, 1875-02-06

The New York Butletin has 1,uearthed A
chapter il American commerce which reflects
small credit On New York importers and
United States customs oflicinlH. 1t seemH
that for n series Of yenrs the science Of
smuggling has beon sednlousy pnt into prac.
tcc to the great loss Of revenue by tho coun-
try and corresponding gain by dishonest
oficiats and knavish merchants. What shall
be thought Of tho honesty Of merchant of
the standing of Fl. B. CLAF11N who tells
reporter that his house hns bought and sold
smugglcl silks knowing them to bs
smuggled; that it has done 30 "on
tic advice Of revenue official ;"
mud what sha1l DO thought Of the
statement that tall large dry~goods houses"
aro forced by competition to such dishonest
doaling7 This autlacious statement will do
much to check popular sympathy for OLAF
LIN 4 Co. 5 financial en,barassments. It casts
suspicion, too, upon PHELPS, DopaE t. Co.
complete innocence in tho late famous case
against them For If II. B. CLAr1rS l. Co.
| deliberately cheat tie Government and avow
| that this is the common practice Of tho other
great houses in their trado, the heavy firms
u nLAE4 k4h4E9 l41 APk " LIZ LII AA9 1Al49
| boat.
The Bulletin, knows OF the existence Of a
regularly organized company for smuggling
gools into America. It's headquarters are ut
London and it is financially sound This
concern, or aome other like it, haa offered to
deliver silks in tho stores Of New York im-
portera at only Ii per cent above the cost Of
II, r,1s,r ff,n frnirr1,&
surance charges. The duty is GO per cent This
oQpr, therefore, amounts TO saying that goods
can be s1nugglod, at profit to the smugglers,
for one-fourth Of tho duty. So sure Of sue
cess are tho rogues that they will agree to
| take pay for the wares only on delivery. An
importer just returned from Europe informs
tho Bulletin that Que of his French agents
hss been approached by man who offered to
snlugglo all his shipments Of ribbons into
New York for 20 per cont of tho duty. Rib-
bons are more bulky than silt, and therefore
the percentage demanded IL higher. In this
case, tho smuggler offered to give good
bond for tho whole value Of each invoice, the
bond to be discharged only upon the safe de-
livery Of the goods
It las long boom known that falso desorip.
tions and valuations were often registered at
the Custom House, and that tourists, real
or pretended, snuggled great deal
past the sleepy Cerbor,,s Of tho Custom
House. Several cases Of silks, entered rs
hosicfy, have just been seized ut Hobokcn.
The tourist fraud Is patent. a Government
Inspector with gold sovereign in his hand
is the blindest being in this world. The
amount unugglod by Americans returning
from Europe is estimated Mt from $50, 0Oo, ,0o{
to 930, 100000 year. It has not hithortG
been known, however, that leading importers
systematically dealt in s1ausgled goods md
pail men to violate the tariff laws. 1--WE
hive heard careful merchants" +" declares the
DuIttia, "Bay that, in their opinion, for ths
post ten years tho foreign dry goods which
have come into this country and have uo'
paid duties have been Of as great valut
as those which have; they, Of course, in
clude the gools brought in by passen
gers nonainalIy as baggage" When any
thing is smuggled, ss general rule
some customs officials arc bribcd The ii Pc
cent premium charged by the silk-smuggler
must bo divided betwoen tbom aud some
body or somehodies in the customs service
One man cannot easily cheat tho Govern
ment, Half-a-dozen men, two or throe o
whom are hired by the Government, car
cheat 1t with ease,
Il has bosu claimed that this outbreak o
lsna.ery Is due to the repeal OF the "moioty
law, but the Bu|Ia!ta sxplodes this by show
ing that propositions to put fane dress good
md silk4 in New York for percentage o