ALLEGED EMIGRATION SWINDLE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2736, 25 January 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

ALLEGED EMIGRATION SWINDLE.

ATWadowice, in Galioia, a trial has been opened which promises to be very interesting. It arises out of the scandalous doings of sixty-five persons who are charged with having for ten years carried on a thriving trade by fleecing emigrants. Among the accused are persons of all ranks the first on the list being a district governor. The Imperial counsel asserts that a Police Commissioner and Custom House officer has for years been busily occupied in founding agencies for emigration, and has used his authority solely for extorting money from his unhappy victims, aud for aiding deserters to leave the army. A number of other Custom House officials are aconsed of being employed in this shameless traffic, and the gendarmes acted as touts, and were paid so much for each emigrant. This district is on the frontiers of Germany, Austria, and Hungary, and persona in all these countries arc implicated in the affair. The prisoners are accused of having iostereel am' encouraged emigration, uud robbel tin- persons they persuaded to emigrate of what little means they hurt. Until quite lately Oawiuciin, where all these doings took placr, was the only O-iilici.'in frontier town which had cuiumutiicution with tho poi ts of Germauy, and shipping agents had long directed thair attention to the place. At first the businea4 was carried on fairly enough, and by their legitimate business of selling the tickets the agents had obtained as much as 32,000 marks in one year only, and the price they took for the railway tickets to Hamburg yielded almost as much again. They obtained reduced prices for the emigrants from the railway authorities, but, of course, made the peasants pay the full price.

But after some years several agencies which had been started began to compete with each other, and eacb attempted to deprive the others of their customers. It was then that the alleged malpractices began and that the officals were drawn itito the affair, who, uuder pretext of giving the emigrants their rights, helped one party to rob them. When an emigrant was a deserter he had to pay whatever was asked for his ticket to America, in some cases as much as £20. If he refused he was threatened with being delivered up to tho military authorities. Ono of the secretaries had an alarm clock which he used in the following manner. When anyone had been brought to apply for a ticket to America the alarm clock was made to ring. This was done to make the intending emigrant believe that a telegram had been sent to Hamburg to ask whether there was a room on board a vessel. After five minutes tho clock tinkled again, and this announced the answer that there was just one berth left. The applicant had to pay for tho two telegrams. Then another telegram was seut to the " Emperor of America" to inquire whether he was disposed to accept this particular emigrant. The answer was always in the affirmative, and was paid for. One agent's son, dressed as a military doctor, examined young emigrants, and for a consideration agreed to declare them unfit to enter the American army. Finally passports for America were sold for 10 and 20 florins. Then the unhappy dupes were induce to buy a so called American costume, beside an outfit for the ship, which was rubbish. In one year 5,799 emigrants who should iiave dono military service in Austria were dispatched .by these agents. The case will last several weeks, as about four hundred witnesses have to bf , examined.