OCR Text |
Show Leading Metropolitan Journals on T5he r K. VostoJifice Scandal. p I (For some -reason the following articles have not P; E , been reprinted in the local dailies.) wM ' . Things are Indeed coming to a pretty pass in K ! ' i the postal scandals when both Mr. Thomas C. Wi r ".' Piatt and the Grand Jury are credited with a ' ' " sudden interest In the developments in the Now ", ' York post office. We are not so base as to join 1 ""' some of our contemporaries in believing that Mr. I Piatt's trip .o Washington is solely for the pur pose of preventing a further Inquiry into Mr. Van Cott's office In order to protect the local Republican Repub-lican machine from certain revelations bound to comejf there were a careful investigation. No, indeed. We firmly believe that Mr. Piatt has gone ,. to tell Mr. Roosevelt that his machine has nothing noth-ing to fear from the most relentless probing into its relations With the post office, and that he hopes no guilty man will be allowed to escape. It will make no difference to his fearlessly upright soul whether it is or Is not shown that Perry S. Heath approved the violation of the civil Ejervice laws which made possible the appointment of Postmaster Postmas-ter Van Cott's son. Mr. Heath, by the way, is beginning be-ginning to deserve the title of the "ever-present Mr. Heath." Probe into the office of the Attorney Attor-ney General for the post office and Mr. Heath bobs up serenely. Look into Mr. Machen's charges ana behold, you run across Perry Henth. Investigate the allegations in regard to the Salaries Division, N and there is our brave Mr. Heath once more. Even in New York, as well as in Cuba and Porto Rico the far-reachlnjj influence of this peerless Indiana statesman apparently made itself felt. Mr. George W. Beavers, former head of the Division Divi-sion of Salaries and Allowances, is now reported to he ready to "assist the inspectors" in return for immunity for any act "which might be open to criticism." Doubtless he could tell the public much about Mr. Heath that has not yet come out. When defendants become ready to turn state's evidence it is generally a sign that the whole truth is near the surface. New York Evening 2f w w Close the Smith-Heath Incident! At least one redeeming and consolatory ray of brightness has been thrown into the gloom of the post office department situation by Mr. Perry Heath's latest announcement, which is to the effect that there is nothing more to discuss .and that the Incident is closed. To be sure, e were prepared JCor this. Mr. Heath had already dismissed the subject from his larger thoughts by saying that Mr. Tulloch was a liar, thereby lining lin-ing himself up with his distinguished chief, Mr. Charles Emory Smith; but there is a certain reassurance re-assurance in this second and, therefore, deliberate deliber-ate affirmation of his original view of the mat-It mat-It all seems clear enough, ,now. Under close examination, Mr. Perry Heath's attitude Is in perfect per-fect accord with that of Mr. Charles Emory Smith and the other witnesses who, in the first Instance, were put upon the stand to refute, condemn, and otherwise eliminate Mr. Seymour Tulloch. If it 'were not known to us, as it is to all men that Mr. Heath io justly noted for originality of thought and method, we might have suspected that he had taken his cue from the former postmaster general, , and was, like the other quondam subordinates of that great statesman, following humbly the direction direc-tion so indicated to him. It is unmistakably evident, evi-dent, however, that Smith, Heath, Tracewell, Castle, Cas-tle, Merritt, and all the rest of the pooh-pooh chorus spoke Independently, and that the sweetly-blending harmony 'of their various utterances was the logical result of an equally distributed ignorance. Mr. Heath is quite right, therefore, when he says that there is nothing more to discuss. There isn't so far, at least, as he and his fellow-choristers are concerned. It is obvious that neither he nor any of the others had more than a suspicion, sus-picion, if so much as that, as to what was really going on. Mr. Tulloch knew. Mr. Bristow knew. And one or two or more had apprehensions. But Smith, Heath & Co. could not possibly have known. There is no other theory upon which their conduct and their speech can be explained that is to say, explained politely. By all means, then, lei us close the incident. Let us sidetrack Smith and the rest of the sextet, and confine ourselves our-selves to the interpellation of Bristow, Tulloch, and those postal officials who were attending to the department's legitimate business at the time, and who, therefore, know something that will be ' of service in the pending investigation. Washington Wash-ington Post. tv v Ov Assistant Attorney General Robb was asked today about the statute of limitations as applying apply-ing to former First Assistant Postmaster General Perry S. Heath, in view of the recent Bristow report. re-port. The opinion has prevailed here that if Mr. Heath should be implicated he could not be indicted, in-dicted, because he has been out of the department three years. Law Protects Mr. Heaths Mr. Robb confirmed this idea by referring to Revised Statutes, Section 1044, which reads: "No person shall he prosecuted, tried or punished pun-ished for any offense, not capital, except as provided pro-vided in section 1046, unless the indictment Is found or the information is instituted within three years next after such offense shall have been committed, but this act shall not have ef H feet to authorize the prosecution, trial or punish. H ment for any offenses barred by the provisions ot H existing laws." H The section referred to as an exception ap. H plies to offenses against revenue laws, where the JM statute of limitations does not apply for five H years. New York Herald. H v v H Perry Heath may be required to quit his p03t H as secretary of the Republican National commit- H tee because of the revelations made in the Brig. H tow report concerning his peculiar methods while H first assistant postmaster general. Heath was no H more culpable than others above and below him, H but he is to be made the scapegoat for pruden- H tial reasons, looking to next year's Presidential jH campaign. H That Is the talk heard here among friends ot H the President, and no doubt means will be found H of inducing Mr. Heath to fall in with the desires H of the administration. It is hoped Heath will him- gl self see the propriety of severing his connection H with the National committee, but if he fails to do H so on his own notion, he will be made aware of H the feeling of the administration on the subject, H and requested to resign. The administration has H announced that it does not mean to shoulder any H resppnsibility for what Heath did when he was fl assistant postmaster general under the McKinley B ley administration, nor will it attempt to bring H him to account in a legal way, but it does feel it H will be held responsible by the country if he Is H allowed to continue as secretary of the National H committee after the Bristow disclosures. 9 It is realized, however, that an attempt to get jfl Heath out of the National committee will be like- H ly to meet with opposition from Senator Hanna, H who is his political backer, and who caused him H to be made first assistant postmaster general. But H it is planned to overcbhie 'Hanna's opposition by H charges throwing suspicion on Heath's party loy- jfl alty. He will be accused of having such close H personal and business relations with a leading Ohio Democratic politician that his entire fidelity fl K to the Republican party may at least be open to fl very grave doubt. Pittsburg Post. fl It is common talk that Perry S. Heath has sac- riflced his position as secretary o the Republican I National Committee by the disclosures of his po-V po-V litical hot-house methods when First Assistant fl postmaster General. It is alleged that Heath and fl Machen have been discovered to have cbnducted a B Republican-Tammany alliance in the postal serv- ice, by which prominent Democrats as well as fl Republicans profited. Mr. Heath's close associa-B associa-B tion, as secretary of the National Committee, with fl Senator Hanna, the national chairman, and Mr. fl Payne, who is vice chairman of 'the National Com-B Com-B mittee, suggests ' that all three should be dis-B dis-B pensetl with in the next campaign. New York B Press. Hn VyV W- W fl Not all of the report that Commisisoner Proc- B ter made to the Postmaster General on the sub- B ject of the civil service abuses in the postal sys- B tern got into print. Its length forbade, and each fl newspaper or group of newspapers picked out fl what seemed of especial interest to its readers and fl let the rest go. One of the features which appears B to have been generally overlooked was Perry fl Heath's promise to be good, and the charge that fl it was not kept. fl The post office department has got into the fl way of playing a trick, of which Heath was un- B derstood to' be the author, for bringing outsiders fl into the classified service Without any merit test, fl by appointing them to positions in unclassified fl country post offices just before orders for classl- B fying these offices were issued; for, of course, the fl whcle force of an office was brought into the fl classified service by operation of the classifying B order. If it were desired, for example, to "rope fl in" a resident of New York pity, he t uld be sent fl to some small town in the" interior where the fl local post office was soon to become classified, fl and after . classification restored to New York fl City by transfer. How widespread this game of fl indirection became is shown by the fact that 128 fl such appointments and transfers occurred be- B tween 1897 and 1901, or an average of one every fl eleven days. The Civil Service Commission first fl protested to the department against it on Febru- B ary 9, 1898, and on February 19 received from fl Heath a letter running: 'I have to say thvit, in compliance with your suggestion, it is the purpose of the department in the future to confine appointments of persons at post offices where the establishment of free delivery de-livery is contemplated to a period of not less than six weeks prior to the establishment, and the appointments to residents of the city in which the establishment of free delivery is to be made. Unless the emergency is great and necessity extreme, ex-treme, it is our determination to make no appointment ap-pointment at these offices earlier than sixty or .ninety days, and, unless the non-resident has export ex-port knowledge of the postal service and his especial espe-cial abilities are requirod in the establishment, to refuse all amplications for the appointment of other oth-er than residents of the city where the establishment establish-ment is to be effected." i This read well for a confession and repentence, but nevertheless the same business went on, and the commission had to write letter after letter of protest, but all to no avail. President McKinley wa'i appealed to repeatedly, but refused to do anything any-thing to stop the abuse; and not till President Roosevelt had the matter laid before him in December, De-cember, 1901, was an order issued amending the civil service rules so as to require that no person should be transferred till after six months' actual service in the office in which he became classified. "It is believed," says Mr. Proctor, "that this, with the amendments made in the revised rules of April 15, 1903, will prevent this abuse in future." fu-ture." New York Evening Post. & & There is some interesting, gossip afloat here respecting Peny S. Heat The report of Mr. Bristow relative to an investigation made while Charles Emory Smith was postmaster show conclusively con-clusively that many appointments were made regardless re-gardless of the civil service laws, and most of them are laid at the door of Mr. Heath, who has been very severely criticised for his loose administration' ad-ministration' of the office of first assistant postmaster post-master general. It is understood that while nothing noth-ing of a criminal nature attaches to Mr. Heath, that his connection with the Republican national committee will be of short duration. In fact, it is stated openly by several prominent administration administra-tion leaders, that Mr. Heath will soon be asked to retire from the national committee, his continu- ance being regarded as undesirable, In view of re- flH cent -disclosures. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. H The Bristow report reaches beyond Mr. Smith H to his first assistant; Ferry S. Heath, and arraigns lfll him for a list of alleged offenses, both small and B great, that cry for expiation. Those who knew fl best and best loved President McKinley know that fl he would be the last man to protect official mis- Hfl doing if ho were alive today. He would be the first to give to the investigation his direct sup- H Let the investigation go on, and let us have no more talk that could be interpreted as prompt- ed by a desire to shield living subordinates, on the pretense of defending a name that needs no defense. New York Mail and Express. iv v H Perry Heath and His Friend. This thing of nagging faithful postal officials is H being run into the ground. For instance, they are H criticising Perry Heath for allowing his friend H Smith to collect $22.50 for carfaro when he was H stationed at a camp where there were no cars. H Well, what of it? Was it Smith's fault that there M were no cars at Camp Alger? You couldn't ox- B pert him to build a railroad with $22.50, could B you? That money was what he would have spent B if the cars had been there. He waited for them, B but they never came. He stood there at his lone- M ly post, faithfully guarding that $22.50 and ready M to do his duty as soon as other people did theirs. But he got no reward for It, no medal not even M thanks; and now an ungrateful publio is abusing him for his thoughtfulness. And what cuts Smith H oven more bitterly, the critics are not content with H abusing him they abuse his great and upright H friend, Perry Heath New York World. H If Colonel Perry Heath is determined to, stand H pat on his "nothing more to say" platform, there's H no reason why he should not be allowed to pro- H ceed to Japan. Washington Post. H . & & H Colonel Perry S. Heath has taken his stand on 'B the platform that there is "nothing more to say." B In view of the Bristow corroboration of the Tul- B loch charges this seems to be correct. From this B time on a discreet silence on the part of Heath B will lo highly judicious. And Mr. Payne mignt B also take note of the fact that there is not much B more lor him lo say. either. Pittsburg Disparch. |