Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1909-01-13

eapo. ernnont "o,h anyet1gation of
ms service. times come
srsn,a course In fed phases of
anu anr ee,nc frauds dds in the postal
dow across wholly/were unearthed
con- dnse -. for instance, OF.
Used s aspaf 'lien}6int My suspicious
that ser On <sed by report made
is ua, sTy extravagant and de.
hath 80 inner of life of certain
,ora ha,s .S9loye. this report being made
rasMcial Of the secret service in
'iioH sfon with another transaction
to Hich he was at work. So with
and BIS of the abuse of the franking
Mvilcge.
II Not Purposely Inspected.
The postoffice never of set purpose
inspects any package sent through the
mails by senator or congressman.
but sometimes through the accidental
breaking Of such package the contents
are exposed. and If they are of char.
acter which makes their transmission
by franking privilege illegal, steps are
taken by the postoffice authorities to
cohect the full postage. Some of these
instances represent real abuse. but in
other cases they are die to careless.
ness or ignorance, and very often
dubtless are entirely unknown to tho
congressman themselves. and no good
purpose would be served by any pub.
licity in the matter. -
But case has Just arisen of di.
ferent kind. which it seems to me 1
should put before you as illustrating In
striking fashion the way in which In.
vestigations begun by any of these
their duty may develop facts of high
Importance, which the investigators
would not in the first instance have
sought to discover, which when dis
covered ought not to be hidden or sup
posed that the development of which
may tend to create an erroneous i'm.
preston that the agents in question
were being used for purposes not with.
in the line of their lawful duty.
Tilinan Asked Investigation.
On the 18th of February, 1908 (see
exhibit Al Senator Tillman called the
attention OF the senate to a circular
Of a syndicate firm for the sale of
lands in Oregon, particularly in Coos
and Douglas counties, which had been
granted to corporations by the govern.
ment, the circular stating that the
company in possession of the lands
was bound to sell them for $3.50 an
! acre or upon their refusal wouldAbe
prosecuted by the government, and
that Among those who have spoken
for part of this land is Senator Till
man, of South Carolina, the leader of
the Democratic party in the senate, a
man who usually gets what he goes
after"
Senator Tillman denied the state.
ments OF this circular and expressed
q wish for an investigation, and upon
his request the postotfice department,
through its inspectors. made such an
Investigation. He stated in reference
to this circular:
Il have not bought any land any.
| where in the west nor undertaken to
buy any. l have made some inquiries,
| as one naturally would in roaming
through the west. l simply want the
people of the country to be put on no
tice that this swindler at Portland has
no warrant whatever for endeavorins
to inveigle others into his game.
Report Of Inspectors. &
Il inclose the circular referred to-
as exhibit b; the report of the post.
office inspectors, under date of July "a,
1903, as exhibit c. This is a con
tidential report of type usually not
furnished, but III this case the matter
is SO serious that feel l should put
it before you. inclose you also. as
exhibits D l, D 2, d 3, D and D s.
photograph tacsimfles of letters and
envelopes and kilograms from Senator
| Tillman and his agent, William E. Lee
1t appears that on Oct. 20, 1907, Sen.
ator rillman wrote letter (exhibit
d - to Messrs. Roder and Watkins, OF
| Marshfield. Oregon, who were attor.
neys representing people who were APP
| plicants for the purchase OF certain
| wagon road land grant. ,Dorr was 9
land agent making his filings through
Roder and Watkins. Senator Till.
mans letter runs in part as follows:
Il wired you from Wausau, Wis, as
follows and write to confirm It: will
lam +. Lee, my agent, will see you
about land. want nine quarters re-
served. VIII forward signed applica.
ton and money at once. Members OF
my family are entrymen. Letter fol.
lows. (Signed) B. r. t. | write now
| to say | wired Mr.. Lee. who resides at
Moscow, Idaho, to go at once to Marsh
| field and see you about the land, to
locate quarters for the seven mem
bers of my family who are of age
and one for my private SECRETARY, !.
b. Knight. whom desire to let into
| the deal and of course he wants a
quarter for himself"
"A Good Gamble"
The letter continued. stating in de.
tail what was to be done in order to
ennble the senator to get the land.
! The William K. Lee to whom Senator
! Tillman thus referred as his agent,
wrote to Roder and Watkins under
date of Dec. Z, letter. Photographic
! copy of which is herewith submitted,
marked Exhibit D A." In this letter
Mr.. Lee explains that he had written
Senator Tillman fully as to the status
OF the land matter, advising him that
1t was "a good gamble" but that the
| senator was lecturing. SO that he did
not gel Mr.. Lees letter until weel,
and half previous. The letter con.
| tines:
In case Senator Tillman gets in on
ihis deal with some good land in the
eight quarters we want. am satisfied
that he can be OF great help In getting
matters started from Washington and
cause the government to get busy and
DO something along the line you desire.
He will set UP such howl that it will
be impossible to do otherwise. This
Will be very important for your whole
ynIN< -,