The New York herald., 1869-05-23
TAO Ship News Quesaie.-The Hesha
Omcer and tho Dsty Of Governor

Puoic truSt Or converts IL INTO VehiCio 'oi
his own personal aggrandizement, to the detri-
ment of the interests of the community, 1t is the
bounden duty Of the appointing power to
remove the man from the place forthwith and
put more worthy person in it. That the
present Health Officer Of this port has com
promised his reputation as faithful public
servant there Is abundant evidence to prove.
1t Is notorious that he has permitted SNUG
Cling to be carried on through the boats of his
department; that he has subjected vessels and
cargoes from foreign ports to unnecessary and
vexatious delays, thereby inhlcting perma-
nent injury upon the commerce of this city
that he has made the apprehensions of yellow
fever pretence or cloak TO cover up some
| ulterior and selfish designs; that he has his
| own feet of tugboats and lighters, to which
| masters of vessels are compelled to pay tribute
every time they come into this harbor; that he
80 manages the Office as to realize from 1T an
income of two hundred thousand dollars per
annum, instead of the respectable salary to
which he is entitled; that the tyranny and
extortions Of his subordinates are themes Of
complaint upon the tongue Of every ship
| merchant in the port as well as every shipping
master who sails into it. These things, we say,
are notorious, and yet our merchants and
| shipmasters, as well as the multitudes Of
| passengers who are constantly arriving here,
are obliged to submit to them or suffer an aug
mentation of the evils they labor under through
either the malice, the Indifference or the
:,~o~ of Abo a,1 30
subordnates.
The public are aware that this same
Health Officer has thrown obstacles In the
way Of an important HERALD enterprise for
the purpose Of collecting ship news in this
harbor by the aid Of steam yachts-an enter
prise in which every merchant in the city is
| interested, and one which meets the heartiest
! commentators from all whose business
| lies in the line Of ships and shipping.
| The facilities afforded by this means to the
consignees of vessels coming in, in the way of
| notifying their shipmasters at what deck or
particular point they arc to haul up, are of
| acknowledged value; and as our ship news
agents are instructed to furnish to consignees
| and others information of the arrival Of their
| ships free of any charge whatever, and to con-
| vey packages or information from owners to
| masters on the same terms, we unfortunately
come in conflict with fee which the Health
| Officer exacts from consignees on giving SINH
| lar information. Moreover, we do not wish
| our business interests marred or endangered
| by the impertinent interference of anybody,
| and much less do we wish so important
| department as the ship news, in which nearly
every class in this community has more or less
coLcern, managed by any person over whom
we can exercise no control. We propose to
collect the ship news Of this port in our own
way for our own columns for the benefit Of our
| readers. We do not wish to be classified
with those parsimonious contemporaries who,
rather than incur trihing additional expense,
| submit to the dictum Of this self-installed Ger
berus of New York harbor, and take such
scraps of ship news as he, in his ignorance of
such matters, may dole out to them, or which his
subordinates may have pecuniary interest
in either giving or withholding.
| We have already expended heavy
amount Of money in collecting ship
news in this harbor. We are now
expending regularly every week large sum-
and we mean to expend still more, hav-
ing already new steam yacht of much larger
dimensions than those we now employ in pro-
| cess of construction, In order to maintain the
high character the HERALD has all along, from
the date of its existence to the present hour,
enjoyed for the fulness, accuracy and earliness
| Of its shipping reports. We do not intend to be
thwarted in this purpose so long as we main
tain the lead in metropolitan journalism.
We want no Health Officer for our ship
news reporter Let him stick to his pills and
his lotions, his drugs and his chemicals, his
powders and his potions, and his apothecary
shop generally; but he can be no ship news
officer Of ours with our consent. II other
papers choose to accept his offerings as regular
ship news reports, lot them, in their poverty,
do so. The HERALD can afford to take another
and o nobler course, thanks to the liberalty of
our fellow citizens. II can afford to be inde-
pendent as well as to establish system for the
collection Of ship news Of its own. II does not
| by any means desire 10 be exclusive in this
matter. On the contrary, the HERALD has
offered to furnish all the other New York
papers with its own ship news reports upon
the payment Of simply a pro rata of the ex-
pense incurred in collecting it. This, II must
be acknowledged, is just and fair, and wipes
out any charge Of an attempt to monopolze
the business that may be raised.
IL Is annoying, therefore, to have
obstacles thrown in the way of an
enterprise so important TO our merchants
and shipmasters as those that the pre-
sent Health Officer, from selfish and sordid
motives, is now attempting to cast before II.
IF that officer were one in whom the merchants
and community generally had confidence, or
who had earned high place in psblic estima