The Washington herald., 1908-04-14

he should be impeached and not a mo-
ment longer permitted to hold Office in
the name OF the American people
THE indictment was for defrauding
the government OF postage Nothing Of
the kind had been done and could not
have been done. All the postage the
statute required and all that the postmas-
ter had asked for had been paid. In all
I the extremes res0rted 10 in this case this
act was most grotesquely absurd
Says Law Was Violated.
Three carloads of magazines, accord
ing 10 Madden, were held at the St Louis
post-ofiice, although. it is alleged. every
cent Of postage required by law or de-
manded by the postmaster had been paid,
and although a law of the United States
prohibits the holding of mail matter
under such circumstances. He adds:
Lewis has brought suit for damages
from the postmaster for his action hold
/ ing up copies of his magazine; the case
/ is yet 10 be heard. He could not secure
an indictment by the grand jury 10 punish
/ him criminally, as the statute provides,
/ because the district attorney, through
/ ing to the postmaster. been accessory to
/ the violation Of the law. could be de-
I pended upon 10 shield himself An indct-
ment OF the postmaster would expose
him.
| In a nutshell, the situation is that
Lewis was, under the law. entitled TO
mail his magazines az cent a pound.
HE was indicted, not for mailing them at
a cent pound, but for mailing more
copies AT that rate than the law permit
1 ted when in truth there was no limit in
4 the law at all, and when he had not. as
matter Of fact, exceeded the alleged limit,
/ even IL It were IN the law: and further
/ for defrauding the government Of post
age by not paying on the copies alleged
/ 10 be in excess of the limit a rate which
the law itself plainly states is not for
publishers at all"
Charges Direct FaEsIfication.
! Regarding the editing of his letter of
/ instructions. the writer says.
The letter as written was sent over TO
the Postmaster General as he had direct
ed. and it came back edited From il
was eliminated that part which would
render Il unserviceable for the purpose in
! hand The letter was then rewritten as
directed, and it now read so as TO serve
the postmaster and inspectors as 'evi-
/ dence, ii was what the attorney will
need, and as the inspector had said
would be necessary in order to make
case against the indicted men How may
we characterize this act-'tTeasOn. strata
/ gem, or spois? Call 1t what YOU will.
/ but think of d Cabinet officer lending his
/ hand to such work. making a false ruling
/ 10 sustain false evidence To support
/ fraudulent Indictment 10 send these men
who had done no legal wrong TO the peni-
tentiary Does history record anything
/ like it? Probably not.
AT this time il looked as though Il
We're really intended to railroad Lewis
and the others into prison on this execu-
tive-made law and manufactured evil
denee-another bordereau. In their bold
/ ness they conceived it to be possible to
! deceive the trial court and jury as sue
cessfully as the grand jury had been de-
! ceived."
Two Years of "PersecutiOn."
Mr., Madden thus sums up the alleged
persecution of Lewis.
Think Of it, A constant siege Of In
vestigaton, admittedly hostile. lasting
/ from early March, 1895. to February, 1857
/ two full years. During all this time there
was no day but there was an army
of persons present in the publishing plant
/ demanding books and papers and ran
/ saeking accounts and files 1t is no.
toFioIss that the mails are flooded with
abuses, yet not another single publisher
was so Investigated during this whole
two years, or for that matter ever before.
There is such a thing as investigating a
l business to death, but these two years
is not all Later on, in this mem0ran-
dun. it IS stated that still another in
vestigation was instituted; this was IN
September 1897. after Lewis had applied
for TeadmissiOn of his magazines 10 the
mails. upon the assurance that he would
now be treated as others were treated,
This last investigation lasted several
months
What price to pay for the use of
the mails,"
As 10 Lewis bank, the writer says:
But what OF the public that the Post
master General was so jealous in protect
ing? As for the depostors they do not
| appear TO have been alarmed. Rather
they felt that their money was safe.
as il proved to be When the baRk was
destroyed by the fraud order they got
back dollar for dollar. And what Of
! the stockholders who were so protected?
When the bottom was knocked out Of
their enterprise, astounding as il may
seem, they received back g per cent of
the amount invested. But It already had
a market value of 200 cents on the dollar.
II would seem to the casual observer that
the more Of such frauds We have, the
better
Paints Czar-IilSe Attitude.
In an appendix entitled "A Personal
View" Mr. Madden has this to say about
Mr.. Cortelyous official methods when
Postmaster General;
Mr.. Cortelyou did not follow the open
daylight methods Of his predecessors.
far from it. He was sworn in in the
big room. but after that he did not use
the place. He Withdrew into the little
room on the side. closed up the doors,
and placed a sentinel on the outside, and
as long as he remained Postmaster Cen
eTal ne was sealed up there, out 0f hear
ing, out of view-in the dark. No person
was allowed to know what he was doing
or to hear what he was saying Secrecy
took the place of openness. To get to
him at all ii was necessary in most cases
to give advance notice, and It was ar
ranged that parties coming and going
should not meet"
Further on in the same appendix he
says;
THE government could never have been
so Inundated and disgraced under any
one Of the other men who have held the
Office Of Postmaster General within the
last hundred years. History must record
-4.-f-.--
and unaccountable circumstance-thre
times a Cabinet officer, but nonentity in
each; a man to whom openness and
franbness Is stranger: a man whose lIght