New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-03-02
NEV- FEATURES IN TIE CUSTOM no USE
DETECTIVE BUSINESS.

ipgton trying to make out that New York
merchants, as q class, arc unmltigated rascals
and steal whenever they get an opportunity {;
and Gen. Butler in turn has been whitewash-
ing and rndorsing Mr.. Jayne. The following
is the reported language OF Gen. Butler; =.
ale told Mr. Schultz that he would stand by jayne
in this fight il should stand in his way He added
that the merchants OF New.YOrk set OF - ras-
calls and should be watched all the time. lie spoke OF
psamsinging pious scoundrels, and said that Jayne
had shown his magnanimy by not taking sso'o" n'ro
from Phelps Dodge Co.. and a million from "oourun
& Robinson He spoke of the lettersabout some woman
scrape that were stolen from the drawertoiia uesk "
q Co.'S ana implicated the son Of member OF tho
1rn and said jayne .magnanmously destroyed them
Here then we have this curtain unintentiOn-
ally lifted little, and an inside result OF the
beautiful operations of the Custom-h0use DC
tectives made evident "He spoke OF the let
tiers about some woman scrape that were
stolen from the drawer of desk" OF one OF
the firms charged with revenue crImnallties.
But what business had IN officer of tho reve-
nue., or Gen. Butler. a member OF Congress-
TO know anything about such lettersr Is the
Custom house a CONSERVATION of morals as wei
of revenue, and does Gen. Butler propose 10
hold rod over merchants in New-York by
knowledge of their private correspondence OBJ
tanned through the medium of thieves, as he
saws that he does over members OF congress
through the barrel of kilograms when he
seized some years ago as MEMBER OIL Ihe
Johnson Impeachment Committee --''~*-
We confess, too, that we arc unable TO see
where Mr.. Jayne's magnanimity comes In.
If the package of letters in question had no
reference whatever TO matters of revenue, ana
Mr.. Jayne knew that they had been unlawtully
taken. or, in plain English, stolen, every mo-
ment he retained them without the knowledge
of their owner, he acted as receiver OF stolen
property, morally and legally on par with
the thief. And when he subsequently burned
them he committed an act as unjustitabe as
though he had burned package of promissory
notes, bills of exchange, or any other property.
In short, we could have no better illustration
of the wickedness and anti-repubhcan charac-
ter of O law which authorizes Government
officials to Seize and search under any cir
cumstances the private papers of firm or
individual. lis execution necessarily IN
wolves such violation Of private rights
and carries with it such an infringement and
disclosure of social relations, that personal
liberty becomes a nOnentity. And herein con-
ssts the great villainy of such men as Butler,
Sanborn, Jayne & Co.-not so much that they
exact heavy fines and penalties from the mer-
camille community for small Oflenses, or that
they thereby enrich themselves; but rather
that. under pretense of serving the State
and increasing the revenues, they Introduce
systems and practices which tend to imperll
the very existence of free institutions, which
are antagonstc to tho principles upon which
our Government is founded, and which to-day
find little place insthe administration of gov
ernments acknowledged to be irresponsible
and despOtic.
We do not see, moreover how it helps the
cause of the Government, even IT the merchants
of New-York are, as Gen. Butler alleges, "a
set of rascals" That they did not for
merly bear this reputation must be acknowl-
edged and that they have only been accused
of it since Gen. Butler and others of his kind
have had the making and administration OF
the laws, is almost a self-evident proposition.
Human nature is pretty much the same all the
world over. Give people system OF laws
of any description which are in themselves
complex, unintellgible and difficult to under
stand, and withal so cOntrive things in addi-
ton that an infraction of the law becomes a
source of pecuniary profit, and you have
adopted the best possible method to educate
them up to the practice of law breaking and
rascalty. Such q state of things as the reports
of the operations Of the Custom-hOuse for the
last four years have revealed does not exist
In any other country. 1t did, however, exist
formerly in Great Britain and in
France, but disappeared when bet
ter and more enlightened system of
law and administration came III. 1t
did not exist in the United States prior to
1860, although before that date the rate of
customs taxation was sometimes very heavy.
We are therefore warranted in concluding
that the law and the administration as they
exist are in q great degree the source of the
frauds they nominaly pretend to repress, in
much the same way as the imposition of On
excessive tax on distilled spirits in the United
States and all other countries has always been
followed by an increase Of illicit distillatiOn,
the multiplying Of penal enactments, and q
comparative decrease of revenue. If the Gov
eminent, through its representative, could
only prove what it asserts-that the merchants
of Neg-York are set of rascals--it would by
that same act pronounce against itself the
highest condemnation and the best possible
argument for change both in the law and
in the nstrumentalities that execute it.
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MISTAKE At AIRlNY-OP EOpcE