Evening star., 1927-12-01
TARIFF SLEUTHS
LIVE IN DRAMA
U. S. Special Agency Men
Spend Quiet Days, but Tour
Dives at Night.
specia, Dispatch to The star.


NEW YORK, December Lily
ing in Flatbush and engaging in melo'
dramatic night adventures IN the
smms and dives of New York City
sounds like some kind of double me-
but it isn't.
rrncle Sans mobile squad OF sea.
noned, sleuths chasing smugglerS anu
tariff evaders, pattern their llNeS -,
3,,et This fashion. AT home in the SUP
,,rhs they unstrap their guns ana ~
the simnle life of and burgher WlIh
three children and a mortgage. AK ~
shift in the big town, day or ni-ns'
they move through intrigue anu ~
sniracv. increasingly complicated a'
s.p..,tro &c, of high and low degree de'
wise new means of detrauolls ''~
Government.
Chinese Detective Beaten
There are 35 men in this crew
,,dor the special agency service =,
the Treasury Department. NatilaH,o N.;.o
r. Van Doren. head of the serFice'
18th beadouarters at WashlnStoh' l9
a., New York today. sending ms ile,i
tr.o a roundup of criminals VINO ~
one of his operators in hospl.",
week, All John, Chinese ueISI.a,a, rs';,se
was closing in on a gang VI IAN
smuyclers. At midnight lhlse ,ha
leaped from the shadows oi ,,;,,, and
elevated railroad, bluuEeoi'e"
"our men take this merely as so,,r
4hi,,r in the DAYS work, salu MI
Vnn Doren They face danger Io,,
stantIy, and they do their WORK @ nun.
81, IN snite of the fact that tney
nroIahlv have more opportunities .oi
craft than any other men IN IIie
Goo of the Government. brlpes VI
o,..hirc from 81 to more than Sloo''
oo0 are constantly heing oHereu.
* years we have not had case y,
man convicted of dishonesty IN .nis
denartment. | do not think there aIe
more than one or two OF the eh'"e
lot who own their homes. 49,,
THE snecial agency men get on the
1oh after appraisers and examiners
60 uncovered evidence of attempted
nr actual fraud. and it, is their WORK
IN trail the increasingly numerous anu
edroit gangs Of smugSlers now opei
etinr with European connectiohes
narticularlv those smuggling IN gems
and drugs.
Business Operations Checked.
Az the imports of. New York ron
,n into more and more millions. win
eli tbe nressure of the outside wotid
AGAINST the tariff wall. there deVe.ops
an outer fringe of fraudulent puslrh'Ss
onerations. The case OF New loFN
rae eyporter. lust fined 100000. IS
tIniral There is demand in Eufope
for cotton rags. This particular eA-
nortor for a long time had heen sn'p-
hing large consignments or rags .o
England. Occasionally these snlpmeuls
would be returned as having peeh
tected. These returns became SO lle
ruent that the special agency men
investi-ated. They found that the ex-
rorter was really an importer-evad-
inc duty He sold the rags in Eng
land. hacked the wrappings OF the
hales with high grade woolens anu
brought them hack to America as re-
jccted rag shipments
Tn 1928. exports and imports for the
Port of New York totaled Sl.72S.3 ~
75o. The figures for this year VIII pe
somewhat around S2.500.a 0.a00.ooo. WIN
this increasing pressure on AmerIcan
markets. the revenue men nave 10
n,eaf iYicreasiugiy frequent attempts at
undefvaluation..
Thousands Of inspectors Needed.
.We do not mean to imply that New
York importers, as such, are engageu
in questionable business. said a. r.
Randolph. New York head of the spe-
cial agency service. Where there are.
such vast amounts of money involved
in a highly concentrated area. 1T is In
evitable that schemes of various KINDS
WIN be attempted by unscrupulous
men.
.Several thousands of inspectors are
required to meet the boats and ex-
anime the baggage Of incoming pas.
sengers. These men. as well as all
the operatives in our department, are
civil service men. We occasionally
hear stories. Of some incoming pas.
senger passing money to an inspector.
and we always run down any report
of this kind. hut | am convinced that
cases of dishonesty are extremely
rare. Every resource of the depart
ment has been concentrated on get
ting honest. men and. Keeping them
honest, and. in my opinion, it has sue
ceeded.'
Mr.. Randolpft said attempts of re-
turning travellers to smuggle in liquor
were decreasing, and that inspectors
reported fewer and fewer instances.
Downright 1927 4 y