The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1909-05-29
trusts iiij{' aR lIIlINUN
FROM CRIMINAL LAM
OBSCURE employees WHO
WORKED UNDER ORDERS
Will Probably Be Imprisoned ID
Atone for the Trusts Gi-
~ gantic Steals.

- tx
~ -. gantic Steals. II
+, WASHINGTON; May az Special
Correspondence to Labor World.-Ats
few days ago the American Sugar Re-
filming company (the Sugar Trusty
corfessed itself a smuggler, and paid
over to the United States a check for
$2,135, ,48G.23 to make good the tariff
duties 1t had evaded by a system Of
weighing frauds extending over peril
cd of more than six years Had the
case against the trust been pushed to
the utmost It would probably have
resulted IN the government confiscat-
ing sugar to the value OF $65, 5,00O, 900,
the value of the imports in connection
with the weighing hauds were per-
.petrated. -. .@ss %$ s5s Il rs =,
:; BY the payment OF this fine, the
or annoyance for Z its share In. the
greatest smuggling conspiracy OF mod
ern times 5. }#. +. i .ssf
~ Will Only Lose Pofits.
Henry c., Haveneyer, head Of the
great sugar trust, the few other multi
paillionaices OF the directorate Of that
concern and the stockholders, in
whose behalf the two million robbery
was carried on would have divided
these millions as profits OF legittm
ate business Of the frauds had not
been discovered. AS II .is, they merely
lose these profits. . <.s t:sssss ss .
Prison for @catspaws."
{, In New York criminal court, how
ever, seven obscure employees OF the
SUGAR trust are on trial, and will prob.
ably go to prison, for having been
the ,catspaws employed by the trust
in this gigantic steal. For. years these
seven employees stole daily for the
trust, their thefts running into mill
ions. . And they will be- punished, no.
doubt, ::s no doubt they should be-
Yet they stole under orders. or at
least with the Inowlsdge and consent.
OF. others higher In authority In the
big monopoly 81 -; :
So humble and ohsclre are thess
seven men that itss would mean moth
ing to p-irt their names. III the trusts
operations, OH itss boolks and payrolls.
they had no non1es. They were known
! only by numbers to the monopoly for
which they systeIna tically robbed the,
government on behalf and for the benz
eft. OF the mill nonaire corporation for
which they worked. Their average
pay was about $13 a week That was
the amount marked on their pay en-s
ve1opes. But each week, for years,
the envelopes Of these men contained
five dollars Apiece more than was
marked on the outside. They bene-
fitted in no other way from their
thefts, excepting that they always had
steady employment. even while others
were idle. Five dollars q week was
the price paid them by the trust to
pi!ier two millions from the govern
me MT treasury and add 1t to the mil
lions of Mr.. Havemeyer and his assoSs
ciates. .:s E s. .t:<E. &c. s " II
&% How Stealing Was Done.
These men who did the stealing were
checkers for the trust. AS sugar came
into the Brooklyn refineries, 1t was
weighed on big platform scales. a
government employe sat at these
scales, at one end ofthe BEAM and
noted the weights. Beside him sat one
Of these seven men, ostenstbly employ
ed to check the weights In the inter
ests of the trust 80 that it might
know for itself the correctness OF the
tally 4on which it paid an import duty
on raw sugar. Really, these men were
there to-. tamper with the scales, and
for six years they did go undetecte3.
The method mainly used was to stick
"a little corset steel through hole
bored in the post Of the weighing
machine. This steel came into contact
with part of the weighing mechan-.
ism and made the scales weigh lighter
than they should. And In six years
these Ettle corset steels and other
equally simple devices, made for the
sugar trust an intended profit Of at
least two million how much more 81
wholly q matter Of conjecture.
Many months ago the government
customs officials detected some part
of the two million smuggling conspir-
acy. "A test suit for $134.000 was he
gun against the sugar trust. The trust
fought tie suit and II was dragged
In the courts until William Loeb, the
new collectors of the port OF New York.
and formerly private g secretary to
Theodore Roosevelt, decided to hurry
things. What Loeb did was to tell
the facts to the newspapers He told
In such q way that some OF the papers
were sure to print them. and because|
some would print these facts all the
papers had to do 90. The trust hadn't:
worried about the srnug ggling suits unS
TIL the rapersS began to print scare
headlines about them. They were
Wiling 20 take their chances iii tho
conrts. nut 8 few days sof puhlicity
rushed hem to cover with an offer
of settlement
WEEK END EXCURSIONS
FOR TRAVELLING PUBLIOI
Via the South Shore for DETROIT
Toledo, Cleveland and Bunalo BY raiI
Ito st Ignace.. thence .. g It. CossSs
steamers. leaving Duluth ever
ITO Detroit and return, sl7.00. Limit
SHnnf 81