The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-09-25

/ oCh'e ilcen 10 terms ranging from three
! months 10 one year in the penitentiary.
| When the defendants have been aliens
/ irving TO get past the immigrat ton Off
/ Gals, they have been sentenced to de-
! Portauon, which, under the law. oper-
ates as a perpetual barrier against their
! entering the United States.
Claim Protection Abroad.
/ The magnitude and chameIeon-like
| character OF the frauds lie shown by
/ the fact that a big trade in natural
lzation papers Is being done I'm Haiti.
The papers are peddIed there to Syri-
ans and others who have no idea of
coming TO America. but who want to
pose as citizens and claim the pro-
lection Of the American consul and the
American gunboats when the Haitian
government troubles them.
1t will be remembered that only the
other day an American warship was
sent post-haste to Purt-au-Prince be
cause the stores of some Syrian mer-
chants who claimed American citizen
ship had been looted by a mob OF sol
dlers- The State Department is await
ing with much interest the filing Of the
syrlans claims for indemnities. 1t is
expected that the merchants will be
found TO be on the list Of bogus citizens
compiled from information I'm the pos
I Y. n.
course. the Syrlans will have to under
| take the hopeless task of trying to
| C93Heel from the Haitian government
! without Uncle Sans help
About three months ago the first ar
rest that disclosed the Haitian swindle
/ was made. Alexander Sefershavan. a
( Haltlan, was taken I'm custody on the
! charge Of violating the naturalizatf ton
law. Arriving at New York on a steam
er from Haiti. he posed as an American
Sluzen ana showed a paper which had
been issued In his name a Waterbury.
Conn. on November p. 1865
Broke Down Under Examination.
He was cToss-examined by the imni-
grafton officials. broke down. and ad-
mitted that ne had never before been I'm
America He said he bought the paper
at Port-au-Princ. for 500 from a mer-
chant, whose name he would not dis
close He placed an order for II with
this merchant. just as II il were salt
hsh, or flour. and six weeks later re-
ceiyed the certificate made out IN his
name. The matter was regarded i'm the
light OF an ordinary business transac-
ton.
Investigations we're made at Water
bury, and II was found that the certih-
cate was really issued there II bOre
the genuine seal and signature
The Secret Service men found out that
an organized gang in Waterbury ran a
o;g business supplying American citizen
snip papers to people in Haiti. Com
pared with the gigantic frauds in TtaIv
ana some OF the American cities il was
small backwater OF graft, " but it was
worth from 500 to 500 down i'm Haiti.
Tor a mans life. liberty and fortune
might 4lS depend on having them.
Inc agent IN POrt-au- Prince forwarded
the name Of the applicant 10 the gano-
In waterbury. Two OF the band would
IIia,aiI the applicant and another
, Wouio pear raise witness that the appH-
cant had lived In this country the num-
per OF years required by the naturaliza-
lIo4l law. Inc papers thus obtained were
sem ooWn 10 Haiti. where there was al
ways was a ready sale for them
Case of Habib J. AIkak.
This was fine scheme for the man
VINO got the papers. He did not have
to risk imprisonment: he simply paid
his money. But wealthy Syrian mer-
chant named Habib J. Alfak was not
content He doubted the accuracy and
value Of papers obtained at such long
range so ne made trip TO New York
LAST july Tor the special purpose Of get
ting a certificate of citizenship.
Aaoib got HE paper. which purported
20 nave been made out at Hartford.
Sohh, But he was greedy. He imme- /
uiatsl| sent II to the State Department
a washington and asked for an Amsri- 1
can passport on the strength OF II. The 1
was mat the Secret Service men
got on mis- trail
On August II the good shin prime
wlllem II was lying at the New York
wharf, blue Peter aloft, ready To sail for
H s Our friend Habib was on deck I
drinking parting glass OF charnDa g-rs
with his friends, his CITIZENSHIP ce-fifo
cate In his pocket ~ 'iii-
He felt at peace with all the world. /
unuI the hand Of a Secret Service man
rel upon his shoulder and ne vvas taI-a,,
ashore to answer a charge OF bsvi1sr
Ifaudulentiy secured papers Of naturaH
zauon as a citizen OF the United state !
Whsn ne was questioned as TO how he
came In possession OF the naperg -
was absolutely at sea. He conId ~
tell the least thing about Hartford Inc
place where he was supposed to be Iiv-
ing when he got them. Apparently he
had never been there
Frauds Elsewhere
When discussing the arrest of AIrak
Mr.. Marx said:
TX merely confirms the knowledge 7
have long possessed that there is
regular traffic not only in Haiti but In
Central and South American reDublics
IN these papers. The traffic IS highly
profitable TO those engaged IN Il. Veal
my residents are more than anxious TO
pay FOR papers for purposes of security
Their possession means that their hold
'fs can escape the eXorbitant eXactiors
lhd ponucai annoyances of minor 70
Duoilcs oy securing the protection Of fba ,
United States flag VI the
Similar frauds have been f,erpatr,t.7 d
n turkey, Syria and Armenia The in J
,estgatOrs got on the trail of Soma 81 I
hese through an Armenian In Troy n J
u writing TO the State Department ana | ;
sklng Tor intervention on his bebaIf :
inquiry showed that he was a bop1is
ltlzen' made by a citizenship mill oner-
tlng somewhat In the same manner as =
he Haitian one 0S !
Thls branch OF the great fraud has
peciaI!y serious aspect when Ar ig ya =,
RENDERED that American warsbins ba,-o :
cen very busy lately in the I .ayanf =
Iotecting natives who claimed Amer / i
ian citizenship.
Sources of Supply. t
'One interesting feature Of these ],
aturaLzaton frauds is that the difger- n
Mt nationalities have different sources I
supply said Mr. Marx. The ItaI-
ms appear 10 get their papers from an
yer the country. but 1t is not so win O.
he others The Canadians. for ex- .
mple, get theirs from Buffalo and chi
ago; the Turks from Providence p
4; the Armenians from Troy n v