The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-01-14
WYNNE ON STAND
IN MACHEN TRIAL
Tells When He Began TO Sus-
pect Division Chief.
ALWAYS TOOK HIS WORD
EVERYONE SUPPOSED TO BE
HONEST IN DEPARTMENT.
IkFAsHINGToN. Jan, 1s.-The cross
w examination of john J. Howley

IEFASHINGToN. Jan. 1S.-The cross
1 w examination Of john J. Howley.
chief clerk in tie first as
sistant postmaster generals office. in
the trial Of August w. Machen
and Others, was continued today, Mr..
Douglas continuing the examination.
/ The witness detailed the duties Of
the general superintendent of free de-
livery. but he could not state them as
/ fact, simply from his knowledge Of
I office practice. Concerning the placing
/ of Machens name and Initials on let
| ters by suboTdinates. wiine1c said Miss
/ Liebhardt Machen's stenographer, had
/ for several years done so. He admitted
that be knew of this practice three
I years before he became chief CLERK. He
/ did not speak of IT to his chief, ne said,
: because he did not want 10 interfere
+ with the affairs OF Machen's division.
( He tolerated il, he said. until the postal
+ investigation came up. and finally in
/ formed First Assistant Postmaster
/ General Wynne that the legality OF
J these Initials and signatures should be
looked into Witness admitted that the
I order of Mr.. Wynne, prohibiting the
! delegating Of authority to Othens to
/ sign the names Of division chiefs. was
/ not issued Until the investigation was
! on. Replying TO close questioning, he
/ finally said he could not recall any time
when he held any conversation with
Mr.. Wynne affecting the expenditure Of
money for his Office. He explained that
+ division chiefs were trusted IN these
+ matters, and that he himself never in
vestigated the subject matter Of lettens.
/ On further questioning he said the first
! assistant postmaster general was re-
CURED personally to sign any letters
/ calling for the expenditure of money,
( although from the number Of matters
Mr.. Wynne had to attend to he did not
investigate their nature or the neces-
sity for the expenditure.
The Croft Fastener.
Mr.. KUmler then took the witness and
: secured from him the statement that
until the investigation began he never
heard OF any criticism of the Croft
fastener.
+ Answering further questions, the Wit
ness said that the only time he ever
held up any letter emanating from Mr..
MaChens division was when some con-
gresham asked for more money than
Mr.. Machen had allowed. As a rule,
however. routine matter was regarded
as routine, and Mr.. Machens acts were
not questioned.
At this point Mr.. Howiey was ex
cused. and MI Wynne took the stand.
He said that in the matter Of the Dur-
chase Of supplies he always frausa cted
his business with Mr. MaChen, the gen
ersl superintendent He sad it was in
part his duty TO personally attend to
the direction or preparation Of orders
for Croft fasteners or other supplies
nor did he determine the question as
to whether the supplies were absolutely
/ necessary or not until particularly
( brought to his attention.
on cross examination Mr.. Wynne
I said he regarded Mr. Macheu as one
/ of the most experienced men in the
/ service and when he received a paper
from him he assumed that Machen
. knew what he was doing.
Mr.. Wynne then related how. after
/ assuming the duties of his office. he
} had stopped Machen from writing let
T teTs on official business signed by him
I self (Machen) to members OF con-
/ gress. pOstmasters and other commits
/ stoned officers of the government He
/ said that after he had determined in
! December, 1902, upon the Investigate
| of the department, he regarded with
! suspicion everything emanating from
Maehen's Office, and closely scrutinized
it Therefore, he did not consult
Machen about the expenditure Of any
money, but made inquiries Of Machen's
clerks.
/ Long Investigation Needed.
Mr.. Wvnne declared that for a long
time his investigation did not result in
any definite discovery of Criminality
upon the part of SIR. Machen.
Asked if he signed any letter calling
for the expenditure of money after he
began to suspect Machen, Mr.. Wynne
said that he would make an investiga-
ton and sign the letter after he found
everything was in official form. He de-
/ clared il was Machen's duty to scTu-
+ tinize every letter involving the eX-
penditUre of money il order to save
/ him CWynne) from putting his name
/ To a paper that might be wrong
/ On denomination by 1IT. Kun
+ Ter, Mr.. Wynne said he never heard Of
the Croft fastener until the postoffice
/ inspectors brought the matter to light.
/ He declared that he would rot know
( the difference between a GrOh fasten-
{ er and locomotive. Being asked if
{ he desired that statement to go on rec
ord Mr. Wynne said emphaticaily,
Yes" he did not, he said, make an
Investigation Of the contents of certain
papers that he signed because they
came 30 him in proper official form.
Z Mr. Wynne was still on the stand when
. court adjourned until Friday