The Sentinel=record., 1912-08-13
LA TOILETTE IN
 SERIOUS CHARGE
SAYS PosToFFlcE DEPARTMENT HAS TEMPERED WITH iNvEs-
 TiGATIoN MAIL.
Officials and Senators Promptly Deny Accusations of Wisconsin
 Senator.

Washington, Aug. 12.-Senator La Toilette enliyened the senate session. today during discussion of the post office appropriation bill by charging the postoffice deparsment with rifling his mail He said if was done in an attempt to delye into an investigation he is making of conditions in the postal service information for which he sought from postal employees by mail. After five hours work the sen- ate agreed to vote in the bill tomor- row afternoon at i o'clock.
 The Wisconsin senator e.1ciared his maid had been subjected to an Iespolnage almost Russian in charac- ter" and he showed to the senators bundle of letters which he said had been tempered with.
 Absurd" and ridiculous are ai- iectiyes applied to Senator La Fol lette's charges by officials of the sen ate He declared positively that if the senator's mail had been rifled the crime was committed by somebody not connected with the department
 pr Chas. P Grandfield, first as lsistant, and in the temporary absence of Mir. Hitchcock, acting postmaster general, said:
 We have never heard how Senator La Follette's mail has been tempered with. I think the senator is quite mistaken when he charges that off, cials of the postoffice department Irifled his mail As to the senator's statement that his mail was subjected
 to an espionage almost Russian the charge Is absurd, as no one in the postoftice department has the slight lest interest in the reports of the clerks to the senator's inquiry.
 Chief Inspector Robert c. Sharp was equally certain that Senator La Follette's charges were unfounded and was emphatic of his denial of them.
 No attempt, of course, ever was made to watch Senator La Policies mail or to ascertain the contents of any letter addressed to him or sent out by him." said the inspector. Any inspector caught opening sealed let ter not addressed to him would be subjected to the full penalty of the law. In fact, an inspector having knowledge of the law on the subject could not in such circumstances es- cape penitentiary sentence"
 Senator La Toilette said men were removed from the railway mail serv- ice for no other reason than that they joined organizations designed to improve labor conditions in the serv- ice" He cited several instances, in- cluding the case of Geo. w. Nichols, who after twenty-five years service in  the department, was suspended short ly after he became candidate for office in the Railway Mail Clerks Protective Association. The senator discussed the "gag rules" promul- gated by President Roosevelt and President Taft, forbidiing postoffice employees from carrying their griey- ances to members of congress.
 During the day three important provisions of the postoffice bill were acted upon. The Bourne -Bristow plan for a parcels post system with a system of charges based on eight zones of distance division of the coun- try, was placed in the bill as a sub. stitute for the house parcels post pro- vision, which outlined a flat charge of 12 cents a pound throughout the country.
 A provision in the house bill mak- ing available federal funds to assist the states in good roads construction was voted down and an amendment framed by the senate committee pro- viding for a commission of three sen ators and three representatives to study the question was adopted.
 Another amendment written into the bill would compel newspapers us ing the mails to file with the post master general names of owners, publishers, editors. stockholders and