The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-10-29
Says He Was Not Acquitted
Of Wrong Doing
MAKES WHOLESALE CHARGES
Mr.. Tyner Must Either Have Been
Guilty of "Moral obIiquity in Per-
formance of Duty or the
Gravest Inefficiency"

s<~<<%%%S~-<%-%%-s
= Washington, October 2S.-(Specia1.) =
y President Roosevet's political =
y friends doubt the wisdom of MS car =
= rying on Il long wordy controversy =
= with General Tyner, paralyzed, =
= helpless old man more than so years =
= old. for the sake of giving the public =
= the impression that this old man. =
= although regularly acquitted by a =
y jury of his peers after fair trial. y
= should still be punished by him and =
= pllloried in public.
Washington, October 2S.-By direction
of the President. Secretary Loeb today
sent to James N. Tyner, the former as
sistant attorney general for the post Of
flee department. letter in reply to Mr..
Tyner's letter dated October 8, and made
public last night. The letter says as the
question of Mr.. Tyners guilt on the crim-
inal charge on which he was tried has
been passed upon by jury the President
acquiesces in the jury's finding, but the
evidence seems to him overwhelming that
you (Mr. Tyner) were guilty either OF
moral obllquity in performance OF duty
or of the grossest ineffcieney."
The letter follows:
white House,
washington. d. c., October 2s. 1904
| "Sir-The President has received this
morning your letter, dated October s.
| written In answer to my letter of June "a.
which | have never made public although
you did make public your own letter
which 1t answered. In your letter you
again claim that a wrong has been done
you and ask that 1t be righted. As you
are out of once the righting of the wrong
could only be effected by squ1s reinstate-
inent to office, or declaration by the
President that you were innocent. The
| President instructs me to say to you that
/ his memorandum to which you take ex-
ception was written when the indictments
| against you had been returned by the
| grand jury, the report of Mr.. Bristow
| submitted to Messrs, Bonaparte and Con-
rad, and the action taken against you by
| the department of justice being on the
| recommendation of Messrs Bonaparte and
Conrad. In his memorandum the Presi-
dent referred to your office as follows:
| Sonuilion OF OoTruptlon.
THE investigation discloses condi-
| ton of gross corruption in the office of
assistant attorney general for the post
office. In the face of Assistant Attorney
| General Tyner the misconduct has gone
on for number of years, but 1t is impos-
| sible to say exactly when 1t began. The
three chief offenders in the service were
| Tyner, Maehen and Beavers. Friends OF
Tyner have advanced the theory that in
his case the chief offender was really his
| nephew, Mr.. r. Barrett, who was his
sistant in office for a part of the term,
and that Tyners onenses were due to his
| falling bodily and mentally to correct
them. The facts set forth In Mr.. Bris-
tow's report do not tend to substantiate
| the validity of these excuses for Tyner,
| while they show little misconduct in Bar
rett. In the office of the assistant
attorney general for the postoffice de-
partment under Tyner and Barrett a far
greater wrong was inflicted on the public
/ than should be measured by a peeuniary
standard; for in this office the eorrup-
| tion of government officials took the form
1 of favoring the get-rich-quick concerns
and similar swndling schemes, in other
| words, the criminals whom IL was tho
sworn duty of the government officers to
prosecute, paid them for permission to
fleece the public unmolested.
Innocent of Criminal Charges.
',Df the criminal charges on which you
were tried you have been declared lnn0-
cent by jury in court OF law, ana the
verdict is final regards all citizens, M
Guiding the President. There Is, however,
a wide difference between misconduct.
which Is criminal and declared such by
the courts, and misconduct when, thousn
IL does not light the wrong done TO the
criminal law, yet requires his departing
from the government service by the gen
eral community on moral grounds. You
were acquitted OF conspirng with Bar
reft TO do certain criminal deeds. YOU
were not acquitted of doing the deeds.
.That these get-rieh-quick concerns
which employed Mr.. Barrett were Inn
properly favored in your office seems to
admit Of no doubt
1T appears that Mr.. Barrett, your
nephew by marriage and formerly your
assistant Immediately upon leaving office
under you made his speciality of praetic-
ing before she department Of which you
were head, this class of cases, and was
seemingly enabled to make many thou
sands of dollars in two years His work
| consisted in preventing the Issuance OF
| or securing the cancellation of the So
/ called fraud order against these concerns.
/ Since Attorney General Robb was made
1 attorney general for the postoffice de-
| partment Ill these fraud orders, the is
| suance of which were prevented or the
| cancellation of which Mr.. Barrett secur-
has been made void, the contrast between
what was under you and under Attorney
General Robb and the conduct of Barrett
in practice, warrant the emphatic state-
ment that Mr.. Barrett should never again
! be allowed to practice before the de-
partment and that your removal was
| imperatvely demanded in the interest OF
| honest government.
Could Not Come Before Jury.
There are certain matters which could
| not come before the jury, which never
theless. IL was and is necessary for the
| president to consider when you asked
| him to take any action looking to the
rehabilitation of your character. One OF
! these is the burglary committed by Mrs.
/ Barrett Mr.. Barretts mother, and by
/ Mrs Tyner at your direction Mrs. Tynef
came to the postoffice department., enter
ed your private room in the office, and
then admitted Mrs. Barrett and a safe
CONTINUED on Second Paoel