The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-24
REPLY TO TULLOCH'S CHARGES
COMPTROLLER TRACEWELL Of
FERS A RETALIATION.
Never Called OT an Expert when He Was
on the Eve OF Discovering Grave
E'ra,ids--POst once Auditor Castle
Refutes Charges Against His once.

WASHINGTON, May 2s.-Comptroller of
the Treasury Tracewell and Auditor for
the Post Office Department Castle, this
morning, handed to Postmaster-General
Payne their answers to the charges made
against item by Seymour Tuloch, former
cashier OF the Nas hington post office
The Postmaster General has said that he
considered the following statement by Mr.
TulloCh the most serious in his entire IL 900
word document:
Direct personal and political pressure
was brought TO bear upon the Comptroller
the Investigation was stopped just as it
was becoming interesting, and the expert
having it in charge was removed for too
jealous performance Of his duty. presum-
ably as a warning to others"
, The Postmaster General said to-day:
! How much foundation there is for that
statement and other statements made by MIR.
Tuloch which refer to the Comptroller of
the Treasury and Auditor for the Post
Office Department will appear from their
letters"
! The Comptroller of the Treasury in his
4 answer quotes from MIR. Tullochs state
meht as follows:
/ Some time later I called upon Comp
u
1 been reno we'd from my position as cashier
i for suppo st d assistance gwen his own
expert during the investigation.
MIR. Trac, VT II n maj ks This is untrue.
never spoke to Mr.. Tulloch in my life, and
he never spoke 10 me-" MIR. Tracewell con-
tinues:
I But what Mr.. TuIoch lays greatest stress
upea is n letter to MIR Gilmer. AS follows:
Mr. G,LHth YOU may ,asc up for s1em,n", I
/ except New York city and Washington. d. c.,
RI. rRAcswELL. Comptroller.
! TIE impression soug to be created by
publs ing It's letter is thNt I called of my
expert Wen re was on tue eve OF discover
ing grave frauds Is letter is p IN Mr; !,
wit out suggestion from me, and asked me
to sign it. MIR. Glmer Lad gone over tne
SG.r II: No vi" fraud was discovered Some
irregularities Lad been discovered and cor
reotod. some claims LAD teen paia q, rom rom
paid and audited.
Ine post Office business of all the army
camps in the United States and the isiaId
of Porto Rice was done through the Wash,
ingion office: the post office business OF
Cuba was done through the New York Office;
Islands was done through the san Fran CISCO
Off ,e, and did not think II strange when Mr.
offices from further examination. knew,
as did Mr. Gilmer. that the auditor for the u,
the s aIes l'' and ' was objectng to tho r being
taken away. We had had several CONFER
ences in which the auditor, asked that !, con- ,
declined to do, believing II would be bad
practice ard a bad precedent: Therefore
ds item d Sp %S, t was obtSned for
Nj Mr. Gilmer. however. did not have It copiedd
St ns' d 1SSs %f fse s "s
Rnioeh rub liz Ss ssatement
covered this abstraction, and asked Mr..
Gss for them He S M6y h bS Sdem
item H'u away and given them to Mr.. lpiloch
he broke down. and in tenrs told me th,t he
lis removal was not at my instance even
nterceded for his retention IN the service
thourh ! did not ask that he be ret ,lned i, IN
Department. the interstate Commerce Com
Hr .sson pepart@ans aad @ the Auditors
once fer III Bistrcs o. cSlu 1nox Il; yf II
VIEW l'o Of hi his ability as Clerk recommended
that he be retained In the service at a desk
where he could not make himself obno xlous.
am willing to stand: and of that record 7
court iHi and c1mpete n II, sba ny
Department. Do not understand ne. how
ever, as Directing to your INQUIRY IT is
very proper and am glad to furnish the
/ Auditor Castl 3 s,atement says the state
menl, made by Mr. 1ullocn, containing re-
i nections or criticisms in regard to the Audi
tors office, may be summarized as follows:
I ~ That an account Of Postmaster Willet
allowed ,(by niy,,eli); was revised BY , the
S sas s Of d h ssaowedy and
| "a, That salaries of certain employees Of
/ the Washington Post Once we're paid on
| separate vouchers. instead OF the regular
''i; "a, That many Department Disbursements
| q, That no effective measures were taken
| to collect an alleged shortage of $500 from
o' s. That certain employees of the Wash
ington Post ONCE performed no service.
In answer to the first charge Mr., Castle
! says the expert consumed four months in
n vsing the account, during WHICH period
bv the auditor were held in the Ccmptrcller's
Office at he Treasury Building. He adds
One after another TIE objections were
by aper, un d%sF ut
TSo items agpreFstins ~ represen, ubso.
auditor and the comptroller;
VI, lie TIL revision was t'ps barren, of
i"E toSs f fuoc W pTva H iStsry|s~s VIII
Gimer, irregularities we're pointed out W lei,
I did not appear on t FACE OF papers and
troiier Tracewell exercised the aut ority Of
! lis Office to correct. i.
! Tni. i. the whole story OF the revision OF
! an account wherein MIR. Tulloch alleges that
the COMPTROLLER disallowed 100000 or $4,000
prevousiy approved by the auditor md upon
which be bases an assumption Tint subse-
Guent accounts would have revealed i'm.
mcnsely larper extravagarces II saved
si0; TO the Government and convicted the
0uIito ofaoc Of ~ incorrectly audited.
Separate vouchers for salaries are the
roll being simply q lnbor-snyine device ~
current prnct ice these "sepnrnte vouchers"
IRE supposed to represent clerks. curriers'
&c. who are temporarily absent The Gus;
tom is universal in Goycrr ment ofIiccs ira
If nbu-ed in the manner Mr.. Tulloch intimates
the audit or's office would have no possible
| means Of ascertarine the rect.
/ The attempt to base criticism OF the nu-
| ditcr or The feet that "lcohl fur DIS" were
! improperly expended for dcpartnler tnl uses
! viii fan The funds postal reo"'rts, at a
most Cffice bolor q to the rereral postal reve-
nues The surplus IL legally subject to draft
hv the PostmasterGeneral for postal pur-
The allerntion that ccrtan enrnrlorees were
rcid on the rolls Of the WASHINGTON post
ONCE. vh never performed service therein
If nnvwhere, soCrs TO b" rnde IN impnta-
ton on tho auditors method But no ac-
corntirc officer can possibly know N each
cnse y neither service was actually performed
or NOT We trust tn the scrutiny OF Depart
; Inrnt on Gals end the honesty of pcstmas-
| ters The postmaster ut WASHINGTON nt-
| A. III, poyrolI certificate that the