Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1874-02-25
REVISING THE CUSTOMS SERVICE.

Ways and Means Committee Of the
was to have been reported by
Mr.. Kssson last week. Although we
have not yet seen the text or notice OF
Its introduction, the main points are
given In prominent Eastern exchanges.
1t provides that duties collected un-
der an Interpretation OF law made by
the Secretary Of the Treasury shall not
be refunded on a reversal Of such de-
cislen, unless such reversal Is sustained
BY the courts, In which case the
amounts thus %erroneously collected
must be reported to Congress, aud an
appropriation made for their repay
ment. Where duties are collected I'M
der orders Of a customs officer. aud
these orders are reversed by a decision
Of the Secretary, the duties thus paid
may be refunded rs heretofore, but a
full report Of such cases must be made
annually to Congress.
Under the almost unlimited power
given the Secretary by the existing
law to refund duties held by him to
have been enormously collected, seri-
Qua abuses have occurred and may
again. Hundreds OF thousands oil dol
lars collected for duties have, by a re-
versal by the Secretary Of the decision
OF q Collector oil Customs, or n dlter-
ent Interpretation OF the law under
which they were paid, been taken IRON
the Treasury BY a mere stroke OF the
Secretary's pen. Mr.. kasson's hill Is
the first move In tho direction Of
thorough reform In the customs service.
IL should bs followed up by a repeal OF
the laws which make, instead OF annual,
permanent appropriations for the
expenses Of collecting the revenue,
limiting the number aud salaries OF Of
flcials engaged In the service. aud do
lug away with the whole odlous sys-
TEN Of moieties to officers and their
r%etlnues Of sples and informers. BY
introducing bills for the remedy OF
these irregularities and evils, the ON
mittee will deserve the thanks OF the
country. and will have rendered a SER
vice. the importance OF which a
scarcely be overestima;ed. The spy
system Of our Government |, just now
receiving a ventilation which develops
some interesting facts. Afew Inform
srs aud their paid assistants have,
through the avarlce aud favor OF Gus
tom.house collectors, been enabled to
biackmail importers to very large
amounts. aud enrich themselvc, aud
the oillcial, with whom they have con-
nived to wrong prominent business
men. Up to ls5S tue expenses
OF collecting customs were paid from
the receipts for duties. An annual APP
preparation Is now made, but no csti-
mate Of expenses in detail Is sub
mitted to Congress for Its scrutiny
and no report Of disbursements in de-
tail Is furnished tho Committee Oh
Ways aud Means. These %appropria-
tions have been increasing with a
rapldity uncalled for by the increase
Of proceeds from customs. In lsjG
the amount appropriated was $4,000
COO; In 1867. 1882, 900; In 1865, So
6li,3G9; Ia 1868, 80 25G,0O in $50,
S6,iiS, 600; in ISL, S1,i5a, 600; In ls'a,
Sj,l7i,O 900; while for the past year 1t
reached the enormo sum OF SS,2i1,-
733, or nearly double that OF 1867.
Mr.. Dawes, In his late famous speech
on retrcnchment, shows very plainly
that this increase was not the result OF
Increased duties, owing to the amount
| collected. for In 1866 the receipts
from custom duties were Sl79, 0iG,'
900, while In 1873 they were
only SlsS.0s9, 5a2. Unlike other
branches Of the Government business,
Congress can not, without special res
olution calling for Information, know
how much, when, or how, this money
Is expended. There Is no limit to the
number OF officers or employees who
may be appointed, save the will OF the
Secretary OF the Treasury. Ia most
other departments OF Government bus
iness the numbers and salaries Of the
officials aud employees r fixed by
law, and the appropriation merely
covers the estimates thus made by the
department and allowed by Congress.
There IL no reason why the Customs
Department should be exempted from
TIL, obviously just regulation. The
people through their representatives
should fix the number OF Executive
appointecs In all branches OF public
business. aud likewise settle the
amount OF salary to be paid each one.
In thi. way only Is a just knowledge
OF public expenditures and necessities
~obtaiuablc, and by this means only
eau the popular demand for retrench-
ment be complied with.