, 1889-04-18
'FHE GRAND jURY.
DETAILS OF THE INVESTIGATION
lsr.la tho DAILY Arer. Of ridax, Aprtl 1

be United TIA es grand jury mad
their re~Ort yesterday and were dis
Charged from further service by Jnd =
ilanford. After the jIrY tuck TIER seat
K. K. Latimer the foreman handed +
the judge bund e of papers nf 1hic
he examined ca-cfuliY AMI announce,
that seven bills had been found true
banding them to District Clerk Whit g
sey, be requested them to bo fIed III th,
presence oi the grand jury. Then open
IGg the pape: the jndge read their repor
on the building at present occupied q.
the c"-tom house. IL it ;he jury strong
y recommended thar the WORK be re-
ueWed on the now building. The judge
ordered that certified copy of tie re-
port be sent to the secretary Of the treas.
nIy.
The seven bills of indictment are
made up as follows: Against. Beccher
Brooks and Harmed on charges as
stated, two bills eacL-Thornton for
smuggling one b:ll Col. J. c. Haines,
Col. james Hamilton Lewis aud Messers
Coleman and Calhoun have been retained
for the defense in The custom b1use
cases.
There has probably never baca Z
grand jury in SESSION which attracted
the attention of the people of Port Town
send as much a. the one discharged yes
terday- As was expected, Indictments
were found against three of the most i'm
portant ex-ofliciaIs Of :ha custom house.
and the conrt rom waP crowded with
friends of those who II was expected
would be indicted, and 10 one instance a
principal sat waiting to hear the result
of the jury's deliberatiun. The ARGUS
learned that the records and accounts of
tine customs district bad been gone over
and thoroughly oveFhau!ed and audited
Tor the first tir in many years, by the
government officials who were sent out
here by the treasury department espec-
lalIy deputized to make personal inves-
tigat m of the many charges preferred
by the press and individuals during the
last few years, The Puget Sound GUS
toms district has been charged with cor
tuptfon and gross Irregularities. Last
January MIR. Leslie CullOm, who was
appointed collector of customs. and Mr..
5. l.. LuDton an expert accountant from
the first auditors Office came out from
Washington, D. C., Special Agent Crow
ley, or ds he is often spoken CT here, as
Mysterious Crowley" had partially ex-
amined the records and dismissed W.
liam NJ. HarEed, special deputy under
Collector Brooks, last October, This
and the result of the partial invesIiga-
ton was reported to tbedepartment and
Mr.. Lupton was detailed to make an in
vestigatien of the condition of affairs in
the office. As soon us Or. Lupton
finished his investigation the report
was forwarded to Washington afterwards
going there himself. II is learned that
the records had been kept i'll a very neg
ligent manner, and in many cases not
kept at all. After an examination OF the
accounts of Acting Collector Granville
W. Thurman, and which were found to
have been kept in systematic manner,
and in. the books provided by the GOV
ernment, the accounts OF Quincy \.
Brooks, the late collector, were inyesli,
gated, the accountant going back as far
as April OF last year. The first difficulty
encountered was lot Of stubs in the
blue book - signedin blank, and others
not signed at all. These stubs and theil
duplicates are numbered conseCutiyely
and are arranged in books OF fifty each
and are used in receipting fOr everything
but tonnage dues, the payor keeping the
receipt signed by the dcputy collector
while the stubbs signed by the payor i
forwarded to the department. Thes'
blue book stubs, having been signed il
| blank, were kept in such manner as I,
prevent an y accurate account OF none.
received being noted. None OF the clerk
in the office could explain the reason 70
having the stubs signed in blank. i
Ian ther part OF the office the same chaI
acter OF receipts were found, but Wer
iprinted on white paper not issued by tn
| Government, and it is - d that for year
the receipts provided by the governmer
had been torn out Of tne receipt boo
and destroyed, and in leu thereof whit
unoficialIsliPs were usei, and on vhic
larger fees than that allowed by Law Eel
Invariably charged. Information ha
already reached Washington that thes
white individual receipts were issued ,
the customs officials here prior to the 4
Trivial OF Mr.. Cul!om, and the discover
made after his and Mr.. Lupton's arriv
verified the report. About the time
the beginning of the investigation, firm
in Seattle and Tacoma who had pa
oyercharges on duties and fees. III
who had been endeavoring to get 4 settl
ment from the custom house, broug1
their receipts to the office and demand,
"a rebate. There was found in exama
ing the stubs corresponding in date Al
signature to the receipt presented. d
crepancy in every instance, the books Il
fered in varisus amounts from the vouc
ers produced. This caused an inquiry /
other receipts issued, and the collector
cured large number Of them, each
> which shows thai the payers we
! charged more than was credited on t
4 books. This is extortion in office anC
Il violation OF Sec. 54SI, K. S. Aninstar
is recited: When the British steam
g Sardonyx Was given receipts for $500 &
:, and 1920 respectively the blue stu
k showed that only $500 and 500 h