New-York tribune., 1874-03-14

! firm waS allowed TO be present at tle exam
nation of the invoices or to explain any al
legged discrepancies. The money was paid.
But in two or three days Noah DAVIS went
ont of office and George Bliss came in. and
then there was u demand for $4,000 more;
80 the case was finally compromised for
! s27i .Ol1.
| After il was all over Mr.. Dodge was per
mitted TO learn that he had been outrageously
swindled Up to this time il must be remem-
Dered, he did not know of what precise oiiense
his firm stood accused nor wharf the invoices
were for which he was required to pay
letter from Mr.. Bliss now showed that the
amount OF alleged undervaluation for five
wears was only SG,jjS, and the loss of duty to
the Government was but 1858 IF we had
"known what we know nOw,' said MIR. Dodge,
tive never should have paid the money
The firm learned after while the names of
the vessels in which the coniscatod invoices
were shipped, and the evidence upon which
| the. C oyernment depended, and were thus able
| 10 guess what the irregularty was which had
cost them so dear. There were two invoices
of block tin. bought at Singapore ana IN
voiced at the price there paid for it. although
Tit was afterwards sent from Singapore 10
Penang to be shipped on an American vessel.
Under regulation of the Treasury Depart
ment the mode of invoicing seemed to be
proper, but Mr.. Jayne is understood to insist
| that the cost of shipment from Sim
gapore to Penang, rendered in the
annual accOunt-currcnt of the Penang
correspondent of the house long afterward,
ought TO have been added to the first cost.
| M Of .hn
- 900 The other irregularities occurred in
small sums in the course of the shipments OF
the firm from Liverpool. Mr.. Dodge explains
that all his invoices of tin are bought on long
| contracts, at a prearranged price. III IL hld
been only necessary for him to enter them at
the actual cost the transactions at the Gus
tom-house would have been simple enough.
| But if tin rises, he must mark his
| invoices mp to the market prlce at
the time of shipment. Moreover the extra
| large sizes of tin, of which he I'M
| ports large quantity, are purchased by the
| ton but shipped and inyoiced by the box OF
| 1l2 or pa lbs. Hence in making out the ln-
voices there is considerable calculation to be
done, and it must always be done III great
burry In tile course of a large business,
| sIipht mistakes are inevitable; but Mr.. Dodge
| showed that in o majority OF III -tances the
! lirrn had made the inrOices too high instead 81
| TOO lor, and in one year the over
| valuation amounted to no less than
! $3.50 OOO-the very sum for which Jayne
first consented to compromise his out
rageous claim Anybody who wants
to believe that this rich and honorable finn
stopped to perjury and fraud for the sake Of
! 81, inf of
| by excessive consciontousness it was over
paying the Government by forty times that
| amount is welcome to his opinion: we shall
| not try to argue with him.
The so-caled duplicate invoices, which the
| dishonest clerk stole and carried away, were
not invoices at all, but the bills of the manu-
facturers, mailed to the NcwfOrlt firm for
certain purposes which Mr.. Dodge explains
and pasted INTO the books. The informer,
| Hervey, tore them out and took them to
jayne Those which showed, upon careful
| calculation. an differentiation, were used In
this threatened suit Those much more con
siderable. which showed an Orcr valuation were
probably destroyed at all events, Mr. Dodge
never got them back. and the Government
officers never took them into account
And now comes the question, why did inno-
cent men pay S27l 900 instead of going into
court and proving their innocence I That too
we think is made clear. They nerer knew wih
rhat they were charged. From beginning to
end they were subjected TO IA system of terror
ling Their books were kept from them;
they were assured that the Special Agent had
discovered unheard of frauds; they were told
that their case was one of the worst in Mr..
Jayne's experience, that they had forfeited
nearly two millions of dollars, that they could
be sent to Jail for long term of years They
went to Washington, and there they
found Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, as the
Special Agents counsel, breathing threat
enings and slaughter. Secretary Boutwell,
urged them to go to trial, and promised if the
case went against them to give 1t his personal
consideration; but Mr. Boutwell, was then
candidate for the Senate. and he would be out
of the Treasury before their case could be
reached. Besides, it would be a terrible blow
to the credit of the firm if the news should be
telegraphed all over the world that the United
States had sued them for Sl,75O,OOO for alleged
frauds upon tho revenue. They compromised
for sum which, large as it was, they could
afford to pay rather than risk the loss of every
thing by an open fight. Now that it is seen upon
how slight foundation this great case was
built up it is easy enough to say-Mr. Dodge
SAYS himself-that it was foolish to yield to
Mr.. Jayne's threats. But it was not so easy
to be wise in the dark.
The Dodge case will probably be the last of
its kind in our history. The Committee of
Ways and Means has given an impartial hear
;n,. 30 hot ciH Of ha in m