Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 November 1892 — A TRAITOROUS ACT. [ARTICLE]

A TRAITOROUS ACT.

A Sensational Discovery by the State Department. retroff FaMfled HU Alaskan Information to Government that is Embodied !b the Behring Sea rose, The Washington Post of Sunday published an article tj the effect that Ivan Petroff, a special agent of the State Department and formerly In the Census office, has been detected in the act es furnishing false information to his government In relation to tho seal industry of Alaska, which has been embodied in the preparation of the Behring sea case for arbitration. Continuing, the article says: When the Slate Department began tli° task some months ago of preparing tho Behring sea case for arbitration it became necessary to secure tho assistance of all experts on the Alaskan and sealing questions. In investigating the literature on the resources of Alaska the Depart meut encountered the name of Ivan Petroff more frequently than that of any other author, and upon inquiry for him being instituted he was found a special agent of the Census Bureau. It was also learned that he had taken the census of Alaska for the United States Government in 1880 and 18 0. and ,kad:written tho monograph issued by the Bureau of Statistics for the Treasury Department In Alaska. In addition to this ho had also ass's ,od Hubert HoWO Ban croft in the preparation of the latter’s ■hlstoryoftiie Territory. It was quite evident to the State Department, therefore that this hitherto trusted official would be of valuable assistance in the preparation of the Bering Sea case.. Mr. Petroff was summoned from the office of the Census Bureau tofthe State Department, and was intrusted with tho examination into and compilation of certain facts' relating to the sealing industry. It was not neces* sary fop him to visit Alaska, and his work was done in Washington. Some time after it had been submitted to the department one of the C overnment special attorneys, wh'lp examining the data, discovered an error. Closer examination showed that nearly tho entire information furnished by Petroff had been fa'sified. and in a manner which left no doubt of falsification with wilful intent to deceive. "The discovery astounded the State Department officials. The information had already been incorporated iu the case of the government as seut to London, and formed a part of the areli upon which the United States claim rested, although it was not Uie key stono' by any manner of means. The Britisli government was at once notified that the United States had been led to errors of statement, and was informed that a correction would be made when the counter-ease, as the supplementary papers are termed, was submitted. The discovery has eroated considerable excitement in official circles. The Superintendent of the Census has been In conference with the President, the Secret try of State and Secretary of the Interior Vegarding his faithless employe. "The question has naturally arisen, if Petroff’a work has been falsified in one Instance are not his census figures also unreliable? Tills is an inquiry that can only be answered after investigationCuriously enough, there is no law on the statute books to meet sq<4i a case os tliis i and Mr. Petroff will simply lose ills gov ernment position with the knowledge that ho can never again re-enter official lifePetroff is a Russian by .birth, who moved to Alaska when that country was a Rus' sian province, and lived there forty yearsHe is now sixty years old. lie has had an adventurous spirit all his life. He took the census of Alaska in iB6O, and It was upon the recommendation of Gen. Francis A. Walker that he was selected lo furnish the Alaskan statistics for the census which has just been completed.” , ——- , Officials of the Stato Department , and Interior Department, when shown the above article, affirmed tho correctness, bu l declined to say anything further,