The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-20


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informers. This pernioious and rotten system
disgraces both our custom houses and our
internal revenue offices. What ID the result
The officers Of the Government are not inter
ested in an honest collection Of the revenue,
for that passes all the money into the Trea-
sury, and they get only their salaries. Their
peouniary interest lies In having, or pretend
ing, as many violations of the revenue laws
as possible, for out of those result seizures,
quits, compromises, and the division OF hun
dreds OF thousands of dollars among the
revenue officers, as informers, the Government
getting nothing or next to nothing One OF the
phases of corruption to which this system
gives rise is the seizure OF the establishments
or goods OF innocent persons, in order to
share in the profits OF a compromise.
In one instance, in this city, col
lector was removed, partly because he
would not make seizure of a distillery which
he believed was paying its tax honestly. His
successor seized it, and for the next year the
entire district did not pay a5 much revenue to
the Government in one year as that one distil-
lery had paid per month during the year pre-
ceding. But where the revenue stopped the
plunder of the revenue officers and intormers
began, and they gorged themselves on the
ruined establishment like vultures on car
cass until its owner, first supposng himself
driven in self-defense to manufacture without
paying the tax, and then convicted of 80 do
ing, was ruined, and his fortune divided among
the revenue officers as informers. The value
to the collectors of this feature of the Internal
Revenue law may be judged from the sworn
statement OF Sheridan Shook, during the im-
peachment trial, that the object for which the
$3O 600 was raised was not to buy the Presi-
dents acquittal but TO buy an amendment in
the Internal Revenue law, which would secure
to him as Collector little larger share in the
informers' fees in a particular class of cases.
SO in our Custom House, in the very act
which an innocent public is asked to believe
Is intended as the enforce ment of the law by
the seizure of the importatons of some
merchant who is alleged to have violated it,
closer investigation reveals only conspiracy
on the part OF the revenue officers to stop at
once the business of the merchant and the
revenue of the Government, by making a
seizure with the intent that it shall result in a
compromise and the division of s great part
of the value of the goods seized among the
revenue officers as intormers. Fortunate,
indeed, is the merchant if behind the cupidity
OF the custom officers there is not the deeper
motive of a bTibe from some rival merchant
willing to pay for and promote the seizure Of
his competitors goods. Very often those
merchants and manufacturers who are most
vilainous in evadng payment OF the revenue
are most successful in escaping seizures, be-
cause the revenue officers are in their pay.
On the other hand, men who have had no
design to evade the revenue and
who, therefore, have not bribed
the revenue officers, are subjected to
seizures. Sooner than endure the expense
and risks of litigation, they either compro-
mise or buy their way through. In either
case the officers divide the plumber, while the
Government gets next to nothing. To such
system has this corruption grown, and so
accustomed are our merchants to buying and
bribing their way through when seizures are
made, that new profession of harpies, or
Custom House and revenue 'shysters,' has
grown up, who extort large sums from
those whose goods have been seized, under
pretense that they have to divide the sums
so extorted among high officers of the Trea-
sury.
There is evidently in our Internal Revenue
and Customs Departments ample field for
President Grant to distinguish his administra-
ton by conquests over corruption and iniq uty
even more difficult and therefore more glorious
than his victory over the armed hosts of the
Rebellion. When he led our troops into the
conflict the common enemy had no solvent
which at once took the stiffness out of their
backs, the strength from their knees, aud the
instincts of manhood from their hearts. But
as he brings his army of Office holders into
the field, under a system of revenue laws
| which makes it the interest of those Office
holders to effect as little collection of the tax
and as many violations of the law as possible,
| he will find that fOur-ffths of them will accept
| the bribe, and deserve removal within the first
year. We need, therefore, first, an entire re-
vision OF our revenue system, the payment of
each man by percentages on the amount
! collected and salaries, and an abolition OF the
| power to compromise suits and seizures, and,
above ALL an abolition of all informers' fees.
| Then let US have an honest, energetic, dri-
| wing, executive Secretary Of the Treasury, a
! thorough and competent chief for the Bureau
of Internal Revenue, and an able, honest Col
lector for the port of New York, who will not
try to make $50 600 a year out of uformers
| fees, but will discharge every Custom House
| clerk that makes dollar outside of his salary
or has any other business than his clerkship.
We believe such reforms would save the Gov
ernment $lO0, 600, 600 of revenue, our men of
business from $500, 900, 600 more of plunder to
which they are now exposed, and the public
conscience from very much TEN ptatiou and
! vilGjny. President Grants influence should
first be felt in our Treasury, Revenue aud
! Customs Departments Tue incumbents in
these departments will do we'll TO set their
houses III order. Strangers are coming, and
coming to stay.
Misrepresentation and NOn-RepresentatiOn
From. me ". r. WOrId
The Tribune is disingenuous in saying that
while the World protests against the monopo-
li2ing by the radical majority in Massachu
setts of the entire Congressional delegation, 1t
does not object to the almost entire exclusion
! of tie radical party in this CITY from rnDrASen-