New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1842-05-09

siuners; but in the account, and vouchers rel- !
derci after lac became Collector. there i charged
for disbursements IN the purchase ot stationery,
ordered and received by HIN for the Collectors
Office alone sl.753 Is for the Appraisers. Sll8 |
80 tor the StorokeePcr. 1908 81; for Inspectors
s2I SO: for the store IN Washington street. go |
% making. IN the whole. the grand total OF
SlO.g42 20 for stationery alone, durin. one-halt
ct the year 1871.
4 careful examination Of the tables hcreubc.0re
referred to. and made part OF this report. viii
sufficiently demonstrate The causes which have led
to the enormous expenditure. for books, station
cry. and printing; but It may be useful To present
a summary ct tie most remarkable items charged
to the Custom House in The bill. r, adered By ih'
several individual. who bad the be-c.i OF supply
ing ihcsc articles, Tie single item OF steel pens
and aui.. OF the latter OF which bat lcw woss or-
dered and therefore scarcely worth mentioning,
araosnted during the three years OF Mr. Hoyt al
minis;rarion of the Cu,tom-liouse L. the sum 81
5000 IL. The price Of these pea-, charged ~
the bills rendered aud pad by Mr.. Hoy, ranged
from the minimum ct - per gross to the maxi
mum of s22 per gross, the larger proportion being
OF the lower cas-, which ale IN general usc ior
clerks. both mercantile and Official. Tie deposi-
tons OF David Felt, l.. j. Emo, and JOSIAH Hay
den who are large dealer, in the article ct steel
pens are referred to, to show tie standard price
per gross Of the descriptions used at the Custom
House Ii purchased in boxes, which ], the most
Convenient mode Of supply ing clerks. (the cards
being entirely useeSs.) Will be seen that the hrst
elias, of Gillot's usgnum bouum pens. pens
of equal quality. could be supplied. in the New
York market. at IL - per gross on the card, or
Cnc-halt that sum IN boxes: and what ID dcnom-
mated the commercial PEN at a. per gross on
tie card. or al % in boxes. Taking the average
OF these prices and considering that nineteen
twentieth- OF the pens supplied to the Caston'
House are of the latter class. II Will appear thai
al these rates, the sum appropriated by Mr.. hoyt
while he remained in office would have supplied
the enormous quantity Of 432 237 pens, making An
average Of 1902 per anEum, to De- distributed
among about 100 clerks who constantly en-
poyed in writing, and few other subordinate Of
/ hcers of the Customs who occasionally have To
/ make reports To some one OF the departments OF
! the Custom-HOuse. This would amount TO an
average of about fifteen hu,dred pens for each con-
slant writer per annum.
/ MIR. Emo, agent OF a large manufacturer OF pens
in Massachusetts tes,iies thar he exhibited AT the
desk of the Collector, Mr.. Ilsyi, to the cashier,
bond and ENTITY clerks, specimens ct the class ct
pens which pad for by MIR. llo.tat the min
himum of e. per gross, and made otter to fur
nish the Custom-l suse with any quantity ot tins
| article which might be wanted at the moderate
rates above mentioned, ~ wit: : 30 per gross IN
boxes and g. per gross on cards. "a which the
Collector gave an oii-hand answer, declining the
offer decidedly As to prevent any repetition ut
the offer Such conduct the part ot tins high
officer of the Government can be accounted tor
only on principles and motives Inconsistent with
the faithful discharge OF the important duties with
/ which he was intTUstcd.
Ii NAV be asked why particular individuals are
allowed and paid at rates ranging from 80 to ~
per gross for pens tor the use OF the Custom
House when an offer to supply like articles at
the moderate price OF : ~ per gross is contempt
uously rejected aud spuIned The undersigned
refers To the volume of evidence taken by the
Commissioners to demonstrate the fact, which, in
the absence of clear proof, might well be doubt
ed, that this and numerous other cases of iavorit
ism, so gross and palpable that none can mistake
it, had their origin in a system of fraud on the
public Treasury, to promote the interests OF Sc
ccted rarlisans, who could DO relied on Tor eii-
cient services in popular elections
This conclusion j. strongly enforced by the mass
of evidences taken in relation to the existence Of
Custoni-House tax, regularly levied and paid, Ia
advance of election, fer city officers, for Cover
nor and Representatives in the State Legislature.
for members of Congress, and for President and
Vice President ct the United States, during the
whole period of the two preceding admnistra-
ton. of the Federal Government. THIS tax Wa
graduated n scale spending with tine sal
AIRY received by each officer aud the Importance OF
the pending election and refusal to pay il,
Immediately followed by removal from office.
1t will also be seen, by the report Of the sur
veyor and other evidence that numerous officers of
the customs were absent from duty, either by tie
.. hon
cen,ure from that officer, for weeks and months
prior to elections, for no other purpose than TO in-
ilueuce voters, and lend their aid to the success
Of candidates favorable to the party in power,
while their salaries as officers of the Government,
suffered no diminuOn, in consequence of their
absence from duty.
Ii is notifying to be obliged to trace the con-
duct of "A high and responsible officer of the Gov
crnment to motives unworthy of the station he
occupied and of the moral character OF the
uy; but faithful discharge of public duty leaves
the undersigned no alternative but to animadyert
freely official ma practices gross and alarm
ing, established as they are by chain OF testi-
mony which to every impartial mind must be con-
! elusive.
The same systsm of wasteful extravaganza Is
seen in every article falling under the denomna-
lion of stationery. The undersigned will briefly
notice some Of them, before this part OF the re-
port is closed. For the supply Of blank books
/ and blanks, from the commencement of Mr..
+ Hoyts term Of service to the date Of the appoint
ment Of Edward Curtis, there il charged the enor-
nous sum of S26,2j7 ii, or an average Of 90,
/ - 80 per annum. The manner in which bill,
for these articles rendered and passed BY the
auditor makes it almost impossible To dsciimi-
nate between the various classes of books 50 a.
to ascertain precisely the difference between what
would have been the actual cost in the Newlo
market and the prices paid at the Custoni-flouse
Referring To the testimony Of David Felt, and 10
the comparative statements made in previous
part of thi. report it appeals uron exhibiting T.