The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-01-18
THE CUSTOM HOUSE INvESTI-
CATION.

NEW G0RK, .lanuarO l1.-A the Gus
tom House investigation this morning "A
communication was read signed by the
agents ri nil the steamship lines, confirm
ing the statement that Tor u long time plSI
packages have been taken from their
carEocS while being examined hy the up
praiScrs officers. Al the same lime the
entries were made in the appraisers :
hooks showing that the goods have been
received in bad order, which entries are
charged tn he false.
\ communication was received stating
that CartmCn did not ret rccriprs until
some days after the delivery OF packages
and the receipts then stated that the goods
were In bad orllcr.
An affidavit was received from BERNARD
Hess, formerly an internal revenue officer.
charging that the President, Secretary nl'
the Interior, and Col. DclanO were made
C0gni1ant Of certain dcIalcaliuns and
frauds committed by Joshua +. Bailey,
once collector of the ith district, but now
II fugitive from Justice, winch inlOrma-
tiOn was received by said DclanO while
Commissioner OF Internal Revenue, and
was ignored by him, and in consequence
great loss resulted IL the government
which he could have prevented bv an in.
vcstigaiion. lie also alleges that there
are men in the custom house, appointed
by Collector Murphy, who were indebted
tn the government for Illegal transaC.
tions while engaged in the dislilcry busi.
ness, and he is ready 10 give their names.
Lastly, that all his efforts tn induce said
Dclanu and the District Attorney 10
further the ends Of justice in the matter
nt the frauds referred tU, were OF no avail.
but he will he happy 10 give the commit.
tee full information. lie was ordered 10
he summoned.
The first witness examined was Charles
llcyscr. lie tcstiIicd-l am inspector ot
customs; have read Palmcr's statement
before the committee in reference to
myself; the whole statement in regard tn
me is entirely untrue; he said | was re.
moved on the charge Of rraudulcntly hold.
ing liquors, which is wrong.
Charles Spencer, lawyer, testified and
said wish to make statement in rcla.
tlOn 10 the testimony yesterday about the
Syracuse Convention. We kept the hall
clear till the arrival Of the police, because
row was apprchcndcd, and some Jury.
men were appointed 10 duty. The mob
took possession Of the hall when the
police arrived. Their object was To drive
the delegates from the hall.
The committee then adjourned 10 =
O'Clock, and took carriages and drove
down In visit the general order stores.
At the evening session Chas. q. Frank.
lyn, local agent ol' the Cunarl line ol
steamships, was examined. lie said the
chief reason why merchants import now
rm. Boston and Baltimore was that the
delays in passing goods are frequent here
and the charges very high. Subsequent
ly he admitted that merchants can ret
goods quicker Td l'nslon than hy bring.
ing them here, and that fact was really
the reason why the Boston route il pre-.
irrrcd. The freight charged between
livCrpnOl and BU5lOn Is rather more than
between livcrlo0l and New York. Mr..
Frnklyn said that il has sometimes oCvll
pied three weeks To pass an entry here,
whereas at Boston three days il the oul
side Of time similarly spent. lie com.
planned that in one bill paid the past year
n charge nj the rate of $l2 per package
on merchandise was made, but he after.
wNrdsndmiltcd Tint il was M exceptional
ease, When WE hal the general order
business We only realized the rent or the
siorc-Si,WM per annum. Our charge
was from Scvcnty,iivC cents Ia one dollar
per package more ilnn Onr dollar
The charge now is generally one dollar
and sixty cents.
The committee adjourned until To-
morrow.