The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1863-02-16

whs Three CIR eat Buiwsrks M Re-
| = IL x. bellion.
| Richmond, Charleston and Yicksburg are now
the three great bulwarks of the rebellion. II
| the government can succeed in capturing these
three cities, and can defeat and put to rcut the
rebel armies collected to defend them. the war
will be virtually over, and the rebellion will
soon die a natural DEATH Every days delay,
however, makes this achievement the more diff
hcult. The rebels are active, enterprising and
energetic, while we move very slowly, and, we
wish we could add. very surely. The road TO
Richmond has been proven a very hard road to
travel. yicksbnrg has been fortified until it ap
peas as imprcgaabIe as Gibraltar. At Charles
ton orr iron-olad gunboats will be forced to en-
counter iron-ciad forts and batteries. Our
prospects are. therefore. not very encouraging,
bu, hey are by no means hopeless.
The fault Of the administration throughout
this WAY las been false appreciation Of the
| courage, abilA5 and resources of the rebels
Southern by sgaiocies used to assert that one
; rebel could whip Eve Yankees Our
administration has acted upon the idea that one
| Yanlrcc could whip five rebels. The rebels put
their hravads into words; but we have attempt
| THEtrsroH HOUSE, FRAUDS AND THE REMEDy.-
| In addition to the official report of the stu
| pendous frauds in the Custom House Of New
York, amounting to nearly million Of dollars,
laid before Congress by the Secretary Of
| the Treasury, we have a report Of our
! own, the result Of an investigation OF
one of the reporters. which unrolds
numerous facts not otherwise brought
! to light, laying bare system of frauds of the
| most extensive and daring character. Accord
| ing to the statement Of Mr. Jordan, Solicitor Of
the Treasury Department, the mporta;oas Of
! Madame Heustell frat led to suspicion and to
! the ultimate discovery Of the frauds by which
! the Treasury was cheated of the revenue by the
! operations Of Custom House brokers in league
with the officials. Other cases were then brought
to light; seizures were made and proofs obtain
| ed which could not be gainsaid. Ono Of tho
methods adopted in these frauds was :s s sn.a-
dating the Invoices; abothef in forging the In
! voices and disappearing the articles. For ex-
ample. valuable manufactured silks with high
duties are represented rs cotton or raw silk.
| a nominal duty. Of course PERJURY il
| necessary to perpetraie the fraud and
The examiner must be in league With
the importer. lie shows the appraiser ssp,-
pie which is very different from the article con
tanned in the box or package entered In some
cases the names Of respectable importers were
used who knew nothing Of the transactions and
\ tho de- oroH al iI,a
in order to avoid suspicion. The persons in the
Custom House known to have connection with
the goods are Van yechtcn. EelIs and Griggs;
and Henry Calhoun. Deputy Collector; Le1ing-
we'll. Chief Clerk. aud others, are chargeabIe
with ucg!ect and want Of vigilance
To one clerk a thousand dollars in brides
had been paid in year; 10 another eighteen
hundred dollars in fifteen months. Vaa vech-
ten admits be received $500 per annum from:
these sources, and it is proved that bond
clerk. with salary of 81 900 per ann,m for.
eight years, leaves the Custom House with a
fortune o.! $50. 900.
Now these transactions. taken in connection
with the revelations made by the reports of the
Van Wyck and Grimes committees and the
army subsistence frauds developed IN this city,
are calculated to bring discredit upon the go.
vernmen' hc'ase the country and The world. If,
instead OF be,tow;ns 40 much attention upon
The everlasting nigger little exertions we've
made by officials to prevent such frauds (
against the government, 1t would he well for
the republic. II. instead OF appointing either
incapabes or plundcring politicians to Office.
whose chief busness is to steal. the heads of
departments appointed homes, and competent
men. there would he very different story to
tell to-day from tho dismal records aow given
70 the public. The heads Of departments must
he held t. more strict account for the mon
they appoint. aad vigilan! system Of decc-
ton and vigorous punishment must be adopted.
else orr government will fall into universal
contempt Is the most imbece and corrupt on
the face OF The earth
GREELEY o. Iak PEAcE Resoi.arIoNs ~ THE
ILLINOIS LkasI AfuRE.-The ma oritv OF the two
houses OF the Illinois Legislature have passed
string OF revolutionary resolutions. chiefly
made np OF violent dcnunciations of Prcsidcn,
Lincolns administration aud Of propositions
for an armistice and peace convention Of the
loyal and rebellious States at Louisville; aud
these revolutionary proceedings have called
down the unqualified wrath OF Greeley. But
in sowing the seeds Of discomfort, divisions, dis
cords and confusion in. the loyal States. has be
not gone further than the philosophers Of
ibe Illinois Legislature. Has he mol contended
that II we fail in the work of putting down this
rebellion by the 1T Of May We ought 10 stop
the war. and make the best peace with the re-