New-York tribune., 1874-03-11

come in contact Ana no" Pf"fo'o W "ooo"" ~ -
s,,,o African in that fence. am going TO show you
how Il happens l., 49,, o,,, o,d
,S..d ,n the hands of gentleman who is discreet lie
AZ connected II you please, with the Marshars ONCE,
He must be 90 connected He is taken into room anu
old exactly what he must do. In fact MS praouco ~
become 80 largo that he rs an expert In tho ouSino
His duties are to go to the merchant with posse VI
uen ahey need not be intelligent, but they aio
enerally strong powerfu looking men). aud he que'y
savs IN tho nerchant In the morning tor THIS "ariS
has got to be served between sunrise anu suuuo".
shave q very unpleasant business 10 Perio'o 80
morning. i have writ OF attachment ior S'u' 49,
and papers," The merchant, OF course oeoon'o' ~ ~
uhemed He had heard something about these matters
$50 hut no had never had them brought home 10
MIN Ue saws; "What is there wrongP Ihe omcer
.avs OF do not know anything about IT, merely ha'o
an attachment for your books ana papers Inc N"
,mnulse of the merchant Is to get lhoignan" " io"
and mitch and swear Gf he does not belong 70 M tne
snnrch, But presently he cools down. He says: we
- ~, sons apv wrong" The Marshal says very
s,s,. art appears 10 me that with your views on
,no .pbiect there cannot be any difhcuiy aoou'
,h,s thing You seem to thinK you "'o
ure,y free from any guilt and nave 10 uVuo.
mat YOU win make 1t appear So" AT once inc
.n,ns 70 see a little daylight Then the Marshal WIN
nav 70 him ct shall tell You what can DO heeu ~,
.rve this warrant If please, II do serve u Sn'a
$50 % hiring your books and papers 70 the court "uu
these reporters who hanging around are 'eis u'
bellovs and the thing will get into tine papers i ~
.tely and tue people in your trade VIII sii te' W "
,bout IL right away 1t ia very unpleasant thougn "
.eally does not amount 70 great deal nave nsu
mod deal 70 d. with such matters with the most res
ooctahN houses in New-York. We generally take the
monks down 10 the Special Agent and the thng Is set
,,ed IN few days" The old merchant thinks abou' as
much IN I've minutes as drowning man VIII tnlnK "no
.ees all the events of his life brought before him. ana
nf mi
minutes He SAYS TO himself, Discretion Is "e pet'er
mar; OF yalor" and then he to the officer you
San have my books ard papers have not uoilo anS
tbng wrong and am sure that my niIn mas not A"o
officer says: That Is very sensible thing; put oS n
way am an officer Of the court, and am ooiseu ~
make return 10 the warrant unless you spulae tnat
tins is done on your accord" He gives him paper
10 .,op and the merchant signs his name 10 the snpua-
on that the officer IL 10 take the books and papers 10
the Special Agents Office and that they are 10 DC Kep'
there so long as the Special Agent shall require 'ne''
for examination The books then put into the cart
and taken to the Special Agents Office Inc ePceia'
Agent OF course receives the visitor with great osah
ness He is very sorry to meet the merchant uhder
such circumstances and he hopes that little examina
on will tasfy him and the whole party that there ls
some mistake about it, lie is very familiar WIN ths
merchants father his brother he knows the urn 10
be respectable andshe very sorry for the aar Ihen
he saws: am very glad 10 that You have taken
your own accord. 1t does not amount 10 anything
have no doubt you will make the thing satisfactory"
PRESSURE 10 WHICH THE MERCHANT sUCCUABs.
Wei, perhaps at that very same interview OF al SUP
seaueut one Special Agent begins 10 tell the mer
chant the enormy Of his case 1t was one OF the
worst that came 10 his knowledge oi course
is merely technical bat still sum Of not less than
$500 600 involved and perhaps he goes to the form OF
pointing out the particulars TO the merchant; and the
man for the first time begins TO wake up and find where
ne is He finds that little item was overlooked IN this
Invoice Of $4,000 aud another little item in an invoice
OF eeOOO that the Of telegraph or something was
omitted and that the whole invoice is forfeited Then
he begins to think that there Is something in IT, and no
begins TO be alarmed. The Special Agent says TO him.
"Itis pretty serious case; have you GOT counsel y
"Yes" hWel1, who is your counsel" :" "Mr so-ands0
tnaming some other gentleman). The Special Agent
says in reply; "He is a very good gentleman, but he
does not understand TIE revenue laws. Now suggest
20 you that You get some counsel who is familiar with
the revenue laws, and then we will have no difficulty
sbOuti because will be able 10 get at the thing lie
understands all the durks and turnings Of the law and
We will be able to let you have your books in few days.
That very kind suggestion on the part of tbs Special
Agent This Special Agent is regardeda as wonderfully
clever man. I have heard some gentleman tsay So l
have heard say that he even went so far as TO suS
gest counsel that he certainly would not nave done
that II he meant fight Wen, after that need say 10
settle % Nothing but settle" No nght after that 1t
becomes worse and worse every day. The horrors of
prison the entire loss Of property. loom MP before HIM
In the mean time what happensi know what l am
talking about for have sat a Bank Board in New
York and know how the thing works. II gets whis-
pered about that this firm has been "struck
by the Government for very large sum, generally
million or half million Of dollars. Maybe little line
In the newspapers first appears like this We regret to
hear that soaDdso been charged with great frauds
wpon the Government, amounting 20 half million OF
dollars" when perhapsgthe difference Is not over nfty
dollars Then the bank directors begin TO whisper
around, and say: : 81 guess will not discount that
mans this morning until We see how this thing
turns OUT The next discount lday comes around and
again the bank directors decline TO discount his notes
Then the merchant begins feel squeeze. The thing
becomes whispered around, and his credit becomes i'm
paired Money-enders begin to say that they cannot
afford to take any Of the notes OF this firm until
they hear the end Of this Customhouse case. His dis
counts down his notes begin to fall due and where
his account OF these notes 70 enable him 20 know
when they are due His books and papers IN the
bands the Treasury Agent and therefore he cannot
settle with his he begins TO feel the pressure
terribly He IS afraid, and 1t is not the conscience
always that this dirty work and makes this horrd
feeling come upon the mani but 1t IS the fact Of the
situation that he is in which makes the man feel like
dying. because merchants reputation is next to bis
hie Itself This then turns around and asks "What
be Z" He has his counsel 10 De sure,
whois always ready to meet him and 10 advise him,
but he finds that Il is always Terrible, unfortunate.
onyoying larger and larger sums every day. And then
view of his loss Of credit, his loss of business and
the suspicious Of his Ineighbors, and OF his
competition. In trade flor are not always 80 generous
~ we ought to be. aud when we hear OF a hrm being
"struck~ we are apt TO think OF a great many mean
,hno Of a. and 10 say that them rghOin view
all this what is the RESULT Settlement. First comes
the suggestion that IL settled ,for s2OOo0o The