The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-01
FINDINGS OF MIR. BRISrl w .Rottenness ostofflce Depa' tnt.
 CORRUPTNA WIDE SPREAD
Perry s. Heath Among Those
 Who are critlclzed.
President Roosevelt Heartily Ap- proves the Vigorous Manner Tn
 Which the Investigation Was Done by MT. Bristow.

Washington, Nov ao-The report of U. S. Bristow, Fourth Assistant Post master-General. who has been making 6 full investigation into the corruption ex- lsting in the Postofice Department. has been made public. The investigation was wide in It's scope, and under 6. oss pecula- ton has been unearthed. Mir. Bristow deals with the matter in vigorous man ner and fixes the blame for the existing state of affairs. Ex-First Assistant Post master-General Perry g. Heath, who is Secretary of the National Republican Ex- ecutive committee. comes in for strong criticism. President Roosevelt has ap- proved the work of Mir. Bristow in the following memorandum:
 Roosevelt's Comments. I White House. Nov. 2t. 1908. |. x Memorandum upon the various papers submitted from the Department of Jus tice and the Postoffice Department con- cerning the investigation into the cor ript practices obtaining in the Postofiice Department, notably in the office of the First Assistant Postmaster General. and in the oflce of the Assistant Attorney General for that department. All the doc uments in the case are herewith for- warded to the Postoffice Department and will be held ready for submission to, the Congress whenever 1t may choose to ask for them. ~ ""
 It appears that iu December. 1909. Post- master General Payne and Congressman E. F. Loud. chairman of the Committee on the Postoffice and Post Roads. held various consultations regarding the postal service, yand as result of these inter views it was determined that as soon as possible after the necessary approprla- tions could be made by the Congress an investigation should be made of the serv- ice. both Messrs. Payne and Loud agree ing as to the need for; the, investigation and the time when 1t should take place. Accordingly. an increase of s5.oo0 sih the appropriation bill reportedisin January was made for the express purpose of car rying on tll1 investisatiun fin question. The reasons tor the inereasa ip the ap- propFiation we're known only sD the paet. gun&Ster-ge2 sfaI, <te lsohEFG SHnlan d,oll4 and to Congregsman Bromweil.
 DeaverS's 1mprop6r Conduct.
 Subsequently. sofnetirne in January, h. formation was laid before me by Mir. Seckendorff tending to show improper conduct by Beavers, general superintend- ent of the division of salaries and allow ances. and Machen. general superintend- ent of the free-delivery system; and by MT. William Allen White tending to ,O ow corruption by or under Tyner. assist ant attorney general for the Postofice Department. First Assistant Postmaster General Wynne also informed me that he had become suspicious of the integ- rity of both Machen and Beavers. After full consultation with MT. Payne 1t was decided that Fourth Assistant Postmaster General Bristow should make a thorough and exhaustive investigation of the charges in question and of all matters that might be developed In connection with them. MT. Bristow's report is a record of as thorough a bit of investi- gating work as has ever been done under the government. After this investiga tion had been in progrA8s for about two months it became evident that legal pro- ceedings would have to be undertaken against some of the offenders. Owing to the importance of the case 1t was deemed advisable that special counsel should be employed. and Messrs. Charles J. Bonaparte and Holmes Conrad were chosen for this purpose. Messrs. Bona parte and Conrad. in their review of the report of Mir. Bristow, speak as follows: We consider the report an exceptionally able, caAdid, and impartial review of its subject-matter and that 1t shows clearly reprehensible misconduct, amounting in many eases to crime. on the part of a number of public officials. It Is a volum- inous document, but this arises, not from prolixity, but from the nature of the matters discussed. We heartily commen4 the report and deem it's con clusions fully justified by the facts it sets forth; and while regretting fin com mon with all patriotic citizens that the grave abuses of long standing which it reveals should have grown up in the Postofflce Department, we consider the exposure of these abuses and the at- tempts made to punish those responsible for them a work of the highest public utility. quickly and ably performed" In all that is thus said of the report of MT. Bristow cordially agree.
 Gross Corruption.
 The investigation made by Mir. BristoW discloses a condition of gross corruption in the office of the first assistant post master general and in that of the assist ant attorney general for the Postoffice Department. Tn the case of the superin- tendent of free delivery, Machen. the evil dence shows that his misconduct began immediately after his appointment in Sep tember. 1893. In the case of the general superintendent of salaries and allow ances, Beavers. 1t began soon after he was appointed to that place in 1897. In the case of Assistant Attorney General Tyner 1t has gone on for a numDer of years. but it is impossible to say exactly when 1t began. A melancholy feature of the case Is that with one exception all the offenders have been for a number of years in the government service. The fol- lowing Is a list of the fourteen postofilce employees in the service at the time this investigation was begun, who are ap- parentIy most seriously implicated in the wrong-doing, together with an account of the steps that have been taken by the government in each case and a statement of the date of original appointment of each man in the service:
 CThe case of ex-First Assistant Post master General Heath, who had left the service, July S1. 1900. 1t set forth in the
 List of Accused.
 report of MT. Bristow).
 James N. Tyner, assistant attorney general for Postoffice Department; ap- pointed special agent, Postofdce Depart- ment. March !, 1881; with intervals of a few years has been in the service ever since, and was postmaster general under President Grant for several months; he was removed April 2. 1903; he has since been indicted three times.
 A. w. Machen, general superintendent