BROADWAY AND LEONARD STREET, NEW YORK CITY, ROBBERY. Holdup and robbery of mail truck at Broadway and Leonard Street, New York City. There were three criminals and seven claimants. Between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 were stolen. been determined that an aggregate reward of $6,000 shall be paid. That would be the maximum for those three criminals. It has Holdup and robbery of Marion (Ill.) eastern mail train; two registers stolen, valued at $21,600. An aggregate of $6,000 is recommended. There are 3 criminals and 10 claimants. Holdup and robbery of mail truck at Kansas City, Mo., December 7, 1922; five criminals and six claimants. The inspectors recommend $5,500. The CHAIRMAN. Have convictions been had in those cases? The CHAIRMAN. Do these persons to whom these rewards are to be paid all come in and volunteer their services to the Government? Mr. MILLER. Usually on the circulars they become interested. Some of them are officers; some of them are plain-clothes men; some are "snitchers". Mr. BUCHANAN. What are they? Mr. MILLER. That is the yegg term for one of their own number who tells stories. Some of this money has had to be paid them, but they are the only people in the world that have the information. Nobody else has it. Holdup and robbery of the Oakley, Idaho, and Vipont, Utah, mail stage. There are three criminals and three claimants, and the convictions were on October 3, 1922. The total reward recommended is $1,500. Then there was the holdup and murder of Railway Postal Clerk McCollough, at Pittsburgh, February 26, 1921; one criminal and two claimants. An aggregate reward of $1,500 is recommended. Those are the five major cases, which aggregate $20,500. The CHAIRMAN. And you have other cases to make up the $25,000? Mr. MILLER. There are other cases. Mr. SHOOK. These other cases, I assume, Mr. Miller, come under the $50 to $200 limits for the robbery of post offices minimum $50, maximum $200. The CHAIRMAN. I wish you would put that memorandum that you have there in the record, Mr. Miller. (The memorandum is as follows:) (Memorandum for the chief inspector in re deficiencies in appropriations for rewards for fiscal years ended June 30, 1921, 1922, and 1923.) 1921. The deficiency of $9,000 asked for 1921 covers five cases, three of which involve major offenses. These cases may be epitomized as follows: No. 260-R: St. Paul, Minn., holdup and robbery of R. P. O. train No. 2 between St. Cloud and Minneapolis. Assault on R. P. O. clerk, Feb. 18, 1921. Four registered pouches stolen, valued at $158,400. Three criminals and five claimants for reward. Arrests made Mar. 23, 1921, which calls for order No. 5516. Convictions Apr. 27, 1921, calls for 1921 appropriation. It was determined that an aggregate reward of $2,000 should be paid ($1,000 for each offender, or $3,000, would constitute the maximum reward under that order) $1,000, or 50 per cent of the amount determined upon, was paid Apr. 2, 1923, leaving a balance of $1,000 to be met by the deficiency appropriation__. $1,000. 00 No. 379-R: Holdup and robbery of mail car, train No. 20, Southern Pacific Ry. Assault on railway postal clerk between Roseville and Newcastle, Calif., on May 20, 1921. One criminal (Roy Gardner), five claimants. Arrest made May 23, 1921, which calls for order No. 5773. Convicted June 1, 1921, calls for 1921 appropriation. It was determined that an aggregate reward of $5,000 should be paid, and $2,738.47 was paid Oct. 19, 1923, exhausting the 1921 appropriation and leaving a balance of $2,261.53 to be paid from the deficiency appropriation_ No. 267-R: Holdup, assault upon, and robbery of mail messenger at To one of the claimants on Aug. 9, 1922 Paid to another claimant on Apr. 4, 1923 (third claim- $5, 000. 00 625. 00 This leaves $5,000 to be paid from the deficiency appropriation No. 230-R: Hold-up and robbery of Jackson Street Station, Dallas, Tex., on Jan. 14, 1921. Firearms were used, and one clerk killed, one seriously wounded, and another slightly wounded. Four criminals and two claimants. Arrests made Jan. 17, 1921, calling for order No. 9862. Conviction Feb. 5, 1921, calling for 1921 appropriation. The conviction in this case covered the charge of conspiracy only, hence such reward as may be paid will fall under cases covering minor offenses, and the solicitor for this department has ruled that the maximum of $200 for each offender would be all that could be paid, and after review of the preliminary report, and in the absence of the final report, which has not been made, it is believed that an aggregate reward of $400 will suffice, which reward would have to be met by the deficiency appropriation. No. 203-R: Burglary of the post office at Fredericktown, Pa., on May 24, 1920. Two criminals and one claimant of record. Arrests June 2, 1920, calling for order No. 9862. Conviction of one of the criminals Nov. 13, 1920, calling for 1921 appropriation. The other criminal has successfully delayed prosecution and has not yet been convicted, for which reason the final report has not yet been received. While $400 might properly be paid in this case from what is known of the matter at this time, if the deficiency of $9,000 asked for is granted, the reward will be fixed at $338.47, which represents the balance between the aggregate amount shown to be due in the above-mentioned cases Nos. 260, 379, 267, and 230-R, and the $9,000 asked for.. It should be noted that cases Nos. 230 and 203-R do not involve payments different from what would be proper if the present order No. 7708 was the one to be applied, instead of order No. 9862, the one involved. 1922. Attached hereto is a copy of a letter addressed by this office to the Director, Bureau of the Budget, on January 17, 1924, in which are enumerated 32 cases, the reports on which have been received, and carefully reviewed here, with the result that it has been determined that rewards aggregating $44,670.77 shall be paid, if the Congress shall appropriate the $60,000 asked for. All but four of these 32 cases mentioned cover minor offenses, calling for rewards from $200 down to $50, but four of them represent major cases calling for large rewards. $2, 261. 53 10, 000, 00 5,000.00 400.00 338.47 9, 000. 00 The four large cases are: No. 405-R: Murder of postmaster and wife, and robbery of post office at Ruby, Ariz., on Aug. 26, 1921, by a band of nine Mexicans, two of whom have been convicted by the State and one of them has been hung and the other sentenced to the penitentiary for life. The seven remaining bandits are at large and believed to be in Mexico, near the border, and their apprehension will depend almost entirely upon whether suitable rewards are paid for the apprehension and conviction of the two criminals mentioned above. These two criminals were arrested Sept. 4, 1921, which calls for order No. 5773, and one was convicted in May and the other in June, 1922, which calls for the 1922 appropriation. There were two criminals and six claimants, and it was determined that an aggregate reward of $10,000 should be apportioned among the six claimants in case the deficiency asked for is granted. No portion of this reward has been paid.. -$10, 000. 00 No. 351-R: Hold-up and robbery of mail truck at Dearborn Street Station, Chicago, Ill., on Apr. 6, 1921, by a large number of bandits as the result of a conspiracy planned by Tim Murphy, E. C. Geirum, Vincenso Cosmano, et al. Arrests made in June, 1921, calling for order No. 5773. Convictions in November, 1921, calling for appropriation of 1922. Five principal criminals were convicted and there were 10 claimants for reward. It was determined that an aggregate reward of $10,200 should be paid, and of this amount the following partial payments, aggregating $2,934.23, have been made: Asa J. Smith, $1,250, and Thos. E. Garvin (a law firm in Chicago), $1,250, total $2,500 of the $5,000 which it had been determined should be paid them; Thomas J. Costello, a detective of Chicago, was paid $434.23 of the $2,500, which it had been determined should be paid him. These partial payments were made to the three claimants mentioned in accordance with allowances recommended by this office on Apr. 23, 1923. There is, therefore, a balance of $7,265.77 remaining to be paid in this case from the deficiency appropriation, if ordered by the Congress. Forty-nine pieces of registered mail were stolen in this hold-up, amounting in value to $329,000 in bonds and $59,000 in currency No. 380-R: Hold-up and robbery of mail truck at Toledo, Ohio, on 341-R: Hold-up of and assault upon a mail messenger with a deadly 87419-24-33 7, 265. 77 19, 950. 00 4, 700. 00 In addition to the above there is an unreported case, No. 400-R, covering assault on R. P. O. clerks with deadly weapons, and robbery of the mail car, train No. 5, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, between Edmond and Britton, Okla., on Sept. 28, 1921, involving four criminals and nine claimants for reward. The report in this case has been delayed owing to the prosecution of another criminal concerned, named Earl Thayer, who has successfully delayed prosecution, and as some of the claimants for reward are Government witnesses in this case against Thayer, it would materially weaken the Government's case to at this time render a report recommending rewards for its witnesses. The arrests were made in November, 1921, which calls for order No. 5773, and the conviction of four of the criminals was on Jan. 31, 1922, which calls for 1922 appropriation. In the absence of a final report, the amount of reward to be paid in this case can only be estimated, and, of course, with no degree of accuracy, but the case might call for a reward of $5,000 in the case of each criminal convicted, an aggregate reward of $20,000. This undetermined case, together with a few cases which had not been reviewed, made it necessary for this office to estimate the deficiency for 1922 at $60,000 (estimated).. 1923. Attached hereto is a letter addressed by this office to the budget officer for this department, on Dec. 15, 1923, covering the estimates for deficiencies for 1921, 1922, and 1923, which were used in the hearing before the Bureau of the Budget on Jan. 16, 1924. There are five cases at hand, some of which have been reviewed, and others in process of review, which call for rewards aggregating $20,500; these five cases all calling for large rewards. There are besides 9 minor cases which have been reviewed and listed, in which the rewards will aggregate $1,325, and there are 19 other cases which are in, but not yet reviewed, in which the aggregate amount recommended by the inspectors is $3,625. The sum of these amounts represents an aggregate reward of $25,450___ There are more than 30 cases in the field not yet reported on, besides which a few more will necessarily be jacketed as potential cases. It is fair to estimate, therefore, that the unreported cases and the few potential cases which will arise will call for rewards aggregating in the neighborhood of $10,000. This shows that the estimate submitted by this office for a deficiency of $35,000 for the year in question is a reasonable one (estimated). The five major cases referred to are the following: No. 476-R: Hold-up and robbery of mail truck at Broadway and Leonard Streets, New York City, on Oct. 24, 1921. 3 notorious criminals and 7 claimants. Arrests on July 3, 1922, calling for order No. 7708. Convicted latter part of August, 1922, calling for 1923 appropriation. Between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 were stolen in this robbery, most of which has fortunately been recovered. It has been determined that an aggregate reward of $6,000 shall be paid in this case No. 668-R: Hold-up and robbery of Marion (Ill.) eastern mail train. 2 registers stolen, valued at $21,600. This holdup occurred near Marion, Ill., on May 14, 1923. 3 criminals and 10 claimants. Arrests May 17, 1923, calling for order No. 7708. Convicted May 25, 1923, calling for 1923 appropriation. An aggregate reward of $6,000 is recommended by the inspectors.. No. 664-R: Holdup and robbery of mail truck at Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 7, 1922. 5 criminals and 6 claimants. Arrests in December, 1922, and January, 1923, calling for order No. 7708. Convictions May 22, 1923, calling for 1923 appropriation. Inspectors recommend an aggregate reward of $5,500 in this case. $18, 084. 23 60, 000. 00 25, 450.00 10, 000. 00 6,000.00 6, 000, 00 5, 500.00 No. 514-R: Holdup and robbery of the Oakley, Idaho, and Vipont, Utah, mail stage, hear Oakley on July 24, 1922. 3 criminals and 3 claimants. Arrests Aug. 3, 1922, calling for order No. 7708. Convictions Oct. 3, 1922, calling for 1923 appropriation. Inspectors recommend an aggregate reward of $1,500 No. 650-R: Holdup and murder of R. P. O. Clerk James L. McCollough, at Pittsburgh, Pa., on Feb. 26, 1921. 1 criminal and 2 claimants. Arrested by the State Mar. 11, 1922, calls for order No. 7708. Convicted by the State on Nov. 24, 1922, calling for 1923 appropriation. Aggregate reward of $1,500 recommended by the inspectors $1,500. 00 1, 500. 00 20, 500. 00 These are the five cases calling for an aggregate reward of $20,500, and it should be added that in connection with the year in question, it will perhaps be possible by making our payments of rewards less liberal than formerly that we can get by with the $25,000 deficiency submitted by the Budget; but, of course, we may not be able to do so and still deal justly with the claimants. An effort will be made to cut the rewards from now on down to the lowest possible basis, consistent with fairness and justice. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1924. OFFICE OF THE FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL. STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN H. BARTLETT, FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL, MR. WILLIAM R. SPILMAN, SUPERINTENDENT DIVISION OF POST OFFICE SERVICE, AND MR. THOMAS G. MALLALIEU, SUPERINTENDENT DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLE SERVICE. COMPENSATION TO POSTMASTERS FOR 1922 AND 1923. The CHAIRMAN. For compensation to postmasters for the fiscal year 1922 you ask $101,985.44. Will you be kind enough to tell us how this deficiency for 1922 occurred? Mr. BARTLETT. I think, Mr. Chairman, if you do not object, I will let Mr. Spilman give you the details in regard to that. I will be glad to answer any questions you may ask me personally, The CHAIRMAN. We do not care who answers provided we get the information. Mr. SPILMAN. The compensation of postmasters is based upon the reports of receipts for the calendar year. An adjustment is made. from year to year, and the salaries fixed. In connection with the auditing of the accounts, there seems to be from year to year a holdover making it impossible to close out the accounts promptly at the close of the year. The CHAIRMAN. Why is that? Mr. SPILMAN. I am not able to say. It is a matter that occurs in the Accounting Office. The CHAIRMAN. In the General Accounting Office? Mr. SPILMAN. Yes, sir. Some questions arise, I presume, in settling the accounts, and the accounts are suspended or held open. The CHAIRMAN. These are suspended accounts held for adjustment on some disputed questions? Mr. SPILMAN. Yes, sir; on some disputed claims, or it may be in connection with the postmaster's compensation itself, or some other |