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Show . J : : : r : ; : ' ' i I 1 '-3 : -UiP.i I I v. ' ' y;- . .. iJ. L L.h:. ,Li ULt Jw . master-General was advised, and the President and Mr. Payne ' talked the matter over together." This was last winter. The President thought there should be an Investigation. Mr. Payne suspected from the first that the so-called so-called scandals were a mere weapon for wreaking personal revenges, but he did not oppose- the investigation, and one was ordered. Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General Brlstow, lank, lean, eager ea-ger old-fashioned and hnest man from the prairies of Kansas, was placed In charge of the Inquiry. Then Mr. Payne went away to the West Indies for p. cruise with Secretary Moody and 'Uncle Joe Cannon. . "He had not been gone long before the . newspapers began printing daily stories concerning the frauds In the Postoffice department. At no time were the papers able to make it quite clear ; what these frauds were, and how the Government bad been robbed or the service degraded. Nothing tangible, nothing that one could take hold of and feel that fere was touching a real thing; no proof, no evidenoe. only suspicion. Innuendo, allusion, adjectives, a 'twist of the wrist (6 make the picture look as black as possible without taking any risks by attempting to deal with such prosaic matters as facts. Wynne Always Ready. -"All this Information came from one source. At any hour of the day any newspaper man, hard up for a story, could .walk around to the office of the First Assistant Postmaster-General and get a suggestion for half a column or column about how terribly crooked and wretched were the doings of the Postofnce department. Disappointed contractors, discharged employees, men and women who had not been promoted as rapidly as they thought their deserts, and all sorts and conditions of sore-headed sore-headed persons contributed their little quota to the grists of gossips and speculation. spec-ulation. . "When Wynne took . the office which he now holds he told tome of his confidential- friendsv that Postmaster-General Postmaster-General Payne was in poor health and that he, Wynne, expected to be the real Postmaster-General. While Mr. Payne was- away ton hi trip-Wynne coxX-to coxX-to one or his associates the Information that ere many months had passed he reckoned, on being i a member, of - the Cabinet himself. . .' 'A few days ago Wynne's schoolboy son, who, by the -way. Is his father's private secretary at' $1800 a year, was quoted assaying that Postmaster-General Payne had become so infirm and decrepit with his troubles in the Post-office Post-office department troubles created by Wynne, Sr. that he would soon resign. ayne, Was Astonished. "Mr. Payne came back. He was astonished as-tonished at the scandals. He wss aware of these attacks on himself and their source, yet he took no action. -His friends say he Is biding his time. They say, moreover, that when- President Roosevelt returns to Washington something some-thing will happen. After what has occurred oc-curred it will be surprising If there is room enough in the Postofnce department depart-ment for both Mr. Payne and Mr. Wynne. In the. last analysis It will be a test of strength between Henry Payne and Cabot Lodge. Which has the greater influence with President Roosevelt? Walter Tellman Discloses a Plot to Oust the Post-; Post-; master-General and to Promote His First As-v: As-v: .;. sistant. : J ; ; CHICAGO, : June , 1 A startling - phase of the Postoffice department mix--p is furnished by Walter Wellman, . the well-known writer, in his Washington Washing-ton letter to the Record-Hersld of this city. Among other things.' Mr. Well-man Well-man says: ' :, - . "In the guise of reform, a plot to punish pun-ish and destroy political and official rivals ri-vals and; to wreak personal revenges. This is the' real scandal In the Postoffice department. Compared with 1 Jt,' the other scandal the alleged wrongdoings of various officials with which the newspapers have been filled for several months is of minor importance. In fact, the so-called "orgle of corruption In the Postoffice department" has not been uncovered, and by this time it is fair to conclude it does not exist and never did , exist. ' Small Irregularities, some extravagance, a little straining of expense accounts, and a great deal of taking care of political and personal friends - through appointments - have vbeen unearthed. But the "seething mass of fraud and robbery which was al-leged al-leged .to exist In the department has not been discovered, for the simple reason rea-son that it . was not . there to be ' discovered. dis-covered. . - - ' - The Chief Conspirator. "The; chief conspirator, in this so-- so-- called effort to correct abuses in the r-'f Postoffice department is, Senator' Henry .ICabot -Lodge of Massachusetts. ' Supporting Sup-porting him are those two shining lights in the cause of reform and "good" government gov-ernment Senators . Quay , and Penrose of Pennsylvania. Thf!r principal in strument is First AsslstanCPostmaaUr-General AsslstanCPostmaaUr-General Robert J. Wynne, whose appointment ap-pointment was secured through the ln-fluehce ln-fluehce of Senator. Lodge. The principal aims of the conspiracy are: The Principal Alma. " ' ."1t-To" drive out of the public service Mavhen and Beavers,. officials who fell under the displeasure of Mr. Wynne, and refused to bow the'knee to his ambition am-bition to be the boss of the Postoffice department. "2 To smirch the administration of Charles Emory Smith, former Postmaster-General, and thus satisfy the longings of his political enemies Quay and Penrose . " "3 To Involve Perry S. Heath, former for-mer First Assistant Postmaster-General, and through him. If possible, his political po-litical sponsor, Mark Hanna, who is most cordially hated by Lodge and ' Quay. "4 To make so much trouble for "Up to date the conspiracy has met with measurable success. As to whether wheth-er or not Payne Is to be forced out depends de-pends upon himself and President Roosevelt. There is not the slightest evidence that he has tried to suppress the investigation or cover anything up. In fact, the inquiry was arranged by President Roosevelt himself, and set In i motion through the orders of the Postmaster-General. Another Fight on Him. "There is another fight In Henry Payne, and unless all signs fall, this fight will come early next month, when President Roosevelt returns to Washington. Wash-ington. By that time, it is believed, the first part of Mr. Brlstow's report will be ready, and with this as his text, the Postmaster-General is prepared to take up the whole affair at the White House. Self-respect demands that he I ask of the President authority to dismiss dis-miss Mr. Wynne, and. if Mr. Lodge's influence shall prove strong enough to secure a refusal of this request, there will be nothing left for Mr. Payne to do but tender his own resignation. "Have there been frauds in the Post-office Post-office department? Manifestly, Fourth? Assistant Postmaster Brlstow is the man who can best answer this question. He is making a thorough investigation. He will soon be ready to report. "I am told on good authority that no criminality has been discovered in the administration of Postmaster-General Smith or of Assistant Postmaster-General Heath, either In this country or in Cuba. Quay's hope of smirching Charles Emory Smith and Perry S. Heath, and, through the latter, Mark Hanna, seems doomed to disappointment. As to the Eegnlations. "At the same time no one pretends that the millennium has descended upon up-on the Postoffice department. Human nature is the same in the postal service as everywhere else, and It is frail and liable to err. Without doubt, Mr. Brlstow's Brls-tow's report will show a good many irregular ir-regular practices In the department. A few of these Instances . may have a rather sinister appearance. The rules have not always been faithfully observed, ob-served, and there has doubtless been more or less extravagance. That the Postoffice department has from time Immemorial been a political house of refuge Is known to everyone who is familiar fa-miliar with life In Washington. It Is the department in which the greatest number of political debts are paid with Continued pa page Postmaster-General Payne that he may be driven from office, leaving Lodge in possession of the field as President Roosevelt's chief political adviser, and affording an opportunity for the promotion pro-motion of Lodge's man Wynne to the (Postmaster-Generalship, or the ap-, Jlpointment of some other tool of Lodge Wynne should not be regarded as big enough for the place. Appointment of Wynne. . "The first step was the appointment of Wynne as First Assistant Postmaster-General. Postmaster-General. Wynne is a clever fellow, very popular, with a good deal of cunning, and pleasant manners. He had for several sev-eral years been one of Lodge's syndicate syndi-cate of newspaper boomers, and for his , reward was given this place in the Government service. Several other newspaper friends and boomers of Lodge have been similarly cared for. In fact, booming Lodge through the press and getting a fat Government Job therefor has become a recognised industry in-dustry in the District of Columbia.- "Occasionally some other Senator has something, but Lodge gets twenty times as much as any other man in public life." ' . Story of the Plotting. Mr. Wellman goes on to give the story' of Mr. Wynne's plotting: "Mr. Wynne had not been long In office of-fice before friction arose between him and two of the older officials of the Postoffice departmentnamely, Mr. Macben, superintendent of the rural free delivery division, and Mr. Beavers. t chief of the salaries and allowance division.' di-vision.' Mr. Wynne was unable to force them Into a' sufficient degree of submission to satisfy his longings for power. Thereupon the First Assistant Postmaster-General began a campaign for the scalps of the officials who had ' Incurred his dislike. If he could not rule them he would ruin them. This was the beginning of the scandal In the Postoffice department. "As & mater of decency, the Post-it Wynne's Ambition. (Continued from page 1.) appointments. It is here that people are 'taken care of.' ' "It is believed by serious-minded, conservative public men that this so-called so-called scandal In the department has been promoted and fostered for unworthy un-worthy purposes. An investigation was a good thing. The President did well to order one. Every man who Is found guilty should be driven out of the public pub-lic service, and, if liable under the law, should be prosecuted in the courts. "But the public is entitled to know the truth about the spirit which has animated the prosecutors. It is proper that the country should be fully Informed In-formed of the reasons why certain perrons per-rons have insisted upon trying the whole case on conjecture, rumor and ruspicion, instead of waiting for the official of-ficial reports as to the facts. It is the duty of self-respecting Journalism, with-. out fear or malice, to point out the relations re-lations to this 'reform movement borne by Lodge. Quay, Penrose, Wynne and company." SAYS QUAY DOES NOT UNDERSTAND CHARACTER, OF SECRETARY PAYNE. MILWAUKEE. Wis., June 2. The Sentinel of this city, commenting on Walter Wellman's sensational story about a plot In the Postofflce department, depart-ment, says: "Mr. Wellman has been conducting an Investigation on his own account, and has turned up an Interesting story that may or may not be accurate In all Its details. According to his account of ' the conspiracy for he asserts that he has detected a conspiracy Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, he of literary fame and political renown, re-nown, has entered Into a combination with Senators Quay and Penrose of Pennsylvania. Robert J. Wynne, First Atsistant Postmaster-General, is to be the beneficiary of this movement. "If Mr. Wellman's analysis of the slt-. slt-. uation is correct, there are the best of reasons for believing that the three Senators and the First Assistant Postmaster-General did not understand the character of Postmaster-General Payne, or that they underestimated his physical physi-cal strength. While Mr. Payne has not been In robust health for a number of, 'years, be does not permit occasional periods pe-riods of Indisposition to interfere with his general plans, and he will continue to be the head of the Postofflce department depart-ment as long as he sits In the Cabinet of President Roosevelt. Mr. Wynne may accept this statement as authorl- "Possibly the three Senators named by Mr. Wellman have been deceived by Mr. Payne's smiling, patient. even-tem-pered personality into thinking they can shouldeT him out of the way or use him as a stepping-stone. If this should be the case they will learn their mistake later. Noise and bluster will not affect him. He will know all about the details of his department at first hand, and gossip will count for nothing with him. At least this Is the opinion of Wlscon-Fln Wlscon-Fln men who have known him for thirty thir-ty j ears and more, and who are acquainted ac-quainted with his character and method meth-od of doing business." |