The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1846-02-19
FEES OF OFFICERS OF THE Gus.
y TOMS Mi


merce, to reduce the fees ofcertain officers
of the customs. The bill pFovides--
"That collectors and all other officers Of
the customs, serving for less period than
year, shall moi bo paid for the entire year,
but shall be allowed a prorala compensation
for the time Gully which they actually serve
as such collectors or officers, whether the
same be under one or more appointments, or
before or after confrmation And no col
loctor orother officer shall, inlany case, re-
ceive for his services, either al fees, salary,
fines, penalties, forfsitures, Or rhNierwlse, for
tho time he may be in sefvic9 beyond the
maximum pro rata provided ~ law"
The other provisions of DE bill are that
all acconnts for salary, Compensation and
emollments shall be rendered quarterly, and
that no portion of the additional duties i'm
posed by the tariff of 1912 shall be deemed
a fine, penalty or forfeiture, and as such
shared by any officer of The customs, but
that the whole shall be paid into the treasury.
Tho latter Of these provisions, we suppose,
will reach the evil complained Of The ab-
surd tariff of 1S42, ameng its other absurdi-
ties imposed certain additional duties by
way Of penalty, the greater part OF which 90
into the pockets of the principal custom
house officers. Whenever tho estimate put
upon any imported goods shall exceed the
prices which the importer renders in his in
voice, by ten per cent, 'he importer shall be
punished for the discrepancy-no matter
whether it he an honesSor dishonest one
by an addition of City per cent. 10 the duties
he pays. Thus whiIef Congress with one
hand was cutting dow the compensation of
the custom house oRicdrs, it was adding 10
them with the other. The bill drafted by
Mr.. McClelIand directssall these duties TO
be paid into the treasury.
We have before us a statement furnished
by the Secretary of the Treasury, in answer
10 resolution Of inquiry moyeeaAy Mr..
McCleland. From this the information
was derived which We published the other
day. The naval officers aud surveyors of the
several parts receive as large proportion of
the fines, penalties and foEfeitures as the col
lectors. 1t appears that Mr.. Lord, while
surveyor here, received for his services dur
ing two years and one month--that is from
March 1a41. to- Anril. l242-=the sum of
SlS,77S. The law makes his compensation,
at the highest, five thousand dollars yearly.
Mr.. Lord, however, had little benefit of the
additional duties imposed as penalties by the
act of 1872 Mr.. Taggard, the surveyor, a
particular friend of Mr.. Webster, was more
fortunate. He came into Office on the 23d
Of March, lS4l, and remained till the 80 of
June, 1914, a period of three years and Il
litue more than three months. His com
pansaion is fixed by law at $4,000 yearly
Yet he touched, by help of this commercial
tariff Of 1912, the sum of $3l, ,4lS. of
these, nearly thirteen thousand dollars formed
his share of the penalties In the period
between the llth of September, lS43, and
the 30th of June, 1874, he received $7,5S5. !
The bill before the House, we suppose
will pass, with just as much discussion as
wil'suflice 10 cause its reasons TO be under
stood; nothing more we should Judge, will
be necessary, But though the bill should
pass, Congress, we hope will see the justice
of abolshing the additional duties of fifty
per cent, imposed as a penalty upon the
importer for presenting what may after all
be an honest invoice. Suppose that the i'm
porter should have bought ddyanlageously,
that he presents an invoice stating the ac-
tual prices, and that the appraisers, acting
according to their opinion Of the value Of the
goods in the markets ABROAD, estimate them
to be worth ten per gcent more than the
price at which they age purchased. They
must punish him for aisineere declaration Of
the truth, with the penalty Of heavy addi-
tional duties. The law Is imperative, and
they cannot avoid executing iG
FIVE are to have tprotecVve tariff, lei us
at least have. oneawhch does not punish
honesty with the same penaltios-se knavery;
lei us not have a system purposcly contrived
to entrap and embauass the fairtrader. The
present tariff is empbatcally such system,
and if nothing more is done, it should be
pruned of the processes of chicane which it
WASHINGTON NEws.-Thes editor, of the