Evening star., 1904-03-17
Subject of the Conference.

Subject of the Conference.
1t was stated by members of the commit
tee that the conference with Mr.. Bfistow
was In regard to what records are in the
Post Office Department and not included in
the report which was sent to the House
last week. The idea of the committee is TO
send letter to each member of the House
mentioned in the report inviting him to
appear before the committee 1T make any
written statement he may deem Proper.
When these members appear they will be
asked If they are content to let their cases
rest on the facts presented in the report
now in the hands of the committee or
whether they desire to have additional rec
ords brought from the depar .nlent. If the
members consent to rest their eases on The
printed report the committee will probably
not hear them any further. However, ANY
member who desires to have a complete
record brought from the department will
be accommodated.
Mr.. Bristow. it is understood stated to
the committee this morning that all the
correspondence with members Of Congress
now in the files of the department would
fill a library Many members of tie House
have already stated publicly that they
would be willing to go before their constit-
uents with the case as presented in the
printed report. 1t is believed they will take
the same attitude before the Mccall COM
mittee. and that matters will thus be facili-
tated materially.
To Be Submitted Confidentially.
Mr.. Bristow was asked particularly as to
how the committee was to get possession
of the confidential exhibits connected with
his report on the post office Investigation.
These exhibits have been kept secret be-
cause of their bearing on pending prosecu-
tions. They were used In making up the
report touching members that was submit
ted to the House Mr.. Bristow told the
committee the reports would be submitted
to 1t for confidential inspection.
Members of the committee would say
nothing this afternoon as to whether or
not the authorship of the report which
caused so much cOmmotion IN the House
lasi week had been determined during the
conference this morning with Mr.. Bristow
That matter will. however. be taken up
before Mr. Bristow completes his state
ment to the committee. 1t IS the hope OF
the committee that the preliminary work
will be concluded this afternoon.
Mr.. Bristow Heard in Open Session.
The first open session of the committee
was announced for o'clock this after
noon, when the public examination of Mr..
Bristow was to have been begun. 1t was
expected that the first developments of this
examination would be the ascertainment Of
the name of the author of the report sent
to the House in response to the letter from
Chairman Overstreet from the committee
on post offices and post roadA. The author
ship of this document has heretofore been
attributed to Mr.. Bristow.
Gen. Bristow was delayed in reaching the
Capitol and did not arrive at the commit
tee room until 2: 80 o'clock. when he was at
once sworn and asked In what manner the
report had been made up in the depart
ment.
Ordered by Mr.. Wynne.
Mr.. Bristow said tkat the matter in the
report relating to leases of post offices had
been prepared by inspectors under the di-
rection of the chief inspector, and at the
instance of the Postmaster General. The
tebulated list Of offices and allowances and
the names of congressman representing the
postmasters at these offices, he said, was
prepared under the direction Of the first
assistant postmaster general. Mr. Bristow
said he had nothing further to do with the
report than to write the statements and