Evening star., 1903-12-07
TYNER TO PRESIDENT
FORMER ASSISTANT ATTORNEY
GENERAL PROTESTS.
Declares That He Has Been Judged
Without Trial and Denies
Every Charge.

| ment until deposed on account of matters
connected with the post office investigation,
| has sent the following letter to President
| Roosevelt:
| '1471 Kenesaw avenue northwest,
| WASHINGTON, d. c., December 2, 1903.
The President:
'Sir-In your official statement as Presi-
| dent of the United States addressed to the
American public, in connection with the re-
| port of Fourth Assistant Postmaster Cen
eral Bristow, on the alleged postal frauds.
| You make certain statements concerning
! my supposed connection Herewith, which 1
take the liberty of answering in order that
| may properly go upon your official
| records.
II do not desire to question your good
| 1alth or sincerity in accepting the conclu-
sion or your subordinate, Mr. BriStow, and
In dignifyfng them with the weight of your
| nigh official position; but has it occurred to
you that pending the trial of the three in
| olctments against me, based on the allega-
tons OF the report and without having
| heard one word from me in my defense, your
premature and unwarranted announcement
| or my assumed guilt and your call to the
| court and jury to indorse the same is, to
| say the least. extraordinary and danger
Gus! 1 am not even asking that 1 should be
| presumed innocent or that before am con-
| demned by you or the department should
| be confronted by proofs and witnesses or
given an opportunity to be heard in my de-
| tense; or that in the trial which confronts
| me l should have a fair trial-all am ask
ing IS that in view of the uncertainty of
my life and the fact that my lips may at
any moment be forever sealed this letter be
| filed among your official records of my case,
together with my letter of July 27, 1908 to
MT Bristow. copy of which 1 attach.
i desire again specifically to deny every
one or the veiled charges made by Mr.
| Bristow in his report and to call your at
tention to the fact that not one direct or
speclhc charge is made against me in the
conduct of my high office. nor has, nor can,
| one cent of gain be traced to me. If my life
is spared shall fully refute all the sur
misses and tnsinuations of Mr. Bristow, and
shall be able to show the reasons which led
| him to withhold from you full data and to
garble, misquote and falsify that which he
did submit to you.
Mental Powers Vigorous.
Il also desire to state that If any OF the
friends of Tyner have, as you alleged, ad-
vanced the theory that In this case the
chief offender was my nephew Barrett and
that my alleged offenses were due to my
failing mental and bodily powers. they did
SO without my knowledge assent. 1t IS
true that owing to two strokes of paralysis
my bodily powers have failed me. and /
may have to face truer and sterner judge
ere many days, but my mental powers, I
thank God have never suffered. and 1 trust
Will not fail me until have convinced the
tive that my acts have been honest, hon
orable and straightforward in the sight of
God and man. l am confident that the re-
lations of Mr. Barrett with me and my
department were as innocent and honorable
as am sure were all my motives and acts
Il also wish to deny your utterly unwar
rented statement that the gross corruption
in the case of Tyner has gone on for
number of years You should know ard
your subordinates do know that no single
act of corruption. gross or mild has been
discovered against me; and the United
States government, with it's forty inspectors
and its chief inquisitor, Mr.. Bristow. will
be unable to discover one.
81 have tried by forty odd years of faith
full service to my country to prove my zeal
for faithfulness and honesty in the public
service. and l now say to you, the Presi-
dent Of the United States, my chief ac-
cuser. as if it were the last word I shall
ever utter, that in your well-recognized
and honorable zeal for the public good.
you have allowed yourself to be deceived
| and imposed upon; and while cannot hope
for a hearing at your hands I shall at
least, give myself the wretched solace of
having denied these wrongs and of having
demanded that hearing which right and
justice ought to accord me.
Very respectfully,
(signed) JAMES N. TYNER."
Letter to Bristow.
Ths letter to Mr.. Bristow, which is re-
ferred to in the letter to the President is
answer to invitation from Mr.. Bristow
to reply to certain points involved in the in
vestigation submitted by Mr.. Bristow
General Tyner says that a full reply to
the "unwarranted deductions in Mr.. Br;s-
towS letter may assist him in a fair and
honest investigation of the generals office,
he will return answer at the same time
calling attention to the fact that he has no
access to the files of the department. but
speaks only from his best recollection. He
then answers in great detail matters called
to his attention by MIR. Bristow, and closes
as follows:
1T certainly must be evident to you that
your several specifications narrow them
selves down to two propositions and two,
only. One that l made certain rulings as
to which your judgment and mine differ.
The other that 1 abused my position will
fully or unwittingly to further the interests
of my nephew by marriage, Mr.. Harrison
j. Barrett. lawyer practicing his profess
sion in Baltimore and Washington. l can
not believe that you even mean to insinuate
that | showed him any of the alleged favorS
as the result of a corrupt bargain or un-
derstanding between us. There is absolute
ly no evidence, either actual or circumstan-
tial, to justify any suspicion of such cor
ruption, or of any such understanding what
ever, for there was none"