The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1901-07-20
UNCLE SANS Spoilers.
Especially the Man in Europe who Looks
Out for Sinugglers.

Especially the Man in Europe who LOOKS
Out for S,nuggiers.
uncle Sans large and wellorgan-
lied secret service is made uD mostly
of men who come properly under the
head of detectives with police powers,
but It has It's class of bona fide spot
tiers, whose entire duty it is to insra-
tiate themselves with persons suspect
ed of having designs to evade, the
custom house duties and to warn the
baggage inspectors at this end OF the
impending swindle. In cleverness. ad-
dress and adaptability the secret ser
vice spotter is easily at the head
his profession. and even ranks witf
the trained experts of the European
diplomatic corps. It Is essential that
he should be a man of the. world. for
he must associate with all kinds OF
people on equal terms. He has no
fixed abode, but lives in various Euro
pean capitals when he is not on ship
board, where he is much of the time.
He must never let himself be in the
slightest degree suspected. There Is
always a number of these agents In
Paris, because of the great American
trade there. They live at the fashion
able hotels and live the life. apparent
ly. of flaneurs and boulevardiers. In
all lines of trade that concern duti-
able goods they are experts. and no
large purchase by an American In
Paris Is unknown to them. Their cir
Gle of acquaintance is enormous. but
nobody knows them for what they are.
In one way or another they contrive
to make the acquaintance OF any per-
son whom they suspect. and unosten-
tatiously but unremittingly trail him.
Many time some man who has made
a heavy purchase Of diamonds or
laces and so disposed them that he
felt sure of being able to get them
through the port undiscovered has
been passed on the dock by a chance
acquaintance of the voyage over who,
unseen, presses a little note into the
hand of the customs inspector. That
note tells all that the willy smuggler
would wish to keep secret. and his
baggage is mercilessly ransacked until
the hidden articles are brought to
light. He has been followed over by
the spotter. Men employed in this
line get good pay-as high as $40
day-but it costs them much to live in
the manner in which they must main
tain themselves.
Suspicious as it is of swindles from
without, the government is more trust
full of the employees in its financial
centre than in any private corpora
ton. In the U. s. treasury the whole
output of the nations currency is
handled by men who are under neither
surveillance nor bond. The paying
teller handle 40 or so millions year.
The exchange clerk has every day
$50, 900 in change at hand. The money
in charge of the keeper of the cash
room runs from $170, 100000 upward,
and the chief of the issue division,
who is a negro. handles millions every
day. Any of these men could get
away with enormous amounts Of
money and be reasonably secure
against detection for a considerable
length Of time. Nevertheless. pecula-
tions from the treasury have been few
and small in amount. during its his
tory. There is an axiom In the de-
partment which runs as follows:
wherever money is handled there
is point which the honesty of the
individual must be the main reliance
"And so the treasury dispenses with
the services of spoilers. However,
private business interests involving
the handling of large sums of money
are not likely to follow this example.
Spoilers may be an evil. but they
are necessity in the present phase
of human development, and until some
psychological chemist devises a prepa-
ration to make men honest. the type
is likely to persist. H. Adams. in
Ainslee's.