New-York tribune., 1874-03-11

ha meaning of this phrase and we find these reguia
tions sometimes very inoOngruous You have on your
table big volume of Treasury regulations, ana
should like TO ask you take hold OF them some rainy
day and commence TO road them to 500 how many nom
hor. of tho Committee will agree about them Will
guarantee that you will be about equally divided upon
sny question that you raise in regard to those regu"
tions
Mr. BEcK-It would tako rainy month Instead o'
day. s..
Mr. sCiIUIrz-These Treasury regulations. although
they may OF service TO the Collector are dead e'o
m the merobans Not per cent OF the merchants OF
New-Yor Boston havo ever read thoso regulations
In fact they got tho. aud there Ia way by
which they can obtain them. The merchants have got
TO read the law. and they try to comply with the law
But the Treasury regulations do not help them out
mnoh What do these Treasury regulations say In re-
card tn boxes covers and sacks The Secretary has
construed the law include cartons talked with the
President the United States the other day and he dd
not know what cartons were and did not know mySeh
TIL recently. They little paper boxes In whien
gloves, handkerchief, &C., come. These little paper
boxes are packed inside of the general boxes ANY
honest common sense fellow reading the law would
naturally say that did not apply to these inside boxes
at ALL The Secretary OF the Treasury in 1864 did Issue
instructions the effect that they were not to DO In
cuded IN the cost OF tho goods But he TOOK
second thought and modified his order, and said That
they were to be included. But that change or order
20 on for yoa omtng these cartons from their invoices
until these gentlemen in New-York have got two or
three hundred thousand dollars worth Oh Invoices
and then they strike the merchant They come around
and sweep them into their net, and they have caught
them. Three or four OF these houses I am told arc
absolutely ruined. / riding down Broadway the
other day with friend Of mine. and no pointed
out a house to me and said, six months
ago 1 would have sold that man q hundred
thousand doarsworth Of goods on six months credit
To-day he cannot pay his bills" asked him what the
matter was He said He has been struck by the Gus
toni TO the amount ohree four or five hundred
thousand dollars and do not think he wasieyer worth
moro than one hundred fifty two hundred thou
sand dollars" OF course, my attention was drawn TO
that case and have lately beon sort OF physician
cases. feelng mems pulses soon after got hold
of this mans pulse and felt t hope tho man will reooy-
or financially If not physically may say lust here that
whatever knowledge have on this subject | do not
propose TO detail by giving names and dates, but VIII
have the Committee to believe my statement as 1t
pleases without going into details. do not ask tho
Committee TO give any Interpretation to my remarks
that may not be fair and just, and do not want the
Committee 10 say TO me, "n you do not su6stantiate
your statement in all Its details We shall strike out your
testimony" assure you. the honor OF man. that
can substantiate my statements and IL you give US
select Committee TO the city of NewYork. We
shall subsanate every statement that there has been
made or will be made here by do not want to use
the elegant expression Of the Treasury agent and say
that do not to wash our dirty linen in washing
tom but will wash little cambric In Nowfork, II
YOU give a special Committee.
HOW THE DETECTIVE Business n CONDUCTED
The way that thing is done Is this Suppose. Mr..
Chairman. that you and were In PARIS. and buy 800
francs of goods sndi for thom. and put the
bills our pockets go TO Hayre and take passage for
New York. after getting certificate, &C. Suppose ve
had estimated the lot of goods the receiving and pack
Ing Of them, Americans do, to some commission
merchant there-s who Is a sort Of broker to do
that kind OF business aud oblige gentlemen, He packs
goods and gives information, and is found very conyo-
nIent speaking as he does various languages tMr.
Roberts knows all about IT, Well, We have come to
NewYork; we have paid duties, as we think, like
honest men. But some clerk IN our employment or
somebody fter year two tells the Customhouse
officials that have been robbing the Government.
lie has remembered this circumstance, and knows that
We are very exact in keeping letters IN one place
and invoices In another and he tells the official
where to find the letter which followed us, and which
contained charge against US OF two francs for boxing
these goods and of one franc for mendng something,
and on amounting 10 three four francs altogether
and naming the article to which this charge is attached
The information and proof furnished TO the officer
who swears out attachment, and comes and takes
our books and papers, ssys "There Is the proof"
IL idle anything The proof is there and
We are mulcted Of tho whole amount That is small
occurred In all these instances There is no
genius about this detective business people think
The operation TO get possession OF quarterly account
current do not know whether the Committee Ia IA
miar current An account current Is an
account running between two parties, and made up
quarterly hafyeary or yearly, and contains all tho
little items for postage, telegraphng expressage &c,
that have accumulated I'm the OF that time which
have not been added aud to which there were no
ticular goods that they could be charged Every iIn
porting with large business has constantly these
little accounts running on, and II one OF these special
agents got hold of the merchants account current
he has got him say 10 this Committee that hera
is not mercantile firm Of NewYOrk which is doing
importing business of any amount that cannot be caught
In that way. And make tho most OF 1t. say that
If TO add little things to the price OF the goods
required constitute the honest man. there is not
honest man in city Every man feels it. Let me
give you illustrations thought there were two
honest In NewYork but since have been hearing
confessions land that has been my business for the last
month or two these gentlemen have been heard to
marx awe have dealt with the Custom-house many
years and We have had no trouble with IT, 7 do not
anticipate any trouble do not think that honest
man Will ever have any trouble with tho Custom
house"
As these gentlemen were friends OF mne wrote po
Ito notes to them, saying that had heard this and in
vitng them to call. saying 1 wanted to honest
man. and to talk the matter over. They did So When
came to explain to them the situation they said. "wo
will go right home and see."
In less than four hours one OF these to me
and ito use his expressOD) he said, 81 up 10
here" (up TO his chin. (Laughter He was the most
honest In NewYork up 10 that time, but all at
once he had become dishonest and had been r0bbing |
the Government and for the first time he found 1t out
think the whole amount was no than $50 $40
The other did substantially the same thing, except
that when he was told that single item in the invoice