The Washington times., 1904-01-17
MACHEN MAY TRY
TO SHIFT BLAME
ON SUBORDINATE
Defense Rests About
Fact That He Did Not
Initial All Letters.
SUMMARY OF THE WEEK
Four Assistants Say Accused
Should Have Been Famil-
lar With Orders.

AoA W I'll ~ 49, >.
Technicalities have engaged the court
in the first week of the trial of A w
Machen. the Croft brothers. George E.
Lorenz and Martha f. Lorenz. his wife
on the charge OF conspiring to defraud
the Government in the purchase of the
patent Croft letter box fastener
r. J. wynne. the present First As
sistant Postmaster General; William NJ
johnson. Perry S. Heath and Frank NJ
Jones. who preceded Mr.. Wynne I'm the
order named. have all testified to the
routine Of the Office of the First As
sistant. and aside from that there has
been practically no evidence Of interest.
Line of Defense
AS each witness has come to the stand
the defense has tried to show on cross
examination that Machens Office trans
acted such vast deal of business that
he could not be familiar with the con-
tents OF the letters emanating from his
division. The witnesses have admitted
that Machen had a great volume OF
correspondence. but each has insisted
that he should have been informed on
all letters and orders involving the ex-
EN-AAlAAN u DOutNs as the FIRST As
sistant Postmaster General placed i'm
plicit reliance in his initials on such
letters
The ex-First Assistants seemed fnclfn-
ed to think that after the GrOfT fasten-
ers were once installed as a part of the
postal supplies. signing orders for them
was largely q matter Of routine. and
on that the defense laid great stress.
Dut they were not certain Of the point
and said the superintendent Of free de-
livery should have known what he was
signing, as the fasteners were in his
special province.
A Postal Expert.
The men who have had the Office Of
First Assistant have testified that Ma
chen was unusually qualified for his siu-
ties and was regarded as one Of the
greatest postal experts in the country.
They have added to this praise that he
was Informed on the contents Of any
letter or paper coming from his office
and always had a ready answer. This
evidence. brought out by Machen's own
counsel. has. in the popular estimation.
10 great degree offset the laboriouslv
obtained answers that Maehen had so
much business to transact that he could
not have known Of any irregularity in
his letters any more than the First AS
signed them. could have known of IT.
Il has been apparent all through the
trial that an effort would be made to
shift the responsibility for excessive or
cering OF Grod fasteners to some sub
ordinate Of Machen. but the unanimity
with which his superiors have testified
that he was thoroughly acquainted with
the smallest details of his Office has
caused an impression that this line OF
defense viii be rudely shocked.
Ina Liebhardt's Part.
Laxity in Machen's conduct Of his Of
fee By which he allowed Ina Liebhardt
the woman whom ne designated his
chief clerk after he had her promoted tc
81 800. to sign his name in such a close
imitation Of his own signature that only
an expert could ten the difference. has
been mentioned over and over again
Witnesses have said they could not iden.
tify Machen's name or initials on letters
and orders. because they might hav,
been made by Miss Liebhardt-
Special stress has been laid dowr upor
this point by the defense. as tending Z,
show that the Government had not We
proved that he signed any Of the,order.
for the Croft fasteners. and thus con
Eummated BY an overt act the conspir
cred.
Messrs. Johns-fi and Jones yesterda,
denied that ,dley eountenanced the imi
tation OF aaAchen's signature by a sub
ordinate and said when they received
letter bearing his initials they took 4
for granted the initials were put ther,
by him.
IN the matter Of technical victories
the defense has scored heavily in OBJ
taininR a ruling that the Government
must first prove the alleged conspiracy
before proving its fruits. This has kept
away from the jury for the present q
number OF orders, letters, and vouch.
ers which were designed 10 prove
that the number Of fasteners OF.
dored was excessive and that they
were not distributed with due re.
gard 70 the needs Of the postonices Il
which they were sent. The ruling wa,
not entirely unexpected by the shrewC
rep~ese ives OF the Government. bu
III -essitated .nge in the lin,
n 4ecutic~ re Is some Gu
rs -nesses will b,
ca Vith those VIII,
ha utine OF the bu
re tant
srnment.
point wal
let Attorney wai
y at the outset oi
one Of the four
hctment he woul(
ice Pritchard said
Do decided later il
stponing OF his de
has allowed tn
latitude in tn,
minary matter.
word has been SAID
n Fifth Page)