The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-03
CHANGES OF !. I!;ENRY PAYNE ss5s His Letters Were
 Juggled With. SEVERAL DATES CHANGED Postmaster General Before
 Mccall Committee. Tells of the Preparation of the List of Names of Congressman and
 Their Connection with Post ' office Department.
SEVERAL DATES CHANGED

Washington. April 2.-The statement made by Postmaster General Payne to- day to the Mccall committee which call ed upon him at his bedside, is as follows
 T have been postmaster general since January 9. 1902. Shortly after the pres ent Congress convened in November last, the department was frequently urged to make clerical allowances to offices of the third and fourth classes, where allow ances formerly had been made for clerk hire for separating purposes and had been discontinued by reason of the establish ment of rural free delivery routes ema- hating from such offices and the discon- tinuance of star routes.
 Assistant Attorney General Robb of the Postoffice Department. advised me that such allowances could not lawfully be made. and he subsequently,. at my re- quest, prepared a written opinion I be- lieved 1t fair and equitable that such al- lowances be made, and that legislation to that effect should be enacted.
 Talked to overstreet.
 T discussed the matter personally with MT. Overstreet, the chairman of the House Committee on Postoffices and Post Roads. MT. Overstreet, in a conversation over the telephone, stated that MT. Wa ters, general superintendent of the divis- ion of salaries and allowances, had in his possession a list of several hundred offices of the third and fourth classes, where the allowances for clerk hire had been uascontinued or decreased, and that the list would be of service to the com mittee and asked if there was any req son why 1t should not be furnished to the committee.
 At the time I believed the committes was considering an amendment. author-, izing the Postmaster General in his dis cretion to make an allowance for clerk hire in offices where adoltional labor had been occasioned by reason of the estab- lishment of rural free delivery routes, and the previous allowances for clerk hire had been taken away. and therefore said to Mir overstfeet that TScould see no rea- son why l,ie ccmmtttae should not have a copy of the Hist, but snkxg6Ated to him that he put the request in writing which he did.
 "The following letter was received in response to my request;
 Letter from overstreet.
 E ' Washington, January 8 Hon. Henry C. Payne, Postmaster Gen.
 eral, Washington, D. C.:
 Sir: During the hearing before this committee recently the statement was thduS5 b9 MT rWdttIS tIdI dDOuL pOSI- ofice allowances for separating service had been taken away because the offices were not entitled to them. From a con versation had with Mir. Waters over the telephone, it was understood that a state ment had been made to the fourth assist ant postmaster general in regard to these disallowances. and that a copy of this statement should probably be found with out much difficulty.
 T would be glad to have you furnish. for use of the committee, copy of the statemen. referred to at the earliest op- portunity. The committee desires to know what offices have been affected by these disallowances. what the allowance was before any reduction or discontinuance was made, and what it is now; and also the compensation allowed postmasters at each Of the offices in question. It may be that all of this informa ton is not easily ob- taina ole, without considerable delay. and if so, please advise me immediately. But in any event the committee desires to have such information as is now accessi- ble, as soon as possible.
 Very respectfully,
 Jesse Overstreet, Chairman"
 Letter Not Published.
 This letter, 1t will be noted does not appear in the printed report of March 1, 1904, from the committee on postoffices and post roads, but the following letter, bear ing date oI January %, 1904, appears in the report. as of date of January 23 Hon. Henry C. Payne,
 Postmaster General, Washington:
 "Sir-I have the honor to request that there be furnished direct to this commit tee. by the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General. all the information which can be communicated by such officer. with refer ence to allowances for clerk hire in of fees here those allowances have been dis continued. together with all information relating to leases which have been made to the members of Congress. and whether and renewed at higher rate. "I will thank for to have this informa- tion in my hands by 10 o'clock Monday morning, January 25.
 Very respectfully.
 Jesse Overstreet, Chairman" Tt seems proper to me at this time to say that the failure to print in the re- port the real letter of the 23rd and the | printing of the letter of the 22nd, under l date of 23rd, is largely responsible for | the confusion that has arisen and has placed the department in the position of of sending information requested by the | This impression Is still fur | ther accentuated by the change in the | printed report or Odte III the DOQy OL | the letter from the committee to the Post | master-G General of January 24, from Jan uary 22 to January 9. the original Of which is submitted to the committee for | inspection.
 Procured the List. Upon the repeipt of the real letter of | January 9, l asked First Assistant Post 1 Wynne about the list re- ferred to in the letter, and he procured | the list which I then saw for the first | time. It was noted that there appeared | on the list opposite the names of the re- | spective offices the names of Senators. | Representatives and other prominent l men. After the conference with General Wynne. l directed that a copy of the list | be made, but to omit all names of Com | gressmen and others from it. Such list. l with the names eliminated, was promptly, | made. and in the meantime. and on the | same day. I sent the following telegram | to MT. Overstreet:
 Washington. Jan. 9, 1904 Jesse Overstreet, Chairman of Commit i
 tee on Postoffices and Post Roads:
 GRuH tbiz '