The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1903-06-30
Mr.. SMITHS LETTER
Former Postmaster Generals State
ment On Tulloch Charge.
pROeED ALL IRREGULARITIES

Mr.. Smith Accepts Responsibility
Which Belongs to Him and Explains
the Difficulty In Establishing the
Military Postal Service.
Philadelphia. June Former Post
master General Charles Emory
Smiths letter to Postmaster General
Pope in connection with the postal
Investigation has been made public.
Mr. Smiths letter is accompanied by
numerous exhibits explaining in de
tail the alleged irregularities in the
military postal affairs during the war
with Spain The letter in part is as
follows:
Philadelphia. June %. 1908.
Hon. Henry c. Payne. Postmaster Cen
eral
Sir-In view OF the partial pubica-
ton of the letter of Fourth Assistant
Postmaster General Bristow on the
so-called Tulloch charges and Of the
accompanying reports of inspectors
made TO him in 1899 and 1900. l deem
it incumbent on me for a right public
understanding TO make a further
statement, supplementary to my letter
OF May p, and to present the papers
in their proper relation.
1t will be seen that the Tulloch
statement and the inspectors report
are practically identical Al many
points the language is exactly the
same 1t is as if they were written
by the same hand The Tulloch state.
ment was submitted 10 me. : il
spectors report was submitted s %.
fourth assistant Ii was the busine
u the inspector TO find wAa,cve-
seemed 20 call for explanation; il was
lett to the postmaster general TO fad
the explanation and the truth,
This was done by probing the TUT
loch statement when il was presented.
All of the transactions described as
irregular were examined and a report
was made 10 me which took them zap
item by item and groups Of items
and gave the facts and explanations IN
each case To this report direct par
ticular attention If its statement
are correct. then on most points i,s
explanations are satisfactory. Its ac-
curacy in all its specific averment7
has never been impcached in any
quarter On the main points it is
believed to be beyond successful chai-
lenge.
More than Ono.half of the inspcc-
tors report is taken up with minute
and detailed statement as TO the cases
Of Larner and O. H. Smith. OF the
latter | had no knowledge and say
nothing. OF the former have some
recollection. as it was the only one
Of the cases that was appealed to me
Larner had been appointed a military
postal clerk for Porto Rico by the
first assistant bureau. He went under
promise from that bureau of com
pensatlon az the rate Of Slii00 q year
About that time ! fixed the general
compensation of clerks in Porto Rico,
as was empowered TO do by law, at
1920 a year When Larner returned
be refused 70 settle his unsettled
account on that basis. and appealed 10
me. He insisted that he had been
promised sl400. and found on in
curry that this was true | ordered
that he should be paid what he had
been promised. as | had a right TO do.
Out OF that question OF rate and out OF
the question of the actual length OF
his service grew the whole story OF
alleged irregularity which takes up
one-auarter OF the inspectors report.
except as it involves a few items OF
his expense account One Of the ques-
tiOns at issue in the latter was the
question whether in the special Porto
Rican service "seidlitz powders pills,
pennyroyal and calomel" should be
treated as a personal expense or as
chargeable to the government
wish to accept the largest measure
Of responsibility which belongs to me
In connection with all these matters.
but it seems due to fairness TO state
certain facts The war against Spain.
declared three OF four days later wa7
dated back to April q. 1898. That was
the very day on which | was sworn
in as postmaster general. Ny first
duty. before even familiarizing myself
with the department. was to make i'm
mediate provision for the letters Of
the scattered army Of 100000 me9
which was promptly raised, followed
by provision for the full mail of the
islands. The administration had been
installed for more than year The
department force had been organized,
and OF course, it was properly accept
ed as It was found When the imme-
date duty in hand was taken up, 1t
was discovered. curiOusly enough.
that there were absolutely no records
Of the military postal service In the
Civil War. There were no known
presidents. We had nothing to guide
us. We had to make our own plans.
The determination OF the general plan
and policy devolved on the postmaster
general. The execution OF the details
deVOlved on the first assistants Du'
reau. We had at first no special APP
preparation. and so had to meet the
requirements ont of the regular APP
propriation. Afterwards when the
special appropriation became avail
able we had To recOup the general
appropriation in order that the regular
service might not suffer. These things
we're effected in part through the
Washington Office. and orders were
given which subordinate officials
neither did nor were required to I'M
derstand, and out of 1t has grown a
vast deal Of unnecessary misunder
standing. Respectfully yours,
CHARLES EMORY SMITH.
Herman to Get Money Order Contract. /
TFyockfcc4or lima OF -AccicfqDt Al I