Warren sheaf., 1903-12-03
Lengthy and Exhaustive Document
Giving Results of His Inves-
LEGATIONS Made Public.
PRESIDENT RoOSEVELT'S
COMMENTS ON The Case
FOrty-FOur Indictments Found In
vOlving 81 PersOns-PresidentS Says
That in Every Case the Government
Will Exhaust Every Expedient to
See That Justice Is Melted Out.

lengthy and exhaustive report of
Fourth Assistant Postmaster General
J. L.. Bristow on the postal investiga-
tion has been made public, as we'll as
President Roosevelt's comments rela-
tive thereto. In concluding his report,
Mr.. Bristow says:
LAS the gross abuses have been
brought to light they have been prompt
ly corrected by the proper department
tai officers. Contracts where fraud has
been discovered have been annulled.
AS result of the investigation four
officers and employees of the depart
ment have resigned and 13 have been
removed. FOrty-four indictments have
been found, involving 81 persons, ten
of whom have been connected with the
postal service. Attached to this re-
port is list of those who have been
separated from the service by resig-
nation and removal; also a complete
list of the indictments and the persons
involved
'The results of the investigation
demonstrate that all travelling agents
of the departments as assistant
superintendents of salaries and allow
ances, of the free delivery service. the
railway mail service and the registry
system and inspectors-should be
placed under one organization. A num-
ber of changes should be made in the
organization of the department in Or
der to provide a more perfect check
tho Of rio
divisions, and some restrictive legis-
lation affecting the divisions of sal
aries and allowance, of rural free de-
livery, and possibly others may be
necessary. What the service most
needs. however. is honest. intelligent,
and vigorous administration. The cor
ruption disclosed is not due to lax
laws, but to the dishonesty of those
who have been charged with the re-
sponsibility of administering them"
Mr. Bristow estimates that the total
amount which the perpetrators of these
frauds themselves received will aggre-
gate between 100000 and 100000. The
loss to the government is many times
in excess of that amount, but cannot be
estimated with any degree of accuracy.
Perry Heath Scored.
A feature of the report is the pages
devoted to the alleged frauds in connec-
ton with the purchase Of canceling ma
chimes, and it is in this branch of the in
quiry that testimony was taken seeming
to implicate Perry S. Heath. former first
assistant postmaster general. One wit
ness testified that he gave Heath $4,000
worth of stock in the company to which
Heath had given an order for large
number of canceling machines. Bristow
says, however, that the grand jury did
not consider the evidence sufficient to
warrant indictment.
After detailing the course pursued in
setting afoot the investigation, the
president says:
Justice to Be Melted Out.
"In no case has the Indictment been
sought save where the officials of the
government were convinced of the mans
guilt, and in every case the government
will exhaust every expedient in it's pow
er in the effort to see that justice is meted
out to the Offenders Those in the public
service whose duty it is must ever be
vigilant in the detection of wrongdoing,
fearless in it's exposure, relentless in it's
prosecution; but in the last resort, when
everything which the public official,
whether legislator, judge, or executive
officer, can do has been done, it remains
for the jury, drawn from the people and
representing the people, to do even
hand justice, shielding the innocent, but
declining to be misled by any plea into
refraining from punishment Of the
guilty.
mo crime calls for sterner reproba-
tion than the crime of the corruptionist
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 differ
ence in party policy sink into insignif-
canoe when the people of this country
are brought face to face with ques-
tion like this, which 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 administration alike must
rest upon the broad basis of sound pub
lie opinion. A dull public conscience, an
easy-going acquiescence in corruption,
infallibly means debasement in public
life, and such debasement in the end
means the ruin of free institutions
Self-government becomes a farce if the
representatives Of the people corrupt
others or are themselves corrupted
Freedom is not gift which will tarry
long in the hands of the dishonest or Of
those so foolish or so incompetent as to
tolerate dishonesty in their public serv-
ants. Under our system all power comes
from the people, and all punishment
rests ultimately with the people. The
toleration of the wrong, not the exposure
of the wrong, is the real offense."
Spanish Queen Ill.
Madrid, Dec. Queen Dowager
Maria Christina is reported to be in.