The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-23

officials hated Fourth Assistant POST
master General Bristow. His work in
cuba had proved his mettle. And it
was Bristow whom the president set
upon the thieves. Before he had been
at work a month Beavers left his desk
and fed. and Machen. the cooler scoun-
orel or the two, set to work all his pow
er of congressman and editors (and he
had them on his staff by the hundreds)
to dissuade the president from probing
the scandal. Party papers all over the
land, to which Machen had been fur
nishing lists of farmers on free deliv-
cry routes, began to discredit the in
vestigation. They attacked Bristow
and said he was inspired in his search
Ior Machen's misdeeds by jealousy for
Machen- Congressman and senators
whom Machen had favored came storm
ing to the White House and said the
exposure would ruin the party and
would defeat the president for re-eiec-
ton. Men high in the party councils
and close to Machen-were first per-
suasive and then wrathful in their in
sistence that the investigation be drop
ped But it went on. When it touched
the presidents friend and political spon-
sor, State Senator Green, of Bingham
ton, New York, and when he was about
TO be indicted for crookedness, the two
senators from New York and every
prominent Republican in the state beg
ged for mercy, and then threatened
President Roosevelt for allowing Bris-
tow to indict Green. BristoW furnished
the president with the evidence against
Green. 1t was shown that he was at
the head of a powerful secret society
which would be Inundated at Green's
downfall and that the members of the
against the president this year-would
vote against him and lose him the
presidency if Green were indicted But
Roosevelt looked at the evidence and
Bristow went on with his work; the in
dictment was issued
Mr.. White then tells the story of
Beavers and his populations. Machen
he describes as being far in advance
of Beavers in the art of graft when
one turns from Beavers to Machen,''
Mr.. White says, lit is as though one
walked from the room where the
young woman with pig-tails down her
back was practicing acknowledgements
hree-and-four-and on the piano, into
the room wherein the master was
was an artist in graft, one who re-
duced graft to a really beautiful han
dicraft, it was August w. Machen. He
not only robbed the government, but
he robbed his partners who were rob-
bling the government, and would have
robed himself sooner or later if he
hadn't been caught"
After reviewing the cases of Ma
chen, Tyner and others, Mr.. White re-
fers briefly to the trial of Senator
Burton and says that President Roose-
Welt himself is responsible for the
prosecution of Burton He says:
THE trial and conviction of Sem
ator J. r. Burton, of Kansas, was an
Indirect result of the postoffice inves-
legation. And the credit for pushing
the case against Burton, as well as the
cases against the postal thieves, be- |
longs directly to President Roosevelt. |
He is the first president of the United |
States who has pushed a case against |
4 crooked United States senator; not |
hat other senators under other ad- |
have not been as crook |
I'd as BurtOn-if such a thing is DOS
sible-and not that other presidents |
nave not known of senatorial crimes |
1ut other presidents have been more |
reasonable in dealing with crimes
against the state r. than President |
Roosevelt. They have avoided /
rouble and have thought that the /
of grave problems of
tate-the tariff and international |
for instance-was more
worthy of presidential attention than
hief-taking. -