The Washington herald., 1907-05-16
How Swindlers Use the Mails
BY FREDERIC j. HASKIN
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

It is a very old theory that the public
likes to be humbugged. Confidence games
began in America when the first traders
gave handful Of glass beads TO the IN
dams in exchange for valuable furs. The
Indians seem to have liked IT, The OTdi-
nary methods Of sending information
about his schemes from place TO place by
word Of mouth, or by a demonstrator'
soon grew too slow for the American con-
fidence man. and long before the 'lVs
he was working the mails for all they
were worth In pushing his ideas. There
was no law against it, because such
contingency had not been foreseen, and
soon there appeared in papers and in cir
culars sent through the mails most as
founding offers by which the ambitious
might amass a fortune by the expendi-
ture Of only few cents.
Lotteries made use Of The malls for
sending out their circulars and for gath
eriug in the cash that spendthrift souls
sent their way. Wonderful offers 10
heal far-away patients by means Of mag
netism, hypnOtism, mind control, or by
simple medicines hitherto unknown,
crowded the mail bags and called for an
increase in the pOst-OftiCe forces. Astrol-
ogers and phrenologists solicited patron
age in printed letters that were rich in
mystical lore and overfiOWtHg with queer
rhetorical combinations Bond invest
ments, banking schemes, turf enterprises,
mines, great tropical plantations, and doZ-
ems OF get-rich-quick schemes found voice
in circulars, cards, and letters. The un-
sophisticated country woman was told, in
a surprisingly friendly letter, how she
could find q most remunerative life at
home by doing sewing or embroidering,
OF soliciting. and her equally unsOphisti-
Gated husband became initiated IN blind
pool schemes for speculating in stocks.
Then the government awoke TO the real
ization that the people were being swim
died, that its own postal service was the
quickest means of doing the swindling,
and that it was being used for all it was
worth. In 1872 swindling by mail had
grown so noticeable that the attention
of Congress was drawn TO it. and law
was enacted making il punishable by
fine to mail through any post-office let
ters or circulars concerning illegal lot
teries' or schemes devised TO deceive
and defraud the public In 1876 the term
Illegal was stricken from the law, and
all lotteries came under the ban. An
older law, dating back to 1865. had also
prohibited the sending Of lottery stuff
by mail, but the makers Of the bill had
overlooked the attaching Of any kind Of
penalty 70 II, so It was necessarily Of lit
lie use.
In 1890 the law was made to apply not
only to lotteries as they are generally
known. but 70 all "so-called gift con-
Germs and similar enterprises offering
prizes dependent upon lot or chance
Year by year the law has tightened its
grip on the mails. and any scheme that
savors Of fraud is brought promptly
under the notice of the post-ofTice au-
thorities and sifted down TO the bottom.
All offers Of work, or of commodities, or
Of prizes for guessing contests are given
the respectful and careful attention Of
the postal authorities. and if there is any
suspicious air about it the promoter Of
the scheme is promptly brought before
the bar Of justice and given an oppor-
tunity 10 prove the truth Of his offers.
From the passage Of the act of 1890 to
the end OF the last fiscal year, 2,409
fraud orders were issued by the Post
Office Department, and If the persons
against whom they We're issued did not
comply at once with the law, suits, fines,
and other unpleasant things followed
The average SWindlgT who uses the mails
is a willy fellow. He has learned the art
of wording his offers so they attract the
remote and indiderentIy educated, and so
plausible do his statements sound that he
finds easy and ready victims. One is
frankly amazed at the credulity Of the
human race. A typewriter company Of
New York induced persons 10 send $3.50
as a guaranty Of good faith in a copying
at home" scheme, In which the purchaser
was TO have a typewriter and 800 sheets
Of paper and copy letters at $3.50 a thou
sand The typewriter proved to be a toy
affair that was useless for the work The
purchaser is out about 81, and the firm
in that much.
lot Of letters from an agency 10 get
addresses, then wrote each person that he
or she had won a prize. which would be
sent on receipt Of $137. to cover cost Of
boxing and packing charges" Each de-
lighted person invariably sent the amount
and received piece of cheap jewelry
worth a few cents. A bluelng company
offered a new automatic tension sewing
machine 10 persons selling thirty pack
ages Of wash blue at 10 cents apiece. The
machine proved to be a toy affair." and
the letter in answer 10 a woman's threat
10 sue is filed away as a mark Of genuine
cleveTness ON the part of the artful
dodger who originated the scheme Bogus
detective agencies were thick I'm the land
for a while. For a certain sum of money
they would send a star certificate Of
membership, credentials, &C, 20 the pur-
chaser. and not until the astonished vic
tim had been hauled up before unfeeling
magistrates for carrying a weapon. or for
impers0nating an officer. did the luckless
fellow realize that ne had been the VIC
tim Of a scoundreL
The South was wrought up consider
ably a few years since over the opera
tions Of The National Industry Council, %
which eXtorted money from the negroes
under tie pretense OF helping them get
pension money. BY request Of the organ
ization a bin was introduced into Con-
gress providing pensions for ex-slaves
This was used as a means Of swlndling
the trusting negro out Of his hard earn
ings. It was declared that 100000 was
20 be sent at once into the Southern
States, and under one pretext or another
money was obtained from those who were
expecting a share Of the pension. This
and several like organizations were sup
pressed by fraud orders. Another set Of
enterprising folks who found the negro
an easy prey followed on the heels Of
these. A Chillicothe. Ohio. firm adver-