The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-05-06
WILL PROSECUTE
MEN RESPONSIBLE
FOR SHORT WEIGHT
SOME ONE CONNECTED WITH
TRUST RESPONSIBLE.
Trust Pay for Stolen Water
II Has Used.

NEW YORK, May G.-Criminal pros
ecutions by the federal government
will be begun as a result Of the disclos-
ures in the recent suit of the govern
ment against the American Sugar Re-
filming company. This announcement
was made today by Henry l.. Stimson,
who is acting as special attorney for
the government. Mr.. Stimsons state
ment followed a conference with
United States District Attorney Wise
in the latter's office. He declared that
the government was determined to
bring to book the individuals respon-
eible for the frauds charged in the
civil suit. "Of course, there will be
a criminal prosecution of the guilty
persons" he declared. There will be
| no let up, but on the contrary the case
will be prosecuted to finish. The
corporation has already been punished
criminally by the $4,000 penalties i'm
posed" he added. THAT was a pun
ishment for criminal acts. The other
| $4,000 900 was restitution of back du-
ties accruing from false weighing. The
things for us to do now is to get at
the human beings behind the corpora
ton whether officers or employees,
who have been guilty Of criminal acts,
snd punish them. We cannot tell
when the prosecution will begin, but
it will be as soon as we get our evil
dence ready to present
In commenting ON the conference,
the sun says that these proceedings
will have as their object the indict-
ment of certain officials Of the corpOr-
alton. If Mr. Stimson has his way the
investigation will be Of such a scope
as to take in the relations between
ton. 1t was brought out from some of
the government witnesses in the suit
for back duties which led to Thurs
days settlement that the apparent
frauds that We're being practiced on
the company's docks, frauds costing
the government hundreds of thousands
of dollars, had in at least one instance
been reported at the custom house
long before an investigation was be
gun. In this instance a report of it
was brought to the office of the sur
veyor of the port by one of the weigh
ers. Nothing was ever done about it.
Dating back to 1895, when the Will
son bill for the first time put a duty
on raw sugar, the frauds that We're
practiced by fixing the scales have
meant an annual saving to the corpor-
alton of an amount each year equiva-
lent at the lowest figures to IL pei
cent. on the $3500,000 capital stock
of the American Sugar Refining Com
pany of New York, which owns the
Brooklyn refineries and which in turn
is owned by the American Sugar Re
filming Company Of New Jersey, the
parent corporation. This is figuring
on the basis of the lowest average
short weight discovered. Taking, how
ever, the average short weight on int
Java sugar which figures in the suit
just settled as applying to all sugar
imported by the company the saving
has represented II per cent on that
stock. There is some idea that the
impending criminal investigation may
reveal just how far the responsibility
of the government OFFICIALS for this
has extended.
In the testimony brought out in the
suit in the district court one witness
for the government testified to the eff
feet that he had been urged to fin
| the scales by Oliver Splitter, the dock
I superintendent. Other subordinate OF
: ficials were brought into the testimoD!
4 in a way to shrow that they may
4 or may not have been cognizant of it
a but there was no testimony adducet
S duplicating any of those high in tn,
= company's management. 1t was init
|. mated yesterday that it had been LET
IA to a subsequent investigation to dc
!. termine. At the trial President Thon
l as, Of the company, John E. Parson:
It its general counsel and Horace Have
it meyer, now dead, testified that the
d had no knowledge of the frauds. The
t. were called as witnesses for the d
d Tense.
I In addition to the $2,269,OOO whic
n the sugar trust has had to give l
to the government it is also confron
20 ing another demand for restitution
o volving an amount somewhat less, b
ID nevertheless large enough to be fe
This demand comes from the city al
Id is for water which the city cd
the company has Systematically stS