The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-21
THE INVESTIGATION OF POSTAL
AFFAIRS.

The investigation of postal affairs at
esting facts as well as some matters that
would be interesting il they were true.
Ex-Cashier Tulloch's statement leaves lit
tie doubt that there were many irregulari-
ties and gross extravaganza and favorit-
ism under a former administration, but as
the implicated officials are no longer N Of
flee it is hardly worth while to investigate
their acts. There. is nothing in Mr. Tul-
loch's voluminous statement bearing on
the charges that led to the present investi-
cation. or on present officials of the Post
office Department. They all relate to trans
actions which occurred during the McKin-
ley administration. That was the time to
have exposed them, when the abuses could
have been corrected and the implicated Of
ficials brought to account. The alleged
or embezzlement, but, as related by Mr..
Tulloch, they disclose a degree of favorit-
ism and prostitution of public Office and
public funds to personal and political ends
which admit of no defense.
1t is somewhat remarkable that the only
two officials now in office who are affected
by any Of Mr.. Tulloch's statements are Of
ficials of the Treasury Department. These
are Mr.. Castle, auditor of the treasury for
the Postoffice Department, and Controller
Tracewell. The auditor of the treasury for
the Postoffice Department is generally
called the sixth auditor. The other five
auditors have offices in the Treasury build
ing. but the auditor for the Postoffice De-
partment has his office, for the convenience
of business, in the Postoffice Department
building. Yet he and his GOO clerks are en-
ployes of the Treasury Department. The
controller of the treasury ranks all the
auditors, and accounts which are passed
by the sixth auditor are revised by the
controller. These two officials are not
answerable to the postmaster general for
to investigation by him. They could. with
entire propriety, have referred Tulloch's
statements relative to them to the secre-
tary of the treasury. The controller has
not, as yet, taken any public notice of Tul-
loch's statement. and may not think it
worth while to do so. He would even be
justified, as an official of the Treasury De-
partment and the highest accounting Of
ficer of the government, in respectfully
declining to make any explanation or de-
general. He may. however, conclude that
that would not be wise. Mr.. Castle, the
auditor, has given out a statement. He
says:
L have not yet received the postmaster
generals letter transmitting abstracts of
Mr.. Tulloch's complaints referring to this
office. but my reply will be brief, prompt,
and, / think, conclusive. 1 shall welcome
the opportunity for 1 have had special sat-
isfaction in the record of this bureau in set
period. We now have 600 employees, of
whom more than 400 are themselves audi
tors, settling an average of more than two
thousand accounts every working day. |
seldom see any of these accounts, but L did
carefully review their work, which in
volved the Spanish war episode, ard 1 as
suned the responsibility for the settlements
Supreme Court of the United States the ac-
counting officers are not judges of the ne
cessity or the extravaganza of an expendi-
ture. They are only concerned with it's
legality under some available appropria-
ton, and the sufficiency of the vouchers
Some of Mr.. Tulloch's statements are reck-
less and others are absurdly false. The
controller never disallowed Si00 that had
been approved by this office. Ny recoliec-
ton is that less than 81 600 was finally dis
approved, and that of that amount a con-
siderable portion was simply charged under
another head
Tulloch says. speaking from memory or
recklessly, that the controller disallowed
between $4,000 and $4,000 of items which
had been passed by the Auditor. The latter
says the total amount of disallowances did
not exceed $1,000. This leayes very little of
Tullochs statement that point. The
Journal ventures to predict that it will be
found every act of Controller Tracewell
was absolutely straight, and that he did
not swerve a hairs breadth from the line
Of duty at the dictation or request of any
body. The President of the United States
cannot dictate to the controller of the
treasury. He can remove him. but he can
not overrule him, and Judge Tracewell
would suffer official decapitation before he
would submit to dictation.
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