The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-21
WAKEMAN REMOVED.
President SummariIy Fires Apprais-
er of Port Of New York.

President Summarily Fires Apprais-
er of Port of New York.
Washington. Dec. 20.-At a conference
today between the president and Secre-
tary Gage it was decided to summarily
remove Appraiser Wakeman. Mr.. Wake
man wrote the president attacking Sec
rotary Gage. The president refused to
entertain the charges or overlook the
offensive character of the letter.
Later the official announcement was
made at the White House that Mr.. Wake
man had been removed and that George
/ W. Whitehead, late. collector Of customs
Of Porto Rico, had been appointed to sue
coed him. No further announcement was
made. Secretary Gage declined to make
public Mr.. Wakeman's letter.
Alfred " Brown, the appraiser of mer-
I chandise at the port of Boston, has been
ordered TO New York to take charge OF
( the appraisers office there, pending the
nomination of George W Whitehead To
succeed Mr.. Wakeman, which will be sent
to the senate on its recOnvening Jan. 8.
Mr.. Wakeman viii vacste his office to-
morrow.
New York, Dee. GOV. T. Wakeman,
appraiser Of merchandise Of the port of
New York, who has been removed from
Office by order of President Roosevelt,
made public tonight the contents of the
n
Gage, which was the immediate cause
of his removal Wakeman was re-
queSted to resign on Dec. 6. On Dec
Is he wrote to Secretary Gage, declining
to tender his resignation and giving his
reasons for this refusal. Mr.. Wakeman
says in the letter that his resignation
would be an admission that his official
administration has not in every respect
been honest and efficient" He points
out that in 1899 his continuance in Of
fee was recommended and that he had
received the high recommendation of
the secretary himself for results &C
cOmplished.
Mr.. Wakeman goe- on to say that his
resignation would be a ''tacit indorse-
ment of the administration of c. l..
Spalding, assistant secretary since
March, 1899," and he compares that ad-
ministration Unfavorable, as il affected
his office, with that of ". B. Howell,
assistant secretary from July, 1897, to
March, 1899.
Further on, Mr.. Wakeman takes I'd
the recent japanese silk fraud cases
at this port. In this connection he
says:
MY resignation will be an ad-
mission that in connection with the
AC1CAA JdpdIcSE s4ih IGduQS i was
mistaken. No greater frauds upon the
revenue have been discovered than in
these cases, which included under-VaI-
uations wrong classification and false
invoice weights. These cases first
reached you through a report from a
prominent importer in Chicago. and
were the subject of investigation BY
this Office. Subsequently. upon conf
dental information, I attempted to
correct the abuses complained of. The
cases were Of such a serious character
that l felt it necessary to have some
confidential officer representing you
Identified with me in the cases. I asked
for this cooperation from the depart
ment and it was denied me-
Continuing, Mr.. Wakeman said Of
the silk cases.
i submitted to the department re-
ports from day to day upon this in
vestigation, and on Sept. 6, 1901. in
formed the department that I was
making careful investigation Of the
invoices Of a certain house with a view
OF showing that frauds existed. In this
matter 1 was practically directed not
to make further investigation.