Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-27
NOVEL POINT RAISED
BASIS FOR A RECENTLY ISSUED
FRAUD ORDER.

The Post Office Department today issued
fraud order denying the use Of the United
States malls to a concern in southern Cali
fornia on the charge of having defrauded
its debtors out of their addresses. The
case is of the hair-splitting variety. and has
caused considerable comment outside the
Office of the assistant attorney general.
where the fraud orders originate. The use
of the malls is denied concerns every day
In the year on charges Of defrauding the
public out of money or other valuable
goods. 1t has made no difference whether
the public was defrauded out of three cents
or $4,000. 1t was defraudng, and that was
ample for the Post Office Department.
But It is declared to be a new departure
for the government to issue fraud order
against company doing an otherwise le-
Ultimate business, merely because 1t used a
false pretense in order 20 obtain the cor
rect addresses Of men and women who
owed the company money and refused to
pay their debts. 1t is suggested-unofficial-
II, of course-that this precedent will result
in the government extending a protecting
arm over bad debtors.
The speciit case is that of the Globe Par
eel and Delivery Company, post Office box
824, San Diego, Cal. In the memorandum
on record the assistant attorney general
says:
THE company above named is engaged
in the practice of mailing postal cards to
alleged delinquent debtors of publishing
house, notifying each of such debtors that
there is in the Office of the company a
package addressed to him, and that such
package will be delivered, charges prepaid
If he will furnish the company with infor-
nation as to his correct street address. At
tached to this postal is reply carAupon
which the information required is u be
submitted.
ut is alleged that the so-called Globe
Parcel and Delivery Company has no
existence in fact. and that the state
ment as to the package held is false; that
the sole object in every case is to ascertain
the present location residence of the per
son addressed; the expectation being that
the postal card, sent to his last known adj
dress, will be forwarded to him.
Upon these facts the department re-
CURED the Globe Company to make an
SWer ana snow cause why a fraud order
should not issue, The company. through
its attorney, replied that the facts were
correctly stated, but that no section of
any statutes had been violated, and that
as paid return card is supplied to the
persons addressed, such persons are not
therefore defrauded.
The attorneys for the Post Office De-
partment, however, hold that a mans i'd
dress, and even information as to his ad-
dress, is the mans private and personal
property. They say he is defrauded of
this address by the misrepresentation of
the company, and consequently he is de-
frauded of something which rightfully is
his.
AS far as can be ascertained from the
papers in the case, the Globe company de-
sires to make no other use of these correct
addresses except to endeavor to collect
money which is due the publishing house.
This is splitting hairs with a VEN
geance,' remarked an attorney, not con
nected with the government, when the
matter was called to his attention by
representative of The Star The Post
Office Department evidently fails to take
into consideration that a creditor or
creditors representative has some right
to the address of it's debtors OF course
we may not approve of the method of OBJ
tanning the address, but 1 should think
that would be moral and not a legal
wrong. AS a matter of fact, the debtors
were not defrauded of anything They
were made to give up their correct adj
dresses, which in all probability they had
been Withholding for the purpose of de-
frauding the company out of the money
they owed. 1t appears to that the
shoe is on the wrong foot, and that the
Post Office Department is drawing
rather hazardous line"