New-York tribune., 1902-07-05
SHAW HERE ON SUGAR CASE
sEEs sTRANAHAN, AND REPUBLICANS
DEMAND AN INVESTIGATION.
,rp coRsA SAYS VAIL AND DoANE AN
norrNcED THAT he WOULD BE DIS
MISSED FOR MAKING ACCUSE
TIoNs AGAINST THEM.


TIONs AGAINST THEM.
e,retarv Shaw Of the Treasury made fly
A., ,1sit 10 New-York on Thursday night, and
=. r.s said Yesterday that ne conferred with
Collector Stranahan and Appraiser Whitehead
,,b reference to the charges made by H. ..
(,orsa concerning Irregularities in the imposi-
,foa of duties Oh sugar, outlined in The
Tribune Ii will be remembered that Mr.. Corsa
charged that he employed by Appraiser
Vgakennan to investigate certain alleged collu-
sion between government samplers and James
Vail and John K. Doane sugar samplers in the
employ of the American Sugar Refining Com
pany. commonly known as the Sugar Trust
corsa turned over to Appraiser Wakeman SD 30
which he says Vail paid to him for 'queering'
the testing mark cargo of sugar Corsa
when examined under oath. stated that Vail and
Doane had tried 10 induce him to make an af-
fdavit that they never had paid him anything
for ''queering" sugar cargoes. Corsa was dis
charged in February last by Appraiser White
head, and since that time has been trying TO
secure reinstatement
The impression among Republicans every
where now is that Corsa's allegations should be
thoroughly investigated by the Treasury De-
partment. It is assumed that it ought not TO
be hard thing to disprove them if they are
false, and it is likewise assumed that If they
are true the placing of the customs service upon
absolutely clean and honest basis will be of
the utmost value TO the government both from
moral and a pecuniary point of view When
corsa was seen yesterday at his home in Plain
field, he said:
las Republican and an old soldier, hate
TO do anything which will hurt the Republican
party, but l am determined to fight for my
rights as citizen. because l know that gross
suiusfica has been dOne VVbv shouldn't ba
government investigate the charges that made
under oath against their agents? What par
ticular claim has the American Sugar Refining
Company got upon the good will of the Treas
ury Department? On the very day that Vail
and Doane said that I would be dismissed from
the customs service for making certain charges
against them 1 dismissed. They got the
news of my intended dismissal from somewhere
on the inside. and circulated the announcement
for four or five days before my dismissal came
Il went TO Mr.. Whitehead and asked him what
the charges were against me. and if had ever
done anything crooked. He said there were no
charges against me. ] said 10 him. Mr.. APP
praiser, you have dismissed me in the middle of
winter IN the absence of any charges rejecting
on my character conduct. / without the
necessary influence to get another position be-
cause, never having been in the hospital while
in the Army Of the Potomac cannot have any
veterans in a Civil Service examination. Sixty
dollars a month may not be a large to you,
but il means bread and butter to and my
family All he said was that I dismissed
for the present but that he didn't know what
would happen to me later on, holding out a
vague hope that he might reinstate me. I have
not been reinstated, every knows, and
I see. from Mr.. Whitehead's statement in The
Tribune, that there is no likelihood that I
shall be-"
When Collector Stranahan was seen by Trib-
une reporter yesterday he said:
Il have read The Tribune's articles with a
good deal OF interest. At the same time have
nothing TO say with reference 10 the need of
investigation, as it does not concern the conduct
Of the Collectors office. The Appraisers Office
and the Collectors office are run on independent
lines, the fixing Of the duties resting in the
Appraiser and the collection of the money being
my part Of the work My relations with the
former Appraiser. Mr.. Wakeman have been ex-
tremely friendly, what there were Of them but
at the same time it seems to me that he erred in
allowing Corsa to do the work of an assistant
sampler, thus affording him an opportunity to
perform the services of a detective. 1 seriously
doubt the Legality of allowing a laborer in the
customs service TO transact any such work l
have the utmost confidence in Mr.. Whitehead.
and believe that he understands the duties OF
his office thoroughly
Charles A. Moore president of the American
Protective Tariff League. says that the whole
customs service bearing on sugar import duties
should be investigated.
"A charge like that made by Corsa under
oath against agents Of the American Sugar Re
fning Company ought not to go by default"
said Mr.. Moore to a Tribune reporter. 1T ought
10 be the aim of the Treasury Department, and
believe that il is to place the customs service
absolutely above criticism. This sugar business
ought 10 be Investigated al once. 1t ought not
70 be allowed to drag along because it Will
come up 10 bother us later We shall soon be
In the middle of a Congress campaign. and any
Thing approaching a scandal in the customs ser
vice ought TO be thoroughly investigated and re-
ported upon before next fall. The result of the
Investigation Of the alleged silk frauds by W.
Wickhsm Smith shows how vitally necessary it
is 10 sift the charges of responsible persons.
The defendants in the silk cases have from the
beginning denied in the most emphatic terms
That they ever did the least thing irregular, but
Mr. Smith has succeeded in having the prin-
cpals indicted, and ! notice by the papers that
he has brought suit to recover 81, 100000. which
he alleges the silk men owe the government in
euties and forfeitures."
Probab bly, 50 per cent Of the raw sugar i'm
ported into the United States is entered for con-
funption al the port OF New-York, and the
method OF collecting the duty upon the sugar is
intricate and interesting The sections of the
Oasley tariff applying 10 sugar are as follows
SCHEDULE E.
fUGAR, MoLAssEs. AND MANUFACTURES OF.
sM Sugars not above number sixteen Dutch stan
eea.a-s, concentrated melada. concrete and con-
sSslsec molasses, testing by the pOlariscope not
V-flV o0a- hmm