The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1904-06-17
LETTER
TO THE PRESIDENT
Fyner, Recently Removed From
Office, Thinks Roosevelt
Did Him Wrong.
r ALL DESTROYED
Declare That the President Has Been
Deceived in the Accusation and
Wants an Acknowledgement
of Medication.

wants an Acknowledgement
of Vinaication.
Washington, June l5.--Janaes y. Ty-
her. who was removed from oalce as
assistant; attorney general for the post
office department during the investiga-
ton of the department n who recent
ly was tried and acquitted by Il jury,
has addressed the following letter To
President Roosevelt:
III kensaw Avenue. n. w. WASH
ington, ID. c.. June II, 1904.-The Presi-
dent; Sir-ln November, 1903, on the
strength of certain charges contained
in n report by Mr.. Bristow, the fourth
assistant postmaster general, you gave
to the press of the country a state
ment to the effect that gross corrup-
ton In the case of Assistant Attorney
General Tyner has zone on for u num-
Der of years and after referring 10 me
as the chief offender, YOU say that in
my case the corruption tool the form
of favoring get-rich-quick concerns and
similar schemes; in other words. the
criminals. WHOM it was his (myp sworn
duty to prosecute paid him une) for
permission To fleece the public unino-
!ested.'
After thus giving your official opin-
ion as chief magistrate of the nation as
To my guilt you referred To the fact
that there We're three indictments pend
Ing against me, and you called upon u
Jury to do its duty.
verdict o. jury or sentence of
judge could have had such far reaching
or irredeemable consequences for me as
This nrDrlnnlltinn of yljilt Inv W, and
the ordinary machinery of justice is
probably powerless to rectify the in
justice done.
Sent Another Letter.
Immediately upon seeing youl
charges in the press l addressed you II
letter protesting that on the mere say
so of Mr.. Bristow YOU had no right.
without at least first giving me IL
chance to be heard In my defense. or
charges or the evidence. thus pre-
maturely and rashly to prejudice me
and perhaps forever blast the good
name and character which for many
years | had endeavored TO establish.
When l wrote this letter l had little
hope that a merciful an just God
would spare my life long enough to
enable me to face a jury of my peers,
and l wished merely to record what /
believed to be a deathbed protest
against your unusual. unjust and 'arbi-
trary action. Fortunately, l have now
nad my day in court, and, according
to the law of my land, have establish
ed my Innocence of any crime or of
my misconduct in office. l instructed
lay fully before the court and jury
every act of my official and private
career and to take advantage of no
legal technicalities The jury was
asked by me and by my counsel and
by the court to ignore my age and ply
steal condition. l asked not for an
acquittal. but for a v~indication, and,
so far as possible. every act of mine re-
TERED to in Mr.. Bristow's report was
placed before them fully and
lively. The jury, without Il moments
hesitation, pronounced me mot guilty
on all the Indictments. Their verdict,
| am advised II believe, expresses the
unanimous sentiment of every member
Of the bar and of the community who
followed the case. and may add that
was not content to rest my vindica-
ton on the governments failure to
prove a crime, but 1 insisted on aflrma-
lively proving my innocence of any
wrong doing.
Wants an Acknowledgements.
Such a verdict in a trial brought il.
good faith would ordinarily be n sutll-
eient Nindication of an accused party,
but unfortunately in this case your Of
icial proclamation of my assumed guilt
las such weight, that to man it prac-
.ically overrides the verdict of the Jury.
| notice that many of you friends do
1ot hesitate to say that your verdict
given before the trial is more to be
relied on than the verdict OF the court
and jury given after trial. Against
such injustice I have no ex-
'ept by appealing to YOU sense of
light and fair dealing.
In my letter to o of December 9,
1903, l intimated briefly that your ac-
ion was wrong. and that you would
not have taken the course that you did
f you had not been misled and de-
seiyed by Mr.. Bristcw's report. I
charsed that his report suppressed the
acts, sarbled the evidence, misquoted
The records, made untrue statements.
and was in every way calculated To
nislead and deceive you, as we'll as
The public. | now reaffirm these
charges, and i call your attention to
he fact that it no longer is merely my
statement against Mr.. Bristow, but that
witness after witness on the stand for
he government in my trial denied the
accusations in his report, and document
after document from the government
lies disproved his charges. do not
mean for Il moment to question the
good faith II entire sincerity of your
proclamation, l WISH merely to elnha-
size the fact that you have been de-
ceived, and that your laudable zeal for
public and official decency has been
imposed upon.
Charges All Disproved.
You accuse me of gross corruption.'
The attorneys for the government con-
stantly disclaimed any such charge be-
fore the jury. You allege L vas paid by
| criminals not to prosecute them: not a
| scintilla of evidence was offered to sus-
tain such a charge, nor was a single
witness nor Il single document produced
to show special favors to 'swindling
schemes or a single violation of duty:
Every charge in the Bristow report in
! any wise raflecting on me has been dis
proved by the recent trial-disproved
not by virtue Of the verdict. but by
sworn evidence Of the governments
own witness. In my letter to you I
prayed hat my life and mental powers
might be spared until l had convinced
the American Public, and you as chief
magistrate, that all my acts have been
honest, honorable and straightforward
In the sight of God and man. My re-
/ manning hours are few. and though ~