The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-12-19

AaS siVeH me d typeWrltteli list OF the
criminal prosecutions which have
been made by his office in the rrast
two Or three years. This has the
names Of scores who have gone
through the courts and have been fin
ed all sorts Of amounts from ST to
$4,000. The total Of the f!nes alone
up to the 1st of November was 2 lit
tie over 100000. and this is &. baga-
te1le in comparison with the amounts
which have been collected through
INTERPRETATIONS and on merchandise,
to which I refer farther on.
These fines are almost altogether
from people who have tried to sneak
things through in their baggage from
the steamers. The Offenders are Of
all classes from New York milliners
and d~ressmakers to some of the
richest and most prominent Of the
land. One is the wife Of a former
governor of New England, and an
other that Of a prominent politician
Of West Virginia. Each of these Ia
dies tried to smuggle in jewelry and
each was fined $4,000.
Crows Fat ON Duties, They Object to
Duties.
With others are the wives Of trust
magnateS whose millions have come
from the tariff protection Of the
things their husbands manufacture.
One such case was as to q pearl neck
lace and other jewels brought in by
the wife Of a millionaire making ag-
rlcultural machinery. This was the
Adriance affair Of which something
has appeared in the The
madamc was fined $4,000 and the
goods she attempted to smuggle were
forfeited. Upon this her husband de-
nouliced the Government for perse-
cutting travellers who soupht to bring
in "a few petty things free" AS I
remember It, among the petty
things" in this case were some pearls
valued at s115.0OO. which the lady
had hidden IN the old Of her straw
hat. The m~illlonaire's remark WIS
reported to Mr.. Loeb. w~hereupcn
Loeb said hat Mr.. Adriance had
made q big fortune out Of the duties
which the United States imposed upon
such machinery as he manufactured,
but that when it came to his paying
any duty himself he objected.
a somewhat similar case of a trust
fortune failing to pay duties WAS that
connected with the Leeds necklace.
This case came up shortly before
Collector Loeb got his appointment.
W. 4. Leeds. one of the millionaireS
Of the tin plate trust, had gone to
Paris to live, and while there Mrs.
Leeds had bought a famous necklace
at a cost Of s34o. 900. She wore the
necklace in Paris, but a part Of her
bargain was r a it was to be deliver
ed to her in Newport without duty
within q certain time, if h so de-
sired. In order to escape paying
some of the duty the syndicate took
the necklace apart and shipped it IN
as loose pearls, in which shape IT
was invoiced at 100000. The tariff
upon loose pearls was 10 per cent.
and. as / understand it, at that rate
the necklace VAS passed.
In the meantime. however, the Spe-
-. ~.o 81 , rir 40 h1n1 New
! York that the necklace had been Worn
by Mrs. Leeds before it was shipped
and that it should therefore pay duty
as a necklace. Upon this the matter
was asain taken up and the duty rails
ed to 1892. 900, OF $4,000 more than
the original sum-. To this the i'm
porters objected. ard the court then
fixed the duty at the loose pearl rate
of $4,000. This decision was appeal
ed from, and, as I understand it, the
case has gone to the United States
Supreme Court and it has ~adjudged
that it must he reeonsidered.
D~ressmakers Who Smugslc.
In the past much of the petty
smuggling has been done by dress
makers and tailors. 1t used to be
customary for English tailors to take
orders in New York and make clothes
to measure. agreeing to deliver them
to the customers free of duty. Dress
makers sample gowns were brought
in as personal effects, and orders for
Owl made in Paris were taken the
same way. This was a regular pusi-
ness. Only last January ~twenty-seVeE
dressnaKers were fined from $500 to
$4,000 for being implicated in it, and
one of the great surprises sprun~ by
the present administration was when
it began to prosecute women Of this
class one Of the first cases mention
ed in the list given me by Collector
Loeb is that of Elizabeth kilganEon,
who had to pay $4,000. Mrs. kilgan-
non and her husband anu a man
named White were partners in snug
! Cling. Mrs. kilgannon was known as
| Nine. Loran. milliner, and her hus-
! band and White were classd as sill.
importers. Others We're implicated in
the tranSa ctiOn. and when the suit
was brought it is said that the law
1roro eff arod 70 n mara than ~ j y