing money or
der blanks.
The Typothetae of America was today
| represented in the hearing by Messrs. John
| H. Eggers of New York, Wilson II. Lee OF
| New Haven, Conn., and Col Henry w.
Sackett OF New York. Colonel Sackett was
| the spokesman for the association of en-
/ nlnVtnU nriDfQrS chief
points In his statement. He claimed that
| 1t was a matter of bad morals to award
contract to an employe who had just left
his employer, and had the knowledge OF
his business secrets, and would be in pO-
sition to know about how he would have
to bid Also that 1t would be against a
| United States statute to award the con-
| tract to him because he has to provide
money for establishing the business for
carrying out the contract he Is In fact only
| a subcontractor, and the law forbids the
acceptance of bid by a subcontsactor.
| The third point they made was that Mr..
| Herman would not be able to carry out the
| contract satisfactorily for the price named
| by him in his bid.
! It was suggested by the representatives
| of the Typothetae of America that in pref
| erence to giving the contract to Mr.. Her
man it should be given to Wyncoop, Hal
| lenbeck Crawford Company at the price
| named by Mr.. Herman.
| A Question Of Fact.
L
| some new facts in relation to the awarding
of the contract for printing money order
blanks there are on file in the department
| briefs submitted by both sides of the
| troversy, which have heretofore been pub
| lished in The Star. These briefs were SUBJ
mitted in the investigation made by First
| Assistant Postmaster General Wynne. In
| connection with the case Assistant Attor-
| ney General Robb had already reported
| that Mr.. Herman was a fully qualified bid
| dor or Of oaf
| arising at the hearing this morning was
| whether Mr.. Herman had ever offered any
body to make him partner in the business
| to be built up from the printing of the
| money order blanks in case he should get
the contract. Mr.. Herman has already
stated to officials of the department that
he had never made such an offer and
when the question was again raised TODAY
| he offered to submit testimony and a state
ment under oath that he had not done So
| MI. Herman's Declaration.
| Mr.. Herman declares that he has financial
backing enough to warrant him in under
taking to do the work. He has offered to
give upward Of $4,000 bond guaranteeing
that he will carry out the contract. He
has submitted evidence to show that he has
a credit of $4,000 in bank of New York
and that a manufacturer OF printing ma
chinery will furnish the necessary presses.
etc. if he secured the contract. He has
expressed his complete confidence in being
able to have the necessary machinery in
stalled in three or four weeks SO that he
believes that by September 4, when he
would be required to begin the furnishing
OF the blanks. he would be able to supply
them In any quantity needed.
The contract for printing money order
blanks amounts to about 100000 annually.
Mr.. Herman's bid for the work for the four
years from September 4 was $4,000 lower
than that Of Wyncoop, Hallenberger, Craw-
ford Company. so that amount would be
saved by his entrance into the contest for
doing government work.
In reply to the charge that Mr. Herman
left his employer with the secrets of his
business and then used that knowledge to
underbid him. Mr.. Herman has submitted
that he had no intention of putting in bid
when he left the employ of the firm with
which he was connected. He left because
of some disagreement and proceeded to Sc
cure employment elsewhere. One OF the
representatives Of the Typothetae before
the Postmaster General today sub-litted a
paper from a printing firm that showed
that after leaving his employment he ap-
piled for position with 1t, but was not
successful
In substance the claim of Mr.. Herman
was that he had sought employment in vain
and then turned to a government contract
as a means of securing a living. Having
friends with large means at their command
and being known as man OF skill he was
able according to his statement, to get
without difficulty the required backing to
allow him to bid for the contract for print
ing the money order blanks. which was
business with which ne was known 10 De
familiar He claimed that he did not
know the bid that was to be put in by Wyn-
koop, Hallenberger. Crawford Company.
The representatives of the Typothetae to-
day, while declaring that it was bad morals
to have an employe leave his position and
compete for work under the circumstances
involved in the case Of Mr.. Herman. did not
claim that Mr.. Herman knew the bid that
would be made by the firm he left.
Government Will Own the Plates.
The fact has been brought out in con-
nection with the hearing held today that
the government will own the plates from
which the money order blanks are to he
printed and that IL the contractor should
fail to carry out the contract In a satisfac-
tory way the money order blanks In an