The Savannah morning news., 1903-05-17
TULLOCH'S CHARGES
ARE ANSWERED BY POSTMASTER
GENERAL PAYNE.
ADMITS BUT FEW IF ANY.
NOES NOT THINK. THE EVIDENCE
SUFFICIENT.

ucduce His Criticisms of the Post |
office to This Shape-POstmaster
General Takes Them Up One by
one and Proceeds to Comment.
still Declares "a Determination to
Push the Investigation.
washington, May 16.-The formal
charges of Seymour w. Tulloch, cash
Ter of the Washington city postoff1ce
for many years until his removal four
wears ago, alleging irregularities in the
nostal administration, were submitted
to Postmaster General Payne to-day.
Mr.. Payne and Fourth Assistant Po9%-
master General Bristow went over the
statement in detail. Postmaster Cen
eral Payne, reviewing the charges of
Mr.. Tulloch, said:
THE great bulk of the irregularities
of which Mr.. Tulloch complains was
the result of the government taking
over the postal service of Porto Rico.
Mr.. Tulloch refers to troubles caused
bv the payment of the Porto Rican ac-
counts through the Washington city
posto1ice, and makes some other In
motion of letter box schemes, ETC.. but
there is no evidence, nothing but
words. All that will be of any service
whatever to the department in look
ing up matters in connection With the
investigation, is comprised, in three
pages.
His Individual Grievances.
"The bulk of the statement, how
ever, consists of an airing of his own
grievances and of comments on his
own removal. He deals in glitterng
generalties in criticising eX-Postmas-
ter General Smith. He refers to vouch-
ers and payments of certain people
which he Claims to have been illegal,and
makes a pretty severe attack on the
CONTROLLER of the treasury. He makes
some reference to the alleged smother
ing of the examination of accounts of
the local postoffice, but offers no new
evidence or documents to substantlate
his allegations, merely referring to GER
tain people, certain vouches and GER
tain accounts.
There are no particularly new
points except an explanation of what
he heretofore has said in general way
l am greatly disappointed that the doc
un1ent will not be of any great help 70
US.
L
the department that cablegram had
come to the department which said:
Papa, send a transport here quick L !
am sick But that is given only as a !
rumor.
ON Their Face, He Says.
There are some things which, of
course look, on their face, to be wrong |
and need explanation. The bulk OF the
offenses alleged is that vouchers were
70 IA accounts.
the items which were not allowed by
the controller were finally audited, eX-
cept less than 500. We will look into
the records of these matters, OF
course"
Mr.. Payne said, as to the charge
that physicians were carried on the
rolls of postof1ices without authority,
that there had been fifteen or twenty
such cases in the United States There
was a matter of administrative policy
he declared, and entirely within the
province of the Postmaster General;
but that he himself last autumn re-
stricted the employment of physicians
to postoff1ces whose revenues aggregat-
ed $1,000 900 a year.
Mr.. Tulloch," continued Mr.. Payne,
refers to the return postal card
scheme of the Economic Postage As
ISOLATION, which was never adopted,
and insinuates, we are not unprepar-
ed to find Mr.. Beavers and Mr.. Ma
chen recommending the PLAN Mr.
Tulloch charges that there is ring in
the salaries and allowance division of
the Postolfice Department, without
whose approval nothing could be DONE
saying the ring consisted of the head
of the division, the first assistant post
master general, and the Postmaster
General.
Two Pay Rolls All Right.
We'll, those officials were the only
ones who had anything to say about
such matters anyway. He says that
some man was carried on two pay rolls;
but the laws specifically provide that
an employee can draw from two pay
rolls if properly authorized, if his
aggregate salary does not exceed 81
500
"Mr. Tulloch mentions alleged junk
cts of officials and employees who went
to Cuba and Porto Rico to install the
postal service there. How does Mr..
Tulloch assume to pass on the ques-
ton whether these gentlemen simply
went on junket? He refers to man
who was appointed to place in Porto
Rico, but who got drunk in New York
on the way. Well, once in while
postmaster defaults and gets drunk
and is dealt with according to his
desert.
Mr.. TuIloch has made the statement
that the Cuban administrative trou-
blef were as nothing compared to
Porto Rico. There has been only one
case of wrongdoing of an admins
trative official in Porto Rico, and that
was a clerk in the Ponce postoftice,
who defaulted about $4,000.
Not Civil Service Employees.
"Mr. Tulloch refers to appointments
of laboNers, charwomen and cleaners as
evasions of the civil service law. These
places were not in the civil service. He
says that they either performed no du-
ties at all or often did work along lines
not authorized. We are now invest-
eating a charge that three women car
ried on the rolls as charwomen per-
formed no service.
Mr.. Tulloch says that the finance
clerks drew more money than they
ought TO have drawn under the law.
Most of these men were employed I'M
der an emergency appropriation for
Porto Rico. We will investigate this
matter.
1T is also charged that most of the
postofiices in Porto Rico were in ar
rears at the time of Mr.. Tulloch's re-
moval. We had to employ natives
there, and some who were not natives,
and In view OF the conditions that con-
fronted US, is IL likely that we would
have an administration as smooth ana
accounts as clear as in the states?
I want 20 say here that any irreg-
n'arities complained OF IN the wash