The Portland daily press., 1875-06-15
Our New York Letter.
The Clafin lndicfment-HsisfOry of the
Silk Frauds-The Beecher Trial.
NEW YORK. JUNE IA

NEW YORK, JUNE Ii, 1919.
The Indictment of the several members of the
firms of Fl. b Claiin & Co. dry goods mer-
chants and Field, Morris, Fenner & Co. auc-
tioneers, constitutes memorable chapter in
the history of a-ereat conspiracy for defraud-
ing the federal revenue In 1870 one Charles
L. Lawrence, companion and protege of
Tweed, and Secretary of the Amercus Club,
whose orgies have given such unenviable no.
oriety to the seaside town of Greenwich, Conn,
conceived the idea of opening new fields of dis
honest enterprise by establishing a gigantic
system of smuggling. Modern ingenuity has
given an air of romance to crimes. Ordinarily
stealing has been supposed to be a result of
sudden temptation inspired by necessity and
encouraged by opportunity. But the painful
decension of morality consequent upon the
success and mpunity with which the most glar-
ing depredations have been perpetrated not on
ly upon the municipal treasury, but upon the
shareholders of several corporations in New
York during the past fifteen years, has been
demonstrated by the exceeding effrontery With
which raids upon property have been organ
lied and prosecuted. 1t seems incredible that
men not absolutely out of the pale of society nor
melted by pressing want, should iocuf the risk
of pecuniary loss, and felon's doom in the ef-
fort to enrich themselves by robberies which
are constantly liable to detection in spite OF the
most wary precautions. A fraternity of rogues
can never be safe. Betrayal is as possible from
within as discovery from without. Knaves
are naturally distrustful of each other. Mo-
tves of avarice, fear, revenge may at any
moment impel some one of the gang to expose
+,o hot hi5t obar Sball ba
requited by exemption from penalty.
But the associations of Lawrence had not
been favorable to a calm contemplation Of the
hazards of villainy He was accustomed to
quaff his wine in that guady temple at Green
wich of which every stone and rafter had been
stolen. The companions of his revels were
thieves who boldly Haunted their plunder before
the eyes of their victims. They laughed at the
peris of the, law, as well they might since its
makers and expounders were the creatures of
their will. So far from stunning this den of
inq uity excursionists were attracted thither to
admire the glitter of its adornments and to par
take the patroniziEg hospitality Of its emhaz-
oned corypheus. The juvenile wards of Ameri-
cas- metropolis were treated to holiday that
they might go and witness the pomp and luxu-
rounded and moraze upon the contrast they
presented to the wretched gang who were daily
marched in lock step to and from cell and quar-
ry, in their sight. for petty larcenies often in
duced by hunger and nakedness And the
adult guardians who accompanied these chill
dren made complimentary addresses to the
chief of the gang, and afterwards commemor-
ated the visit in glowing chronicles of the mu-
nificence of their hosts which are still to be
ound in the archives of the city.
1t is not surprising that under such tutelage
the ambitious Secretary of the Amercusses
grew into the belief that the easiest way to op-
ulence was to cast off all restraints of honesty
He acted upon this doctrine with vigorous ener-
gy He turned his attention to silks, which by
reason of their being subject to duty of 60
| per cent and not especially bulky promised the
| best chances of profit His plans were laid
| with extraordinary deliberatOn and method.
Having selected his confederates they agreed
upon lexicon of cipher, sufficiently compre
| hensive and complete to embrace every con-
| ceivable form of correspondence. Thus pre-
| pared, Lawrence embarked for Europe and en-
| tered upon his operations. The scheme was to
| invoice the silks as hosiery, and to send one
! package of hosiery with each shipment. This
| package was, by collusion with one Des Anses
| then Deputy Collector who was party to the
| FRAUD 10 be sent to the appraisers store " ex-
| animation. The other cases, seven IN NUMBER
were delivered to the smugglers. The saving
of duty on each was about $4,000. Lawrence
| received S4OO in gold and $50 in currency as
| his share of the spoil. What was paid TO Des
| Anges has not yet transpired. He says he on
| " secured 5000 fer all he did, but that seems
| incredible, and is not substantiated by reliable
| evider ce.
For a considerable time the transactions of
this redoubtable band were limited, owing to
| the difficulty of finding buyers. A reasonable
care for their safety compelled them to make
surreptitious sales, and few merchants ven-
tured TO purchase goods without knowing that
they had been regularly entered and cleared
| through the Custom House. 1t was not until
the summer or autumn of 1872 that Mr.. Tai
cott, the head OF Clafn q Go silk depart
ment, discovered where silks could be bought
at less than the cost of Importation Since