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

L.
gressmen to increase their salaries and
/ those of the clerks in the offices, ano
to get more rentals for the postoftice
buildings. The man to whom the con-
gressnen had to go for such favors was
George w. Beavers, the superintendent
of the division of salaries and allow
t ances. He had a million dollars to give
out, and by reason of the carelessnesS
= of the auditor of the postoffice depart
ment, was paying no attention to the
congressional restrictions put upon the
money. Beavers was Machen's running
mate in the looting expedition, and
most of the congressman suspected that
something was wrong with Beavers de-
partment- And Beavers knew their
suspicious; so congressman generally
got from him what they went after.
And the crookedness thrived.
when it was stopped by President
Roosevelt this crookedness was so far
reaching that when a citizen went to
the postoffice to buy a stamp the cash
register which gave him MS cnange
was full of graft, the ink used IN can can
| ceiling the stamp was full of graft. the
| pad which furnished the ink was full OF
graft, the clock which kept the clerks
time was full of graft. the postmaster's
| typewriter was full of graft, the car
rier's satchel tie-strapS, his shoulder
straps, and his badge were subject to
| illegal taxation, the money order blanks
were full of graft, the letter boxes on
the street were fraudulently painted,
| fraudulently fastened to the posts,
fraudulently made, and equipped-many
of them-with fraudulent time-indica-
tors. Often the salaries of the clerks
were full of graft. And in the case of
hundreds of thousands of swindltng
letters and advertisements that were
dropped in the box-they were full of
graft.
This grating was a matter of COM
mon knowledge in Washington. The
names of Machen and Beavers were by
words a year before the investigation
began. But they were more powerful
with congress than the postmaster
general, and, Strange as it may seem,
were more powerful with individual
cause Machen and Beavers had favors
which the president did not control, and
which, as has been shown, a congress
man has to use to be renominated and
reelected.
When congress adjourned in March,
1903, probably a. thousand people with
in rife shot of the White House knew
of the corruption rampant in the post
office department which congress, eth
er consciously or unconsciously, was
using to it's profit. The two men IN |
Washington who should have known |
about it were shielded from knowledge; |
and President Roosevelt. The postmas- |
ter general had heard considerable OF |
the gossip, but having been in politics |
all his life, the smell of the smoke OF /
rurnors was in his nostrils. and a little |
more smoke more or less did not startle |
him to the fire that was burning all
around him. discrimination is so COM
mon in politics that one becomes &C
customed to hearing honest men called
thieves, and the postmaster general did
not give credence to the gossip against
Machen, who was a trusted lieutenant
in the political situation, ana or wnOm
all congressman (Very naturally spoke
in the most laudatory terms More than
that, Postmaster General Payne was
unnecessary trouble. He desired to put
away from him the tumult of an in
vestigation. During the few months OF
his fncumbency he had conducted few
of reported crookedness;
but his Investigations were of the most
perfunctory sort, and sometimes ended
by finding that the charges were exag-
gerated. He had no stomach for going
to the hone of any matter. AS for the
president, two things blinded his eyes;
His friends in congress with nalr
dozen strong exceptions. who were too
honest to know of the thiey1ng) were
of the salaaming and kow-towing sort
that believes the way to please Roose-
welt is to call him child of the sun,
brother to the moon and second cousin
to all the stars. They apparently
thought that the bearer of bad news
would be beheaded. And the greater
number of the Republican congress-
Welt, and would delight in seeing his
downfall If it might be accomplished
without their own political ruin. Con-
gress is slave to traditions a century
gress is that politics is game Every
thing done in congress is done with
reference to politics. and is merely
play in the game. 1t is tnSlncere, ana
often stupid but congressman take 1t
in dead earnest. Theodore Roosevelt
doesn't regard politics as a game, and ,
he does not believe the governing OF a
people was put in his hands as an ]
He is sincere, and often
straightforward and harsh in his deal
ngs with the gamesters in congress, I
and seeing their traditions Ignored ana
their shamS exposed they quietly nate I
the interloper who is responsible Tor
heir discontinue. Congress, therefore, !
reaping the indirect benefits of the I
and suspectfng the trouble found in the
third department, grinned wnen IL
heard the president talk of honesty IN
public administration, awaiting the day {
10 his disgrace and confusion He was
to the people and not the
and he and not they were
-allxing about the publication of poll
les. Another thing blinded the presi- /
tents eyes, and that is the spirit of life +
n the city of Washington. 1t is the
of petty grating OF the r
thousand officeholders in the
own, not five hundred look upon their
offices as sacred trusts to the people.
Anything which the mass of those I
If the government is regarded by pub
ic opinion among them as clear gain, ,
whether it be an hours time or a rail- I
Dad pass for betraying the govern t
nent's interest in matters under their
ARE. The man VINO is making easy e
money! off the governmental he is not r
taking the money out OF the
Ills looked UP to with a kind of en-
rious respect. Machen and Beavers
we're, therefore, little tin gods. Official
Washington knew their power and pre-
'umed they were stealing. and official
honored them And never
hint of the conditions came to the
Presidents ears until the Washington =
Times used the common gossip of the T
treet about conditions in the postoffice =
department. as a basis for a series OF
lrticles. Washington was aghast at
he effrontery of the newspaper. Its