The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-14
HE ASKS FOR JUSTICE
JAMES H. TYNER WRITES To PRES
IDENT ROOSEVELT.
says His Innecence Has Been shown
In Court, and He Requests the
Executice to Amend His
Statements.

washington. June 13-James n, Ty-
ner who was removed from ONCE as
assistant attorney general Tor the
Postoffice Department during the In
vestigation in the department. and
who recently was tried and acquitted
by a Jury, has addressed the follow
ing letter to President Roosevelt
1741 Kennesaw Avenue. N. w,
Washington, ID. c.. June IL, 1904.
The President:
Sir: In November. 1908. on the
strength of certain charges contained
in a report by Mr.. Bristow, the fourth
assistant postmaster general you
gave to the press of the country q
statement to the effect that gross
corruption in the case of Assistant At
torney General Tyner has gone on for
a number Of years." and after refer
ring to me as ''the chief offender" you
say that in my case sthe corruption
took the form of favoring get rich
quick concerns and similar schemes, in
other words, the criminals whom It
was (my) sworn duty to prosecute,
paid (me) for permission to fleece the
public unmolested." After thus giving
your offlcia1 opinion as chief magis-
trate of the nation as to my guilt you
referred to the fact that there were
three indictments pCHuiiS against Iuc
and you called upon jury to do its
duty.
mo verdict of jury nor sentence of
Judge could have had such far reach
ing or irremediable consequences for
me as this extraordinary Official pro-
clamation. of guilt by you, and the or
binary machinery of justice Is prob
ably powerless fully to rectify the
injustice done. Immediately upon see-'
ing your charges in the press, adj
dressed you a letter protesting that
on the mere say-so of Mr.. Bristow you
had no right without at least first CIV
ing me chance to be heard in my
defense or without confronting me
with the charges or the evidence. thus
prematureiy and rashly to PREJUDICE me
and perhaps forever to blast the good
name and character which for nearly
so years I had endeavored to estab-
lish. re
When wrote this letter had little
hope that a merciful and just God
would spare my life long enough to
enable me to face a jury of my peers
and / wished merely to record what l
believed to be a death-bed protest
against your unusual, unjust and arbi-
trary action.
Fortunately, have now had my day
in court, and according to the law of
the land I have established my inno-
cence OF any, crime or any misconduct
in office. / instructed Messrs. Worth
ington and Hershey to lay fully be-
fore the court and jury every act of
my official and private career and to
take advantage of no legal technicali-
ties. The jury were asked by me and
by my counsel and by the court to
ignore my age and physical condition.
asked for no acquittal but a vindf-
cation and so far as possible every act
OF mine, referred to in Mr. Bristow's
report, was placed before them, fully
and exhaustively.
The jury without a moments hesi-
tatlon pronounced me not guilty on
all the indictments. Their verdict 7
am advised and believe, expresses The
unanimous sentiment of every MEM
per OF the bar and of the community
VINO followed the case. And I may ada
tnat was not content to rest INV vim
dlcation on the governments failure to
prove crime, but / insisted on sff7rr,-
atively proving my innocence of anv
wrong doing. any
such verdict in a trial brought In
good faith would ordinarily be a suf-
ncient vfndication of an accused partv
out unfortunately in this case your
oHicia! proclamation of my assumed
guilt has such weight and Is en+itIxd
to have such weight that tn nnanr, =.
practically overrides the verdict Of the
jury. 1 notice that many of vour
friends do not hesitate to saw tbst
your verdict given before trial is more
10 De relied upon than the verdict of
court and jury given after trial
against such injustice / have No re-
course except by appealing to your
sense of right and fair dealing.
IN my letter of December Q. 1903.
lntimated briefly that your action was
unjust and wrong and that you would
not nave taken the course you did If
you mad not been misled and deceived
by Mr.. Bristow's report. charsed
that his report suppressed the factS
CARRIED the evidence, INSTRUCTED the
made untrue statements ana
was In every way calculated to nislead
ana deceive you as well as the public.
l now reaffirm these charges and I
cali your attention to the fact that =.
Is no longer merely my statement
against Mr.. Bristow, but that witness
AFTER witness on the stand for the Gov
eminent in my trial denied the aeon
satlons In his report and document ar
Ter document from the Government
nles disproved his charges. I do NOT
mean for moment to question tho
good faith and entire sincerity of your
proclamation; wish merely to empha-
size the fact that you have been de-
ceived and that your laudable zeal for
pubic and official decency has been inn
posed upon.
You accuse me of gross corruption. e,
the attorneys for the Government CON
stantly disclaiined any such charge be-
fore the jury. You charged that I was |
paid by criminals not TO prosecute |
them;" not a scintilla of evidence was |
offered to sustain such a charge nor
was single witness. nor a single doc |
lment procured to show special favors |
10 "swindling schemes or a single vio- |
alton of duty. Every charge in the |