The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-01-20
he Custom House Frauds and Corners
Decentralization in Public once.


sonal Investigating Committee, which has
been taking evidence for fifteen days In this
city, might prove rather startling If we were
not accustomed to such things on the largest
scale, and If the public conscience had not
become hardened by the frequency and
enormity of frauds all round In public Office
There will be, doubtless both majority and
minority report by the committee. according
to the political bias of the members, as there
is in all such cases, one making the best case
possible for the administration and the other
the worst but as the evidence of fraud,
bribery. stealing and political corruption is
too clear to be disguised we suppose there
will be some concurrence in exposing and
denouncing the evils.
The testimony shows that the Custom House
manage ment is utterly demoralized; that the
Custom House is used as a machine to con-
troll both local and national politics that he
politicians use the employees to knock down
one set of men and to put up another, and
that the employees make raids upon the mer
chants under protection OF the politicians. 1t
is a system Of robbery, extortion and cor
ruption all through. The merchants and
public are the victims. A man who has
certain political influence and will be sub
servient to the party or faction in power, rep
resented by the Collector of the Port, is
appointed to Office, without regard to his
| character or fitness, and generally gets a
position commensurate with his influence
He knows his strength, and feels
that he can plumber with impunity.
He stands waiting and expecting all the time
to be bribed either to do his duty or forbear
doing III; and If the merchants or shipping
masters and agents fail to give this servant
Of the government a douceur they soon find
themselves the objects of persecution and
their business obstruoted. Merchandise is
not safe in the hands of these plundering
Custom House politicians for the evidence
brought out by the Congressional Committee
shows numerous cases in which goods have
been stolen from packages while under Gus
tom House control. The present general order
system seems to have been invented specially
to fleece our merchants for the benefit of par
ticular friends of the administration. Seizures
are made, not with view to the protection
of the revenue so much as to extort
money from merchants or to fll the
pockets of rings of officials and detec-
tives In the Custom House. They amount
sometimes to an attempt at blackmailing un-
der cover of official authority. These and
other evils too numerous to mention here are
kept up through political influence and are
made subservient to political ends.
A great injury is done to individuals, to the
merchants, shipowners and others by these
frauds and impositious; but the commercial in
terests generally Of New York are also seri-
onsly affected. They operate as burdensome
tax upon commerce, and tend both to restrain
it and to drive 1t to other channels. 1t was
shown in evidence that merchandise could be
landed at Boston and sent thence to New York
by railroad at as little or less cost and more
promptly than in passing through the obstruc-
tions, expenses and corrupt channel of the Gus
tom House here. Our city, then, is directly
interested, in commercial point of view, in
having these evils exposed and reform applied.
In mentioning the administration in connection
with the Custom House frauds we do not sup
pose General Grant has had anything to do
with them. The vicious and corrupt system
existed before he was President. His SUBJ
ordinate officials have Kept it up. They have
used the Custom House as political machine
for the benefit of the administration party, as
their predecessors under different admnistra-
lions have; but the President may not have
taken any action in the matter. The zeal of
his supporters may have gone beyond his
| kuov1ad0o he do ~
prudence or honesty.
We seem to have reached terrible state Of
corruption and fraud. The wholesale robbery
by the Tammany Ring, the plumber Of the
railroad, Treasury and other rings in
Washington, the s.upendous frauds upon
some Of the Southern States by the carpet
bag officials there, and other plunderng opera
tons throughout the country, both under the
local and federal governments, have been sup
plemented by the Custom House exposures.
| These are the latest developments of corrup-
ton among officials. We fear the end has not
been reached yet. In fact, it will be well if
the impulse given by the Tammany frauds to
a general scrutiny Of official delinquency
should lead to more thorough investigation
of federal, State and municipal government
throughout the whole country. Fortunately
there is little that escapes the vigilance Of the
press in America, and, therefore, the evils
with which we are afflicted stand ont promi-
nently before the world. Let us hope that
official and political corruption has eliminated
with us, and that with all these recent ex-
posures we are about to enter upon an era of
reform. Both the frauds of Tammany and
the Custom House originated in part from
political motives-the money and the Offices
to be used in q political strnoola for