, 1871-06-20
THE WEEKLY ARGUS.
TURspAY. JUIa 20. la7l. !
TIE CASE OF TIE ANNA eHcK

1t appears tha, the venerable .igebEush
who does the criticism Of the Custom
House, for the Olympia Transcript, has
discovered new mares nest within the
confines of that mysterious institution,
and straightway hastens to exPese it to
the pull: gaze. A few months since he
exhausted bis legal and jadicial Glsdtss
in pointing out certain irregularities" con-
nected with the seizure l0F the ship Her
mann and Emma, at PORT DiseoTefy. and
attempting to defams the 'coAeetOr, who,
in that matter. simply applied the law and
its9enalties to one Of the emost paten; and
outrageous frauds upon tue resenusS on
reeord, and who, had he failed 10 DO so,
would lave been sadly lacking 10 his Off
cial duty. The Collectors course, by The
way, in That case, has been fully sane
toned by the Secretary of the Treasury,
upon full presentation. of all tls facts
thereof. Our astute critic, however, quite
ignoring that slight circumstance, roaeWs
theeharge with all his original venom,
and then proceeds to enligbten US in the
case of the schooner Anna Beck, recently
fined by the Collector for failure'to report
and make entry on her arrival in the district
from foreign port, as required by the
law, and also for making false report us
to whence she had como. l.'''} oali'd
We are not at liberty at Ills lime to
present the facts Of this matter, which will
duly appear when the case comes before
the Court, but viii simply 5say, on this
point, that they are such as not only to
justify the Collector in bis action, but such
as imperatively required him to proceed in
The manner he did, and we feel ASSURED
that be will be sustained by heSeeretary
of the Treasury, as he has already been in
several like cases. How far the conduct
of the owner and master Of the vessel in
question may be REGARDED as. tstechnical
violation of the law" and therefore ex-
clsible, as assumed By or critic, s,e leave
for the future to develop, and meanwhile,
request our readers to remember that
there are two sides to every question, and
to withhold their judgment until there is
full presentment Of the case. We eanDot,
however, refrain from calling attention to
the meanness and malignity of this trans
parent effort, on the part of the writer Of
the Transcript, to PREJUDICE the case, and
prejudice the public mind against tie Gov
Srnment and its officers, for simply doing
their plain duty, in executing the. revenue
laws against all transgresso.s therof, which
by their solemn oaths they are bound to
do, whenever occasion fequires-which
fact our critic entirely pYerlooks, in his
eagerness 70 array himself with smugglers
and other defrauders ofthe revenue, and
against the Government. What mclan>
choly example this of the demoraliziug in
hIence Of political strife, when c gagged
in by men Who have not the strength Of
character to accept deftat- manfully,- or
sagacity enough to submit quietly to what
is inevitable. OuASritic refers sdrfoHfnl-
ly to "thesc degenerate times" of official
incapacity and misrule. Degenerate they
are indeed, when we behold a man who
has recently worn the judicialermine,, and
whose province it was 10 uphold the dig
nifty of the law, and meet out exact Justice
to all men, now declaring himself in open
hostility to all law, and advising that all
infractions thereof, by those whose aim
aud purpose it is to defy and defraudj The
Government, be quietly overlooked, and
they be allowed to go on their way rejoic-
ing, under the speciOus plea Of fostering
a I'd encouraging commerce" and yillifying
those who have the eourage-aud<iintee
rity to check them -in,-their itiqui:ouss
and nefarious practices - -
We have not time nor SPACE TO ali atle
further to other manif. st Inconsistencies
and absurdities contained in the article
referred to. If the case Of, the Anna
Beck is impartially and fairly tried, we
feel confident that the Collector will be
fully sustained in>his action, and our
spiteful critic as fully discomftted.
Meanwhile we should be grateful to. him
ifhe would furnish us with \ specification
of the ''grave errors which he. asserts
have been committed by the Collector on
numerous occasions" in his official ca
pacity. If he will oblige us in this mat
ter, it viii afford US much pleasure to pub
lish them, with suitable comments, =
BISMARCK PRoPHEctEs.-To the ebbus
tation welcoming him at the FrankSurt
railway station he said stNou rnov, IL,