The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-23 00:00:00

To the Editor of the Sun,

SlR,—Your article of Thursday on the Customs Estab-
lishments calls forth a few observations from me.
The greatest portion of the revenue of the country is
collected by this department of the civil service. In that
collection a certain amount of responsibility necessarily
rests with,and trustworthiness is requisite in, tho employes.
For this they receive an average salary of £2OO per annum
after 20 years service. Such being the case, I ask whether
an over eager parsimoniousness is not displayed by the au-
thorities most destructive to a true economy ? For a care-
less and slovenly performance of duties is the probable
result of ill-paid services, and what can be more depressing,
or likely to produce indifference in the discharge of his
duties, than for any man to find that the remuneration he
receives is totally inadequate to his reasonable requirements
—and what can be mote detrimental to the public service
than that a large number of those employed in it should be
continually struggling against pecuniary embarrassments,
' commencing almost from the time they enter upon it.
In the beginning of April were published the Civil Ser-
vice pstimates, and never was a more striking anomaly
exhieited than met my eye in comparing the two offices of
the Inland Revenue and the Customs.

-- -
The revenue collected by the Customs for the year 1863
amounted to about 21 millions, and the expense of the
establishment to £771,000.

That collected by the Inland Revenue to about 18 millions,
and its attendant expenses amounted to £1,213,000.
This difference in the expense of the two establishments
arises from the superior scale of payment awarded to the
clerks in the Custom House ; and that such a difference
should exist in two departments, the duties in which are
precisely similar, and the examinations previous to appoint•
ment the same, is most incomprehensible.
The clerks in the Inland Revenue office are not consi-
dered too highly paid, and it seems to me to be only just

that their brethren in the Custom-house should receive
similar remuneration for similar duties. At any rate, that
a notoriously hardworking and meritorious body of men
should receive such salaries as may enable them to main-
tain themselves and their families—a thing which their
petition to Parliament shows is beyond the power of the
greater portion of them.---I am, &c.,

SCRTJTATOR.

London, May 21, 1864.

The Late Fraud on the Banks,

The public will remember that in August last a
warrant was issued for the apprehension of a
Hungarian, named Sigismund Dietrichstein, upon a
charge of having by fraud and conspiracy obtained
the sum of £lO,OOO in Bank of England notes, with
which he absconded, and at the same time a large
reward was offered for bis apprehension.
The warrant was obtained at the instance of Mr.
Mullens, the solicitor to the Bankers' Association,
on behalf of two of the City banks, from whom the
money bad been obtained, and the circumstances of
the case were somewhat peculiar. It appeared that
Dietrichstein had carried on business in Old Broad
street as a merchant, and was considered a person
of responsibility arid credit, and he kept an
account with two bankers, one at the
West-end of the town and the other in the
City, and presented all the outward appearances
of wealth and respectability, There was no doubt,
however, from what subsequently occurred, that
these appearances were entirely fallacious, and that
Dietrichstein, in conjunction with one or two others,
had concocted a deep-laid scheme of fraud, which
was carried out in a most ingenious manner. He
had been in the habit of speculating on the Stock
Exchange, and in the month of August it appeared
that he purchased for the account a large quantity
of foreign bonds. The account day was Saturday,
and on that day ho received the bonds, and gave
cheques upon his bankers for the amount. As these
cheques were crossed and Sunday intervened, two
days elapsed before the fraud could be discovered,
but it turned out that Dietrichstein bad with-
drawn the whole of his money from the bankers
except a very small sum ; but when this fact was
discovered it was found that he and his wife and
child had left England. It should be stated that
the moment he obtained possession of the bonds he
placed them in the hands of two of the City bankers
as security for an advance of £lO,OOO, which amount
he received in Bank of England notes, and took
with him when he departed. Upon these facts be-
coming known an application was made to the Lord
Mayor upon the subject, but it seems that at first
there was some doubt as to the character of the
offence that had been committed, the circumstances of

the alleged crime being somewhat novel; but in the
result a warrant was granted for the apprehensio❑
of Dietrichstein upon the charge of fraud and conspi-
racy. This warrant was placed in the hands of Moss,
one of the City detectives, for execution, and he
started off, accompanied by Mr. Pollaky, in pursuit
of the fugitive. After a long chase the officer suc-
ceeded in arresting him at Pestb, in Hungary, and
in his possession there was found a considerable
portion of the money with which he had absconded,
and a good many of the notes also appeared to have
been changed by his wife. Dietrichstein was then
conveyed to Vienna, and an application was
made to the Austrian government for his ex-
tradition, but Count Rechberg, the Austrian
minister, refused to deliver him up on the
ground that he was not charged with felony,
which offence alone was the subject of the ex-
tradition treaty, but merely with fraud, and Mr.
Mullens, who had himself gone to Vienna for the
purpose of endeavouring to procure the delivering
up of the prisoner, was obliged to return to Eng-
land, leaving him in the custody of the Austrian
police.
It appears that the matter has since been brought
to a conclusion by the whole of the money that was
obtained by Dietrichstein having been repaid. As
above stated, a considerable sum was in his posses
sion when he was apprehended, and the whole of
the remainder has since been given up. The bonds
that were obtained will consequently be restored,
and no further proceedings will be taken with re-
'erence to the charge.

Great Conflagration at Victoria Docks,

Yesterday (Sunday) morning, at a few minutes I
before one o'clock, an electric telegraph message was
received at the carious stations of the Fire Brigade
that a serious conflagration was raging on the
Hudson-wharf, Victoria Docks. This property, as
is well known, occupied a large superfices, whereon
were erected sundry factories belonging to Messrs.
()dam and Co., the representatives of the Patent
Blood Manure Company.
The first discovery of the fire was made by a
police constable of the K division, who in passing
along his beat perceived smoke in great volumes
issuing from the factory nearest the eastern end.
This part of the factory was 200 feet long and 116
broad. It was termed the vitriol department, and
contained no less, it is stated by the manager, than
3,000 tuns of oil of vitriol. The engines quickly
arrived, but in spite of every exertion the flames
were not quenched until the lapse of nearly nine
hours. The damage is very extensive. The boots
and uniforms of the firemen and the hose of the
engines suffered some injury from the vitriol that ran
oat of the building.
As soon as the fire wee got under a searching in-
quiry was made by the brigade authorities to ascer-
tain the cause of the disaster,
the result o f which
clearly showed that the over heat of an iron fine
had occasioned the mischief. Captain Shaw, in
s
official report to the insurance companies forming
the London Brigade, describes the damage done as
follows Then vitrio: department of two floors
high, 200 feet loug, and 116 feet Lroad, belonging
'n Messrs. Odani and Co., the representatives of the
Patent Blood Manure Company at Victoria Decks,
burnt out, and roof off; buildings and contents come
municMing damaged by fire and water."