The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-12-10
On Postal Frauds Reviewed By Pfesi-
dent Roosevelt.
GROSS CORRUPTION IS DISCLOSED.
Questions of Party Policy nust Sink
Into lnsignificance Beside Duty OF
Prosecuting and Furnishing Guilty.


the Postoffice Department concerning
the investigation into the corrupt prac-
tees obtaining in the Postoffice De-
partment, notably in the office OF the
First Assistant Postmaster General and
in the Office of the Assistant Attorney
General for that Department has been
given to the press. He says:
It appears that in December, 1902,
Postmaster General Payne and Con-
gresham E. F. Loud, chairman or the
committee en- the postoffice and post
roads, held various consultations re-
garding the postal service, and, as
result OF these interviews, it was de-
termined that, as soon as possible after
the necessary appropriations could be
made by the Congress, an investigation
should be made of the service, both
Messrs. Payne and Loud agreeing as
to the need for the investigation and
the time when it should take place. Ac-
cordingly, an increase Of $1,000 in the
appropriation bill reported in January
was made for the express purpose Of
carrying On the investigation in ques-
ton. The reasons for the increase in
the appropriations were known only to
the Postmaster General, to Congress.
man Loud and to Congressman Brom-
we'll.
Subsequently, sometime in January,
information was laid before me by Mr..
Seckendorff tending to show improper
conduct by Beavers, general superin-
tendent of the division of salaries and
allowances, and Machen, general su-
perintendent Of the free delivery sys-
TEN, and by Mr.. William Allen White,
tending to show corruption by or under
Tyner, Assistant Attorney General for
the Postoffice Department. First As
sistant Postmaster General Wynne also
informed me that he had become sus-
picious of the integrity of both Machen
and Beavers, Assistant Postmaster
General Bristow should make a thor
ough and exhaustive investigation of
the charges in question and of all mat
ters that might be developed in con-
nection with them. Mr.. Bristow's re-
port is a record of as thorough a bit Of
investigating work as has ever been
done under the government. Owing to
the importance of the case, 1t was
deemed advisable that special counsel
should be employed, and Messrs.
Charles ]. Bonaparte and Holmes Con-
rad were chosen for this purpose.
Messrs. BBnaparte and oCnrad, in their
Messrs. Bonaparte and Conrad, in their
review Of the report Of Mr.. Bristow,
speak as follows:
I'VE heartily commend the report
and deem its conclusions fully justifl-
ed by the facts 1t sets forth, and, while
regretting, in common with all patri-
otic, citizens, that the grave abuses OF
long-standing which it reveals should
have grown up in the Postoffice De-
partment, we consider the exposure OF
these abuses and the attempts 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 Mr..
Bristow, cordially agree.
1.-The invetigation of Mr.. Bristow dis
closes a cor dition of gross corruption
in the Office of the First Assistant
Postmaster General and in that Of the
Assistant Attorney General for the
Postoffice Department. In the case OF
the superintendent Of free delivery,
Machen, the evidence shows that his
his conduct began Immediately after
his appointment in September, 1893. In
the case Of the general superintendent
OF salaries and allowances, Beavers, 1t
began son after he was appointed to
that place in 1897. In the case of AS
sistant Attorney General Tyner, 1t has
gone on for number Of years, but it
Is impossible to say exactly when it
began. A melancholy feature Of he
case Is that, with one exception, all the
offenders have been for a number OF
years in the government service. (Here
follows list Of the IA postoffice en-
DIOsSS III tuc oCl VIC at tuC lIL4C Iuio
investigation was begun, who are ap-
parently most seriously implicated in
he wrong-doing, together with an 40
;ount of the steps that have beer
:aken by the government in each case
ard a statement of the date Of origi-
,al appointment OF each man in the
;e--!ce.1
The details Of the corruption are set
Forth in full in Mr.. Bristow's report,
and need not be recapitulated by me.
As regards MesSrS. Beavers and Mach
en-. the corruption took the form Of
bribery and blackmail in connection
with the purchase Of government sup
plies. In the Office Of the Assistant At
torney General for the Postoffice De-
partment, under Tyner and Barrett, far
greater wrong was inflicted upon the
public than could be measured by a
pecuniary standard, for in this Office
the corruption Of the government OFF,
cials took the form Of favoring get.
rich-ouick concerns and similar swind
ling schemes; in other words, the GRIM
inals, whom it was the sworn duty
of these government officials to prose-
cute, paid them for permission to
fleece the public unmoleSted.