, 1875-12-09

0sattle. ". T.. Dec. 4, 1875.
TIE REVENUE CUTTER AND THE PA
CHIC Unfortunately for th,
peace and respectability Of this sectio,
of The Territory, there are several news
papers under the ostensible direction o
editors Of malicious instincts ani
low breeding who regard every per
son of culture and gentle bearing as
natural enemy of their class-manifes'
superiority as hostile menace to theil
own social standing; and being utterly
incapable of self-elevation, they make
ftia point to howl at everything above
Them as dogs bay the moon. Hence
the co~ardly assaults. by insinuation
and inuendo, upon the character OF the
noble commander Of the Pacific, who
lost his life at his post Of duty. and
upen whose fair fame the breath Of cal
umny had never cast stain while he
lived; and hence the aspersions upon
the Collector Of Customs and the OH
GERS of the Revenue cutter for neglect
ing duty in connection with that awful
calamity. The facts upon which this
censure is based are purely malicious
invention of the editor of the Iateili-
gencer, and are snapped up by the other
editors of the same class from q like
malicious motive. We know whereof
We speak, having taken the pains to be-
come fully informed of the real facts
before allading 10 the subject. And we
will here say, that the inventor of this
malicious canard put forth two "ex-
tzas," relating to the loss of the Pacific
purporting to be private kilograms to
himself. The first was stolen bodily
from a private telegram to the editor of
the DISPATCH, the other published over
the official signature of the Collector
Of Customs, was forgery The pub
lie may judge from these facts what
credence to give to statements coming
from such q source.
1t is not true that the Revenue cut
ter was off duty, or upon pleasure ex-
cursion for the entertainment of private
individuals; but was on cruise, under
orders from the Treasury Department,
and was not detained or turned from its
course by any private consideration.
The general instructions to the COM
mander of the cutter are to cruise in
and about the waters of Puget Sound
and the coast included in It's division,
and especially to look after the mouths
Of the rivers emptying into the Sound
from Ethe British Columbia side. to
which he is required to make periodical
visits. as smuggling is constantly sus>
pected in that quarter. It was upon a
cruise of this kind, in the line of his
duty, that Capt. Harwood permitted the
Deputy Collector. an Inspector of Gus
toms, the commander of the military
post ano one private citizen to take
passage with him across the Sound from
Port Townsend, leaving them at the
mouth of q river to shoot ducks, and
picking them up ON his retarn, without
OBTAINING the cutter one hour or turn
ing it out of the route marked out for
Its cruise.
The public service suffered nothing
thereby. and the duek shooting party
had nothing to do with the fact that the
cutter was not at it's moorings in Port
Townsend at the time the news of the
disaster was first received there. Imme-
-diately on the return Of the cutter to
Port Townsend, Capt. Harwood, with
out dropping anchor, proceeded to the
scene of the disaster as fast the steam
power of his vessel could take him there,
and did not desist from the search until
al hope of recovering any more of the
Al-fated passengers was entirely at an
end.
Capt. Scammon, the predecessor of
Capt. Harwood was assailed by the same
class of grumblers for his inactivity and
now Capt. Harwood is assailed upon a
false statement, for being on q cruise
when he might have been needed fat
Port Townsend. In both cases malt
cious motives alone instigated the COM
plants. The latter purporting to come
from Port Townsend. commenting the
independence of the editor for his as
sault upon the Collector and Revenues
officer, was undoubtedly manufactured
by the same person who stole one dis
patch and forged another. It is q dis
grace to any community to tolerare such
disreputable journalism.