Show lILt CHAIRMAN LOUD ANSWERED Postofllce Department Replies as to Alleged Fraud Washington May 6In reply to an inquiry from Chairman Loud of the House Postofllce committee the Second It Assistant PostmaslerGeneral has s nt him a letter relative to a fraud alleged al-leged to have been practiced In connection con-nection with the weighing of the malls In 180G and to the general subject of the possibility of such attempted frauds becoming effective The compensation f received by railroad companies fur carrying the mails is determined by the character of the service performed the facilities furnished and the average aver-age dally weight of mall carried Special reference Is made to Mr Freechtlg who In 1S98 claimed to have 4m1 knowledge of frauds In connection with II til mall weighing He was requested to m fir furnish information that would enable ptt the department to locate tho route and parties Involved The Information desired de-sired was not then disclosed by Mr Frcechllg I ater on November li ISJS Freechtlg transmitted an affidavit and letter the only specific allegations In which that could be Lied by the department de-partment being thai he participated in Jin attempt to Illegitimately Increase the weight of the malls passing over a 2 Colorado route P The 250 pounds of mall If sent as 4 claimed when reduced to a dally aver I cage c-age says the letter could have no l effect on the compensation His claim that the Government Is defrauded Jn the sum of 510000000 a year by the effect ef-fect of frauds In weighing Is characterized charac-terized as extravagant and entirely groundless In conclusion It Is stated that Freechtlg did not give any Infor jj million to sustain his claim although jl i he was assured thai the department j d was anxious to secure evidence of any such fact |