Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1901-06-26
UNCLE SANS. spoilers.
Especially tho Man in Europe Who Looks
Out for smugglers.

Out for smuGglers.
Uncle Sans large and well;organ-
lied secret service is made up mostly
of men who come properly under the
head of detectives with police powers,
but it has its class Of bona ddes spot
ters, whose entire duty it is to fingra-
tiate themselves with persons suspects
ed of having designs to evades theT
custom house duties and toswarn the I
baggage inspectors at this end of the
impending swindle. In cleverness. adj
dress and adaptability the secret ser
vice spotter is easily at the head OF
his profession. and even ranks with
the trained experts of the European
diplomatic corps. 1t is essential that
he should be man of he1world, 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 DE in the
slightest degree suspected. FFhere is.
always 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 faneurs and bouleyardiers. In
all lines Of trade that concerngdtt
able goods they are experts and no
large purchase by an American IN
Paris is unknown to them. Their lcir-
Gle of acquaintance is enormous but
nobody knows them for what theytare.
In one way or another they contriyes
to make the acquaintance of any per
son whom they suspect. and unosten-s
tatiously but unremittingly trail HIM. nm. G
Many time some man who has mfde
a heavy purchase of diamond is ttor
laces and so disposed then hat ihe5
felt sure of being able .tS se.f /, I'M, IN
through the port undisco oyered as 7
been passed on the dock by q cha ce
acquaintance of the voyage over 5iRslo,
unseen, presses 2 little note into the
hand of the customs inspector. That
note tells all that the willy s1nugglerS
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 asF$l0 a.
day-but it costs them much toIliye in
the manner in which they must main
tain themselves. IS ~.
Suspicious as it Is of swindles from
without, the government is moro trust
full of the employees in. it's financial
centre than in any private cotpora-
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 a year.
The exchange clerk, has every day
100000 in change at hand. The money
in charge of the keeper Of the 5cash
room runs from 17O,O00,000 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 5of
money and be reasonably secure
against detection for n considerable
length Of time Nevertheless. pecula-
tions from the treasury have been few.
and small in amount. during It's his
tory. There is an axiom in the de-
partmcnt which -uns as followss
Wherever money is handled there
is a 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 oflmoney-
are not likely to follow this example.
Spoilers may be an evil. but they
are a necessity in the present phase
of human development, and until some
psychological chemist devises a prepa-
ration to make men honest. thestype
is likely to persist" IS. II. Adams. in
Ainslee's.