The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-05-17

without whose approval nothing could
be done, saying the ring consisted of
the head of the division, the first as
sistant postmaster general and the
postmaster general Well. those Off
Gals were the only ones who had any
thing 10 say about such matters any
way. He says that some man was car
, Iied on two payrolls, but the laws
specifically provide that an employee can
draw from two payTOlls if properly
authorized. if his aggregate salary does
not exceed $500. He says another
man, borne on the rolls of the local
postoffice as d letter carrier, was EN-
ployed in the free delivery division.
That was irregular, but the govern
ment got the service. Mr.. TullOch men
tons alleged junkets of officials and
employees who went TO Cuba and Porto
Rica to install the postal service there.
Now, how does Mr.. TullOch assume to
pass on the question whether these gen
tlemen simply Went on junket2 He
refers TO a man who was appointed to
a place in Porto Rico. but who got
drunk in New York on the way. Well,
once in a while a postmaster defaults
and gets drunk and Is dealt with ac-
COrding to his desert. Mr.. Tulloch has
made the statement that the Cuban ad-
ministrative troubles, already known,
were nothing compared to Porto Rico.
There has been only one case of wrong
doing of one administrative in Porto
Rico and that was "A clerk in the Ponce
postoffiCe who defaulted about $4,000.
The government got what it could, and
this record prevented this mans get
ting into the army later on. The letter
mentions the auditing of accounts in
Porto Rico. The administration of af-
fairs in Porto Rico. during the time he
mentioned. was on an emergency plan,
and. ike all such matters. might have
taken some time to get in smooth
running order.
Performed No Work
Mr.. Tulloch refers to appointment
of labOrers, chaTwOmen and cleaners
as evasiOns of the civil service Law.
These places were not in the civil serV
ice He says that they either performed
no duties a all or often did work along
lines not authorized We are now in
vestigating a charge that three women
carried 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
under an emergency appropriation for
Porto Rico. We viii investigate This
matter. 1t is also charged that most CT
! the DOstOffices in Porto Rico were IN
arrears at the time of MI TullOch's re-
mOval. We had to employ natives
there and some not natives, and IN
view of the conditions that confronted
us is It likely that we would have had
an administra ton as smooth and clear
as in the stEtes?
Il want to say here that any irregu-
larities complained of in the Washing
ton postOffice were investigated at the
time by pOstOffice inspectors who made
q report 20 the postmaster general
They found some irregularities, but no
robbery or defrauding of the govern
nent. E.N-P Postmaster General Smith
and Postmaster Merritt of this city
state in their letters to me that they
corrected the evils complained Of as
soon Ss their attention was called TO
them. All that indicates any wrong
doing in the .pOstofice department or in
the Washington pOstOffice, inv ing
loss to the government or the integrity
of an official, Will be Investigated by
AIR. BristOW. but L am not going to in
Festigate a stump speech. or the cues
8 bon whether Mr. TUlloch should have
been removed. The postmaster had a
perfect right to remove Mr.. TUhOcA.
Much has been made of the statement
that Comptroller Tracewell called oft
one of the men from an inspection of
the Washington pOstOffice accounts be-
cause it was alleged that he was reach
ing what might be called pay drift
Comptroller TraceweU in his letter to
me says that the inspection had been
fully completed before sthe man was
taken of and that his report was al
ready in and all the information wanted
had been gotten. Mr. Traceweu says
he himself inspected the New York
postohice accounts.
Now. once for all. I want to say that
this investigation Of = affairs of the
postOffice department viii go on TO the
end and viii reach into every pl re
and in every direction where there is
reason to believe anything wrong may
be found The Investigation VIII be
pursued relentlessly. Any talk Of the
newspapers to the contrary Is a pure
gratuity. Any thought Of hushing mp
the investigation is a pure gratUity on
the part Of the person who furnishes
such information. am not the man
who is disposed to turn tail on such a
matter. ] have got the man to 20 after
the facts"