The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1916-09-22

The effrontery Of this special agent,
you would quite naturally conclude,
was ridiculous. You approve of the
sort of courage that makes a man
willing to tackle almost any big task,
but you also recognize the limitations
Of the individual. David with his
slingshot had an obvious chance Of
success. II he could make scratch
shot and land on the coco of Mr.. Go
Hath he would win. But Special Agent
Billy Gard sailed forth nonchalantly
against the whole army of Philistines,
apparently without even a slingshot.
The Philistines In this case were
typified by the customs crowd of the
port of New York. That crowd was a
ring within the administration of the
affairs of that greatest of gateways
that had built up system for divert
Ing million dollars year from the
pocket of Uncle Sam and appropriate
ing the money to itself. For twenty
five years the men of this inner circle
had steadily strengthened their posi-
tons, their hold upon those in author
fly, their power to shake down i'm
porters. There is great influence to
be welded by million dollars year
in the hands of willing spenders.
The development of this condition
Of affairs was based primarily upon
the fact that positions in the customs
service are dependent upon politics.
The men who built up the system of
customs graft had secured their ap-
pointments because they had political
influence. They afterward used that
influence and put their easy money
back of it. Their power grew. 1t
made 1t possible for them to dictate
appointments more important than
their own, even to the collectorship
itself. 1t made it possible for them to
bring about the removal of any small
er official who seemed to stand in their
way. Men not in the ring learned to
wink at many things that they saw.
When an emissary of the crooked Gus
toms crowd went to an importer, even
where he was honest, 1t came to be
known that 1t was wise to listen to
any proposal made. Thus did the ma
chine gather force.
Just one example of the workings
Of the system. An Italian named Co.'S
tello was an importer of cheese. He
was a successful, enterprising and
honest merchant One day he received
q large shipment from Italy, upon
which he expected to pay duty of
$4,000. The cargo was unloaded and
weighed by the customs representa-.
tives. That night an emissary of the
ring called upon the Italian merchant.
He showed the record of weights for
the cheese cargo. According to this
record Costello would have had to pay
a duty of but $4,000. 1t showed but
half the weight in cheese that had &C.
tually arrived.
"We save you $5,0o0." said the
spokesman. 1--WE expect you to d.
vide the profit"
But 1 believe in dealing honestly
with the government" said Costello.
II have always done so and I have
prospered."
"My tip to you," said the go-between,
"is to do as the weighers suggest.
They could as easily charge you over
weight as underweight Besides, you
will save much money"
The importer, foreigner, thus ad-
vised by representatives of the gov
eminent of his adoption, took the tip
and thereafter profited through this
official corruption and shared the
duties thus saved. Costello received
most of his goods as part of what
were known as Mediterranean cur
goes" cheese, macaroni, olive oil. The
government was afterward found to
have been losing an average of $780,
900 on each Mediterranean cargo that
came to port.
The case is typical. The represen-
tatives of the government practically
forced the importers into these decep-
jtions. The customs service and COM
imercial New York became permeated
with this sort Of fraud.
Henry l.. Stimson was appointed
United States district attorney in 1909
and determined to clean up these GUS
toms frauds. William Loeb, Jr, was
collector of the port, and of the same
mind. The two men got their heads
together and considered ways and
means. A big cleanup followed and in
bringing 1t about the work of Detec-
tive Billy Gard played most impor-
tant part.
This young special agent was told
to go out and master the detail Of New
York customs, a service that was new
to him, to come to understand them
30 well that he could place his finger
on the points where things we're going
wrong. to pick out the men in the
service who were corrupt, to get his
Information in such form that 1t would
be admissible in court as evidence and
so strong that 1t would insure convic-
lions. He was to do all this in the
face of the unfriendliness of the serv-
Ice he was to study, despite all the
stumbling blocks that would be put in
his way, in opposition to the dominant
political machine of the port, in the
face of a lack of any special knowledge
of the service. Young Gard accepted
the assignment with a grin.
What are you doing on the customs
cases?" District Attorney Stimson
asked three weeks later.
"Going to the baseball games" said
Gard.
81 hadn't noticed any cargoes being
unloaded out that way" said Stimson.
"How long have you been a fan?"
Gust a week." said the special
agent. "Never attended a game be-
fore in my life. / sit In the nice.