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TRUCKS, TUBES, AND MAIL ROBBERS 297
The mails are inviolate public property, and any type of tampering with them involved offenses far more serious than ordinary thieving. As a public servant at the head of the largest department having universal impact on the whole country, I felt it my duty to resort to any measure necessary to ensure protection of the mails.
The shooting by a marine of a suspect about to climb aboard a mail car in Wisconsin led to prolonged correspondence with the governor of the state, who wanted the marine turned over to him for trial. While the question raised by Governor Blaine was not new, it was nevertheless very important. The issues of federal authority superseding state authority in certain matters has been settled again and again by the Supreme Court. But for an off-the-record opinion, a New York newspaper rendered a succinct answer to the whole question, amplifying the point of view already set forth in my communications to Governor Blaine. The newspaper stated quite correctly that Governor Blaine was not responsible for the security of the mails; that the federal, not the state, government is; that soldiers cannot be trained "to expect that if they obey orders they will land in a county jail"; and that we could not afford to train outlaws to look for easy money every time they saw a mailbag.
Early in 1922 the marines were called off when our own force of postal guards was strong enough and sufficiently well trained to meet any crisis. On March 4, 1922, we released figures showing that, from May 1 92 1 to March 1922, $300,000 was stolen, with the exception of the October New York mail robbery, which was the result of the failure of officials to carry out the orders of the department. The improvement we attributed to arming and training postal employees, offering the rewards, and using marines. One hundred and twenty-three persons were arrested over the year in connection with mail robberies; thirtyfour were convicted, fifteen were discharged or acquitted, and the remainder awaited trial.
Before leaving this subject I can't help recalling the touch Will Rogers added to alleviate the gravity of the situation. One night when we were both attending the same dinner, Will came up to me and said:
"Suppose you noticed, speaking of what's happening up here, that we've had right smart of mail robberies'?"
"Yes," I said. "Several people have spoken to me about that."
"I've been talkin' to people about it too," said Rogers. "Looks like they're tryin' t' git politics into it."
"No!"
"Yessir! The Democrats are claimin' there wasn't no robberies when they were runnin' the mails."
"They are?"