New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-02-20


hardship in this respect by the seizure OF goous
which persons of /" high social standing woulu Oe
permitted to bring in free.i
Q The Appraisers Department warehouses Iocateu
on Trinity-place). under Thomas McElrath' esq., III
wolves a cost Of $3.50 900 year, all Oh WHICH Woiu
be saved bes;le a vast amount of revenue, If our
tariff could be made like that OF Russia entirely
specific. / O. by weight and measure instead of ae'
eordino 10 value Ten Assistant Appraisers at S3OOO
each three TO six examiners at $3.50 each ana
CORDS of 90 openers and packers are employed III co
pairing the goods imported under the dd rdtorm Bee
lions of our Tariff law with the invoices so as 10
guard against frauds by differentiation 1t a SIN
gular fact that the Free Traders have succeeded III
placing nearly all those articles which compete with
our own industry on the dd raIOrem list whlie the
dutles ON articles we do not produce, such as leas
West India Sugars foreign Wines, &c, are speclnc'
or mainly So BY this means, whatever OF under
valuation there is defeats in so far the intended pro-
tectiye effect of our tariff The Appraisers Depart
ment is peculiarly liable to frauds, through the OPP
pointment in responsible positions OF men through
the influence if not in the pay, of prominent I'M
pOrters As it is physically impossible to open and
examine all the packages, if an importer is aOie 10
Influence the selection Of the particular
packages to be opened, window-shades' as
per invoice, may be found in those opened,
while silks and iewelry may be passed
In those not opened Several cases of such frauds
have transpired during the Winter The true reform
for abuses incident to the Department of Appraisal
and the only means of making our Tariff law
thoroughly effective either for protection or revenue
is to abolish dd ralOrem tariffs altogether ms VIII
add 10 per cent to our revenue on the same importa
lions and will save onefourth of the entire cost OF
the Customs Department i'll New-fork. But Oh
course the pa persons for whom the Appraisers
Department provides stand ready to prove that this
should not be DONE The approach of an election is
said to have expansive effect upon the Appraisers
Department, which is quite phenomenon in its way
For instance in 1866 up to july the cost of labor and
salaries was only $4,000 month. In October and
November it was $4,000 Yet the number of invoices
appraised in the first period was 12OOO, and III the
second only from 5000 TO 10000.
g. The immediate functions Of the Collector of the
Port like the tribes of Israel have IL divisions. They
IRE presided over by an auditor, cashier. and 10
deputy collectors. -Four of these divisions, the 4th,
5th. 9th and 7th occupy the Rotunda OF the Custom
House. and keep up that inexpcable rustic and
whiT of papers in supplying the demands of that
maze of applicants which make this seem like the
central and busiest hive of ali the throngng indus
tries of our great city.
The Fourth Division under DR.. G. w Embree, the
first deputy on the right as You enter the Rotunda
has charge of the entrance and clearance, register
ing enrolling and licensing of vessels This is an
honest branch of the business: and Dr. Embree who
has been in the service number OF years is very
genial and respectable gentleman. Hence, you need
not take alarm, button up your pockets, II per-
chance you shOuld see pile of religious tracts
lying on his desk, as he comes by them legitimatey
The next Division on the right tFifthl, under
charge of Deputy j. r. Lydecker. enters goods, fixes
rates of duty grants free permits and takes bonds
His clerks occupy the center Of the Rotunda, and
chief among them we notice the intellectual and
genial countenance of c. T. Briggs esq, who
still whites away his leisure hours with oeca-
sional articles for the Magazines. more rare than
they ought to be. III doing the financial
for The Independent Our Customs officers, by way Of
saving the reputation of the Department. and inn
parting SAVIOR of gentilty to the Customs service,
find it necessary to the services of some men
of repute in the literary world. Beside Mr.. Briggs
in the ROtunda, have in the Auditors Office (sec
ond floor on Wilam-stl Il. b. Coffin esq, or Barry
Gray whose Matrimonial Infelicities" and other
humorous works, are worth reading. He is also as
sociate editor of The Home Journal Away up under
''' W "where the brocding swallows enng,"
:. p;cbard Grant White, Shakcspearian critic and
foe IN all innovations on the Kings English. Mr.
IN MS official capacity has charge of
the revenue cutters very agreeable relaxation from
The lab0rs of writing for The GdlGTg. L. &. Leland
literary Radical, is Appointment Clorlr, sort OF
secretary to the Collector and j. w. Ward. in the
Auditors Office is Secretary TO the Mcroscopical
society.
Passing from the ROtunda up the stairway, toward
the Exchangeplace and Hanoverst. corner we enter
tho rooms of the Third Deputy, j. III. Steadwel, who
has charge of the warehOuSed aud bonded goods and
of the storekeepers for the public and private bonded
stores. Mr. Steadwels department is mainly the re-
sutof the warehouse SYSTEM" which has been shown
10 be of such doubtful expedieney and the abolition
of which is urged in many quarters with great force
The emssaries of British free trade succeeded, we
believe while Guthrie was Secretary of the Treasury
In persuadng our Government that if goods could be
received. stored in bond. and reexpOrted without
paying duties, the port Of New-York would become
vast depot for the interchange Of tine commerce
of other ports, and the carrying trade would
pass much more largely into the control
of American vessels The plan has totally failed to
accomplish its pretended objects. The amount Of
foreign merchandise re-expOrtod is absolutely nsg
nifcant and, as carrying trade has passed by the
war to English vessels they alone derive this
of benefit from warehouse system The privi-
lege is a source OF fraud. An importer has only to
procure the certificate Of foreign cOnsgnce, consul
and the mate of a vessel that goods have been re-
exported to be released from his bond for payment
Of the duties. In some cases in which such GER
tifcates are procured, the goods have been re-ex-
ported and in they have been consumed in this
country But the facility it affords for smuggling in
this and other modes is the least evil OF the ware
house system The storage of the goods is a source
of great profit and becomes, therefore part of the
patronage" Of the Deputy Collector. He assigns
tho goods at discretion to such warehouses he may
select and this privilege of selection is worth several
thousand dollars per month to the warehouses.