The Maui news. [volume] (Wailuku, Maui, H.I.) 1900-current, 1911-09-30
Honolulu
Newsletter
A Column or So Of Individual Opinion
On Capital Happenings.
(By Manuel de Coste.)


enough to ask why it is when some
thing goes wrong with an Office, the
suspected man has all previous
out-of-the-regular- lar-occurrences piled
on his shoulders. This almost nat
ural course was brought to my mind
by the arrest of William Beckley in
the post office charged with having
pilfered twenty dollars. Everyone
remembers that matter of two
months ago something like five hum
dred dollars disappeared from the
Office of the assistant postmaster. No
trace of the person who stole it. At
the time it happened Beckley was on
Maui spending his vacation. Then
comes the loss of hundred dollars,
abstracted from a mail bag on the
S. S. Tenyo Maru before the bag
reached the post office. In spite OF
the fact that Beckley was not with
in a hundred miles of the city when
the theft took place, and that the
money from the Tenyo was taken
before the bag reached the hands Of
the post office clerks, the newspapers
here connected Beckley' name with
both. 1t strikes me as being a poor
way to increase interest in a story.
The capture Of Beckley for the theft
Of the twenty dollars came easy,
from all accounts that have been
made semi-public. One day fell
low stamp clerk borrowed twenty
dollars worth of stamps from Beck
ley whose watch was at different
time of day. Later he put two ten
dollar notes in an envelope, called a
witness and passed the envelope and
money through the wire partition.
Beckley claimed that his cash was
short that night and that he did not
get the money. He blamed a man
he suspected and he was sent for by
the inspector and proved himself in
nocent. 1t was learned that Beckley
had been gambling and lost twenty
dollars. A description of the
two ten dollar notes lost Tailed
with the notes won from Beckley.
Now the whole post Office force is
sore because Beckley tried to throw
the blame on an innocent man and
the public is sore because the news
papers are trying to blame the loss
of other amounts on Beckley, when
he was not in the office when the
thefty occurred.
The whole affair has myterious
aspect, for only today the case
against Beckley was dismissed by the
district attorney on account of other
developments which may mean any
thing. AS usual the newspapers sug-
gest that it is because they have a
stronger case against him. So they
may. am not reader between
the lines, just an ordinary fellow
who believes in fair play in any
event. If the district attorney real
ly has something against the man it
will come out. If not will he be
reinstated in his position he just
vacated because of suspicion that
he had done wrong?
Bob Shingle passes the lie to the
Advertiser for saying that he is af-
ter the governorship of the territory
Bob is a diplomat, and it was Geo.
Davis who said what Bob now de-
nies. If the people of Hawaii want
a real politician in the chair, they
may get Shingle, but L would like
to have John Ouderkirk's opinion
as to whether he is the right man
for the place. John is not politi-
clan, but he is an employer of white
labor, and 1 think somebody made
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