El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-22

the swindlers that he gave me an in
terview.
Uncle Sans Work
1T is my business to keep in the
background. This work is done for
the government and the people and I
would like to have you say that 1t is
Uncle Sam and the postoffice depart
ment who are convicting the rascals.
This government is bigger than any
one man. and we want to make these
swfndlers know that 1t Is the govern
ment and not individuals who are
after them. We want them to know
that the government is bigger than any
individual, and that no matter how
rich or influential the rascal may be,
he is On level with the poorest of his
kind in the eyes OF this institution.
These were the instructions which
the postmaster general gave me when
I took charge. He urged us to be sure
that we were right, and to then go
ahead without fear or favor. That Is
what we are doing. When we arrest
a man we follow the same procedure.
1t makes no difference whether he f.
a millionaire Or Il pa-lper. whether
he is at the head of the politics of a.
city or an individual voter I have
instructed my men to make no change
in the arrest OF a millionaire over that
of a negro stealing a ham The patrol
wagon is backed up to the door of the
palace, and we take the rich sw'ndler
handcuffed to Jail. He mas all of his
rights at the trial. but if he does
not make good he goes behind the
bars just as surely as does the negro
who purloins a ham. 1t is this pub
licity that the millionaire swindler OBJ
jects to. and also the fact that his in
fluence and money count nothing.
This Is the only way to treat these
fellows" continued the chief Inspector
THE department has tried again and
again to put down swindling through
the mails, but in the past every time
a man Of prominence and good bank
ing connections was arrested he could
command his politicians to have the
department ease up on him, and the
pressure was such that the work could
not go on
Professional Mail SwindIers.
"But are there many men who make
a profession of swindling the public
through the mails?"
There have been thousands of
Them" said the chief inspector, land
there are hundreds who are working
in that way today. We are now en-
gagged in prosecuting some of the rich
est and most powerful, with the idea
that If we suppress those at the top
we are bound to get the smaller ras-
Gals by and by. AS a result the small
men are frightened. We have located
many of them. and we get reports
every day or so from the postmen that
their offices are closed, and that there
is no one to receive their mail"
You ask about this class of swind-
ling as a profession. We have life
records Of the chief swindlers, and we
can trace them from one fraudulent
scheme to another. Now 1t is a fake
rubber scheme, now a fake mining
scheme and next, perhaps, fake land
jobbing scheme. Take Huston. who
was once treasurer of the United
States, and whom we recently con-
Yfcted In going back over his rec
ord, we found tracks of his swindlings
long before he came into the govern
ment service. and they were proof
of the general rule: Once rascal, a
rascal again
I'VE have a rogues' gallery and
set of records of the principal swind
lers. We have cross reference index
cards. and we can trace them from
place to place at moments notice.
Our sources of information are such
that 1t is almost impossible for the
guilty man to escape.
Take, for instance, the case of a
lawyer, now in the peni-
tertiary. He thought he could not, be
but we wound the coils
around him until he finally gave him
self up, saying he would rather re-
ceive a thousand penitentiary SEN
fences than suffer the wear and tear
IN his nerves while waiting for the
AK which he knew must certainly fall. !
This man could not post a letter with |
put we were aware Of It, He could
not pay his insurance policies, he could |
not make a step but it was reported. |
rhe result was he gave up.
The Sucker List.
"You would be surprised to learn |
now well this swindling system is or
yanized." continued the chief inspec- !
or. 81 do not know that there is any |
liked combination, but there seems to !
De a brotherhood by which the men in
he business can communicate with one /
another more quickly than by tele- |
graph They have their own code, and |
( a man is arrested in San Francisco |
oday it is pretty sure to be known
o all the swindlers over the country /
omorrow.
''All Of these men have lists of ad
lresseS of people who may be easily
Yictimized. These are called sucker
lists, and they are classed according
O the ease with which the men may
,e swindled. One list may be headed
hard suckers, another easy suckers
nd a third will take any fool thing
'he big swindlers have their agents
nd branch offices scattered over the
ountry to whom they send instruc-
ions and sucker lists.
Take, for instance. c. E. Mitchell. of
pokane, Wash, whom we convicted
asst May. He was an examining news
aper reporter, lecturer and theatrical
manager who dealt in fake mines.
aking in hundreds of thousands of
ollars for stock, and paying dividends
ut of the funds received. In writing
na of hts a1euts he said This in