Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1903-12-05
ROOSEVELT ON
POSTAL FRAUDS
Loss CT Office Not Sufficient Punish.
ment For the Guilty.
SUGGESTS NEW LEGISLATION

Washington, Nov 80, =, President
Roosevelt's coz ulent on the postal
frauds has been made public In it he
reviews the causes which led to the
investigation alId heartily endorses AS /
sistantl Postmaster G aneral Bristow's
report. After naming the 80 persons
indicted (i2 officials ia the service and
10 outsiders), the president names the
chief offenders as James 4. Tyner,
former assistant attorney general Tor
the postofice department.: A w.
Machen, former, superintendent of free
delivery. and George w. Beavers, for
mer superintendent of salaries and al
lowances. In concluding. Mr.. Roose-
velt says:
81 heartily approve Of the recommen-
dation of Mess9s. Conred and Bona
parte that the statute OF limitations De
extended in the case of government
servants TO period of at least five
years, for the persons who in such p~-
sitions of trust engage in corrupt praC-
tees can ordinarily conceal their guilt
for longer time than is covered by the
present short statute of limitations.
Moreover, our experience shows that
outsiders claiming political influence
sometimes sell their influence to can
didates for Office. or in other words
blackmail these candidates. There
should be Legislation which will permit
OF summary dealing with such Offend
ers
However, the prime need is not new
legislation, 0ait the punishment of
those who offsnd against existing laws.
The postofiiess department is making
certain esasrcsA in the method OF ad-
ministratioh, Hct&C.y in the method OF
inspection. by which the service will
be improved and the chance of corrup-
tion existing without discovery be
minimized; but the only way to meet
the real evil is to punish the offenders.
by removal in any event, and here pos
sible by prosecution under the criminal
statutes. In any great business public
or private, wrongdoing is certain at
times to occur. The way to guard
against 1t is vigorously to scrutinize
the character of those appointed, care
fully to supervise their actions after
appointment and finally to punish with
relentless severity those who so wrong.
All this is being done.
THE immediate reformation of the
service by the turning out of the Of
tenders is not In itself enough to meet
the demands of justice. The cases
against both those within and those
without the post office department. who
by their acts have brought themselves
within the grasp of the law, will be
pushed with the utmost vigor Every
effort must be made to see that both the
delinquent official and the outsider
VINO shares his guilt are punished to
the limit OF the law. In pursuance of
this policy the Individuals above emu
merated have been Indicted In 10
case has the Indictment been sought
save where the officials OF the govern
ment were convinced e The mans
guilt; and in every case the govern
ment will exhaust every expedient in
its power in the effort to see that jus-
tice is meted out to the offenders
Those in the public service whose dry
1t is must ever be vigilant in the de-
lection of wrongdoing, fearless in it's
exposure. relentless in it's prosecution:
but in the last resort, when everything
which the public official, whether leg
islator, judge or executive officer, can
do has been done. it remains for the
jury, drawn from the people and rep
resenting the people, to do even-handed
Justice, shielding the innocent, but de-
clining to be misled by any plea into
refraining from punishment of the
guilty.
No crime calls for sterner reproba-
tion than the crime OF the corruption
ist in public life and OF the man who
seeks to corrupt him. The bribe giver
and the bribe taker are equally
guilty. Both alike sin against the
primary law of the states safety. All
questions of difference in party policy
sink into insignifcance when the peo.
pie of this country are brought face to
face with question like this, which f,
lies at the root Of honest and decent |
government. On this question and on
all others like it we can afford to have !
no division among good citizens. In
the last resort good laws and good ad-
ministration alike must rest upon the !
broad basis of sound public opinion /
A dull public conscience, an easy-going !
acquiescence in corruption, infallibly I
means debasement in public life, and !
such debasement in the end means the |
ruin of free institutions. Self-govern- |
ment becomes a farce if the representa- !
tives OF the people corrupt others or !
are themselves corrupted. Freedom is
not a gift which will tarry long in
the hands Of the dishonest or of those
so foolish or so incompetent as to toll
crate dishonesty in their public SER
wants. Under our system al power