Embezzlement Scandal at the Border

Charles L. McLellan, deputy collector of customs at Blaine, was arrested this evening by Deputy United States Marshal R. Delanty and Immigration Inspector Thomas M. Fisher, charged with embezzlement of government funds. McLellan's deficiency is reckoned at $200. He collected duties on government imports and neglected to send the proceeds to the head office. McLellan's arrest will cause a sensation in Whatcom County and on the lower part of Puget Sound, where he was well known and regarded as an honest and competent official. Collector Wasson had received several charges alleging that McLennan had received government duties for which he had made no accounting. The investigation was conducted in secret to prevent McLellan from learning of the proceedings. The subport of entry at Blaine is situated near the British boundary, and for that reason it was an easy matter for McLennan to have skipped across the line into foreign territory if he received an intimation of the proceedings. Collector Wasson stated he would decline to give particulars until the case is called before Judge Emery, noting: 'If any of my officers are derelict in their duties or dishonest, it is my aim to punish them to the full extent of the law.'