Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-03-02
FEDERAL DETECTIVE
BUREAUS.
III.-Customs Agents.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

he thrown around every inch of the
borderland of the United States to pre-
vent goods coming in without the pay
ment of duty requires the develop
ment of an extensive organization and
a large force of men. The special
agents of the customs service have
this work in hand. 1t Is only one of
their duties but by far the most In
teresting. They handle also that in
finite detail which has to do with the
valuation of merchandise. They watch
vigilantly the importers of the nation.
so that the government Will not be de-
frauded by undervaluation. and this
work borders upon that of the detec-
tive Finally. they spread the net that
makes the calling of the snuggler a
precarious one.
This does not necessarily mean that
they watch all merchandise that
crosses the borders, and depend upon
catching violators in the act. The web
Ia vastly more complicated. 1t Is so
extensive that it Is dangerous for any
individual to sell imported goods be-
low the normal price at any point in
the United States without arousing
suspicion. 1t reaches SO far that val
uable dutiable goods may not be
bought at any point in the world with
out a fair chance of the customs agents
Of the United States becoming aware
Of 1t.
4
Getting goods past the inspectors at
the ports is at times possible. There is
the case of
Gems Hidden the traveller
Inside of Magazine. mailed for
eign magazine to an accompiice in
this country. It would have reached its
destination but for the fact that the
wrapper became torn and a postal
clerk decided to put on another. Not
being in a hurry, he turned the leaves
of the magazine. In the center of 1t
he found a space cut out and filled
with valuable gems.
There was another case of a million
aire merchant who, returning from
Europe, brought a great quantity of
jewelry and succeeded in getting it into
this country. To thus defraud the gov
eminent is regarded as something of a
Joke by the average amateur smuSgler.
He always talks of it. The government
has many ears and soon picks up bit
of Information which leads to an in
vestigation. In this case it was the
merchants partner who gave the gov
eminent the tip. The partner got tired
of the staggering and boastfulness of
the man of the jewelry. He was hailed
before the department at Washington
and assessed duty and fines amounting
to $4,000.
Now. If the jewelry in either of these
cases had found its way into the mar
KIT there would have been a strong
probability, of its discovery. The in
dividual who offers such jewelry to a
dealer at price less than the normal
places himself under suspicion. If a
dealer buys it and sells it to Gus
toner for a smaller price than that for
which II he h0nOht
petitor the customer is likely to tell
the other dealer, and that individual
will know that, without some irregu-
larity. the price in question could not
have yielded a profit. He suggests his
government So do Struggled goods
usually sound their own alarm.
=
But the more important cases are
when q little
Little Juggling juggling means
Means Big Losses. lost ss - an amounts "a.
ernment. The sugar cases in New York
were the greatest Of these. The man
ner in which another sugar port fell
under suspicion and was shown to be
corrupt is simpler and more readily il
Illustrative.
special agent was investigating
this port on suspicion. He did not
know that there was anything wrong,
nor had he an idea how frauds were
being perpetrated. He knew that the
sugar samplers were the men who
could most easily go wrong, and be-
gan by watching them He loafed
about the docks, ate where these men
ate. drank in their saloons, became ac-
quainted with them, dflIted INTO JIe
position of boon companion of some
Of them. The readiest indication of
Sorruption in men in positions of trust
Is the possession of more money than
their work should yield them. None
of these men seemed to have much
money. He learned. however, that their
work for the government lasted for
but seven months in the year. and that
they must depend on the reflners for
employment the remaining five months.
This employment, one of them indicat-
ed. depended on whether they did the
right thing by the refiners. Here was
indicated motive for incorrect
sampling.
If sugar sampled Sc to SO per cent
pure, the duty on it was a half cent
higher than If it sampled 80 per cent,
so the ref1ners wanted 1t to appear to
be of the lower grade. The special
agent. by observation and through the
condolences of the samplers, learned the