The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-03-06
WASHINGTON.


The Moiety System.
WASHINGTON, March 5.-The Committee on
Ways and Means resumed the session on the
moety question this morning. The persons
present from New York were jackson >.
Schultz, D. e. Cobbins, John Austin Stevens,
E. B. Eaton and Cephas Brainard representing
the Chamber of Commerce.
j. A. Stevens has received letter from Hen
ry Vining of the Philadelphia Board of Trade,
in which he says that Philadelphia is in union
with her sister cities with regard to the custom
laws. As chairman of the Committee OF the
Board of Trade he drafted memorial to Con
gress, which will soon be presented. The men,
oral is as follows:
"The Philadelphia Board of Trade respect
fully represent that the custom laws are con
fused and difficult to understand and that the
proceedings of informels and government ON
GERS acting under these laws have sometimes
been high handed and offensive to the moral
sense of the mercantile community, and conse.-
quently injurious to the government itself,
which has thereby been brought into disrepute.
Your memorialists therefore pray Congress 10
revise said laws and amend them so that non
est importers may not be injured in properly
and reputation by proceedings instituted at the
lnstigation of mon who are actuated by the
hope of pecuniary profit to themselves rather .
than by desire to promote the public good,
VIM. E. Dodge. of Phelps. Dodge u Coz
made loLg statement, giving the history OF
the case in which they pala 200 as com
promise. and showing the manner in which the
firm had been treated by Jayne and other gov,
eminent officers. The narrative was listened
to with much interest by the committee MI.
Dodge vindicted the firm from all charge or
suspicious CT fraud.
Statement of Wan Dodge.
VIM. E. Dodge, in his statement before. the
Ways and Means Committee to-day, said on
the first interview with Jayne the latter SAID
he was sorry the government was in possession
of facts to show that the firm was engaged IN a
deliberate attempt to defraud the revenue by a
systematic series of forgeries, and secondly by
importing goods with false and duplicate IN
voices, and that he (Jayne) supposed that ne
ties involved under those circumstances, giving
him to understand that every act OF perjury
of which he might be guilty subjected him to a
fine of $4,000 and Imprisonment for not less
than two years
Jayne also said that under such false invoices
and under valuation, according to the law of
1868, the firm had forfeited $1,750,000 to the
government, and now, he continued, | have a
warrant from the District Court to take posses
sion of your books and papers. This came to
him like a tbunderbolt. He knew Judge Davis
to be an honorable an6 upright man, and said
to him: "This is a strange proceeding. 1t is
entirely new to me. | defy this man Jayne to
procure, single duplicate used by Phelps,
Dodge & Co."
Jayne said: 81 have affidavits to show that
you tempered with officers of the government. "
Dodge said to Judge Davis, eff here are any
books or papers to establish such cases they are
at your service" Going to his Office. Mr.. Dodge
said to those present, ''There is fearful charge
against us of defrauding the revenue and of
perjury, and here is United States officer to
take possession of our books" Jayne bad one
or two officers with him. The fifty men in the
store were at their desks and were astopished
at the proceedings. Jayne took what books he
wanted and cart backed up to the door to
take them away.
Dodge remarked that Gen. Butler said that
he had single letter from Phelps, Dodge &
Co.. which was sufficient to convict them in
any U. S. Court. The firm learning what it
was, laughed. When the firm for the first time
imported tin for cheese watts, instead of put.
ting it in boxes, it was put in bundles with
strips of galvanized iron around them. The
appraiser Called their attention to the fact that
the tin should have been in boxes. To avoid
future trouble they wrote to their friends
abroad to thereafter put the tin in boxes with
marks of their weight and manufacture. The
reply came they would endeavor to follow in
structions but the manufacturer adds, IF in
any respect we shall differ let US know and we
will Tx it," Gen. Butler had it, 1--WE will on
this" he said, convict Phelps. Dodge & Co..
in any court in the United States"
When he (Dodge) returned from Washing
ton the firm decided that they had better pay
the amount demanded than have Judgment of
$1,75O,000 entered against them in court. They
settled and paid the money to get rid of the in
famous charges against them, and being at
owed the government. They were fools for
paying the money but there was terror IN this
thing throughout. They found themselves dog
ged by spies in any steps they took.
They could not have private meeting of the
firm at night but what it was known in that
dark hole at the Custom House. There was no
lawyer in their offic9 but what it vas known.
One OF his partners in-Jannary came round
and opened his desk, culling out such letters as
he wished to retain and burned the rest. They
them that Jayne said Phelps, Dodge & Co.
were burning up their papers and he would
have them all in Ludlow street Jail that night.
Treasury Balances.
The following are the Treasury balances to-
day:-Currency, SO, 1857 special deposit OF
legal tenders for redemption of certificates of
deposit, $50, 680.000 coin, $685. SIG, 1888, including
coin certificates SAC, 901, 100; outstanding legal
tenders, $3.50, 100000.
The Civil Service.
The House Committee on Reform in the Civ
il Service to- day erected Mr.. Woodford to re
port the following substitute for Mr.. Merriam s
bill introduced January 28th last to prevent
officers of the United States receiving, after
being paid, any monies beyond their fixed sala-
~: Be it enacted, ETC., that no officer of the
United States shall directly or indirectly re-
ceve or be paid to or for his own use, any
money or property whatever of the United
States except salary to be fixed by law, and
that no public property shall be used by Off
Gals for private purposes
Second. That the act shall not be so constru-
ed to prevent payment from the Treasury of all
actual and necessary travelling expenses of the
United States officers when performing legiti-
mate aud necessary duties pertaining to their
offices. This bill abolshes mileage in the case
of all officers of the United States except MEM
bers of Congress.
The Government Printing Office,
First Assistant Postmaster General Marshall
was before the house Committee on Appropria-
tons to-day to meet officials of the Government,
Printing Office, with reference to changes recent
ly made against the Government Printer of
charging exhorbitant prices for work done al
his Office. Three gentlemen admitted thai
some of the charges were we'll founded, but