HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 109 TO INVESTIGATE THE POST OFFICE NOVEMBER 17, 1911 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE HE6331 copy 2 COMMITTEE ON EXPENDITURES IN THE POST OFFICE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. [Committee room, room 293, House Office Building. Telephone 589. Meets on call.] WILLIAM A. ASHBROOK Ohio, Chairman. JOSHUA W. ALEXANDER Missouri. RICHARD W. AUSTIN, Tennessee. ERNEST CORNELL, Clerk. LEWIS PUBLISHING CO. ST. LOUIS, MO., Friday, November 17, 1911. The committee met at 9.48 o'clock a. m., Hon. William A. Ashbrook (chairman) presiding. Present: Representatives Ashbrook, Alexander, Redfield, McCoy, Towner, and Austin. There were also present Mr. James J. Britt, Third Assistant Postmaster General; Mr. W. D. Wheeler, of the Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster General; Mr. E. C. Madden, attorney in fact for the Lewis Publishing Co.; Mr. Louis Cohen; and Mr. E. G. Lewis. The CHAIRMAN. I want to again call the attention of the committee to the fact that this will be our last day at this time in St. Louis, and it is important to examine as many witnesses as possible and to get as much of the facts as we may. Therefore I hope that the members of this committee will be as expeditious as possible. Mr. BRITT. I will be delighted to cooperate with you in that. I want to make this further statement: I have no right or disposition to ask the committee to discommode its sessions for me. If I could leave the city on that 4.30 train it would be a very great favor, for the reason my annual report is unfinished, and you gentlemen will be wanting it next month. I carried it with me in rough draft, but have not been able to devote any time to it. Anything I can do to expedite the hearings in Washington I shall be glad to do, and if you will close in time to allow me to get that 4.30 train it would be appreciated highly. Mr. ALEXANDER. I move that these hearings close at 4 o'clock this afternoon. Mr. REDFIELD. I second the motion. (Carried.) TESTIMONY OF J. W. HOLBROOK. (The witness was sworn by the chairman.) Mr. LEWIS. Mr. Holbrook, will you state your name and occupation, please? Mr. HOLBROOK. J. W. Holbrook, of Holbrook-Blackwelder Real Estate Trust Co. Mr. LEWIS. What was the volume of your real-estate transactions last year, or year before? Mr. HOLBROOK. I don't know that. Mr. LEWIS. In round figures. Mr. HOLBROOK. Our business ranges all the way from ten to twenty million dollars a year, with the exception of last been a dull year. year. Last year has |