The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-14
THE TRIALS
 COMMENCED One Government Official Now on the Rack. ABOUT FRAUD ORDERS A Get-Rich Scheme Was
 Helped Along.
D. V. Miller, Former Assistant At tornsy General, is Charged with Crooked Work in This
 Connection.

Cincinnati, Oct, 1s.-The first trial under about two dozen indictments against postoffice officials secured in different parts of the country by the government recently. was begun here today. The defendants are Daniel Voorhes Miller or Terre Haute, Ind, formerly Assistant Alt torney General for the Postoffice Depart ment at Washington, and his friend. Joseph M. Johns. an attorney at Rock vile, Ind. The government charged a conspiracy between these defendants fer the purpose of obtaining money from John J. Ryan, a turfman, with ofnces Tn Cincinnati and St. Louis for protecting him from the post officials in the use Of the malls for his schemes. Miller claims absolute ignorance of any transaction that may have occurred between Ryan and Johns.
 Johns claims that he made an ordinary contract with Ryan as attorney to as- sist in securing a decision from the Postal Department after presentation of the case. Both defendants emphatically deny any understanding between them selves, or with Ryan. or any conspiracy.
 While District Attorney Sherman Me- Pherson and his assistants, Mouliner and Darby, have been working on the case for some time, they were assisted today by Charles H. Robb, Assistant Attorney General of the Postal Department at Washington, D. c. Cochran, chief of postoffice inspectors, Inspector Vickery and Fulton, who arrested Miller and Johns and others.
 The defendants have been indicted joint ly on six counts of conspiring to secure a bribe from John J. Ryan 6 O., of Cincinnati and St. Louis. The govern ment has called a dozen witnesses and the defence three times that many, so that it is not expected that the argu- ments will be reached until the latter part of the week. The witnesses today were Richard N. Webster, 6 clerk in the legal department of the Postofice De- pertinent at washington; J. M. Morrow, telegraph operator at Bcca<yill illee sne, and John !. Ryan, the latter being on the stand when court adJourned.
 When court convened in the afternoon Webster was sharply. cross-examined.
 In reply to a question by Rulison he stated that he was in charge of what were known as lottery cases. while Miller was in charge of fraud cases. Since then he had been engaged also on the latter. He testified that when 1t had been de- cided that cases were not put on the fraud list that such a decision by tho Assistant Attorney General for the Post ofdce Department had heretofore been
 
 upon for the fraud list were carried up to the Postmaster General heretofore, but now the rule in the department was for favorable decisions, as well as un- favorable decisions, to be submitted to the Postmaster General. It was under stood that this change took place after the retirement of General Tyner.
 Rulison questioned Webster at length as to the records brought from Washing
 AN@A H-sN 1. A.. Ryan case on November il of last year. and that it was dismissed on the same day, holding that there could not have been a bribe therefore at Washington.
 John J. Ryan. the star witness of the government, was on the witness stand from 8 o'clock until court adjourned. He gave a history and an explanation of his cooperative investment company, telling how he advertised in the papers and re- cetved answers with money by mail. Last November he was called on by postonice inspectors and soon afterwards received a notice from D. V. Miller, assistant at- torney for the Postoffice Department, that his turf commission operations were fraudulent Later he had a hearing be- fore Attorneys Christiancy and Miller, on November Ii. in Washington, where the whole matter was finally referred to Mil fer
 At this meeting Ryan promised to re- organize his cooperative investment com- pany so that his operations as turf com missioner would come within the require rnents of the postal laws. He continued, however, to have trouble and soon after his return from Washington he received a letter from Joseph M. Johns, in which the latter said he could be of service to him. After considerable correspondence by mail and wire. they met in Terre Haute. where Ryan stated he registered under the name of Rose. Ryan was pro- ceeding to repeat a conversation that took place when the two were alone in room at Terre Haute. when he was stop ped by an objection from Rulison to the witness testifying as to what Johns re- cited about Miller saying to him. Ryan was testifying that Johns claimed to be close to Miller and able to advise Ryan what Miller had said could, or would be done in the pending case.
 Court took the objection under advise ment until tomorrow at a. m.