The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1876-09-29

tlces and petty frauds" in addition to
the goods, the Injuries, the salaries be
absorbed from outside parties interested
III the ruin of importers. H. r. $50,
second session Twenty-seventb Con-
gress.
Cairns ard Ives, in like manner,
equally shared in the plunder.
In January. 1s4O. fire destroyed the
Front street store. The goods saved were
removed by the ctlstonl-hoIise ottacaes-
placed in an open lot--;lIl entrance to which
was refused to the importers for the pur-
pose uf identifying and recovering their
property 4; but the goods practically sliced,
were made up into piles or lots in which
the vilest frauds were praeticed to deceive
purchaSers-strucko off at nominal sums TO
privileged purchasers i'll COLLISION with the
officials. and the proceeds, after deducting
fees. etc, pocketed by the collector. Thus
the owners We're robbed of goods aggregat-
ing in value $1,000, 000. the Government of
100000 as duties, and IIoyt pocketed
about $4,000 which should have been tie
posted IN the Treasury for the benefit of
the owners.
Hoyt also unlawfully rented five stores
for the safe-keeping OF goods entered at the
cuStom-houSe. These stores yielded him
profit. per anIiunl, of $4,000, at ii cost to
the Government of 10000; or. i'll three
years, in violation of law, but with the
sanction of Secretary Woodbury.. Hoyt,
through these stores. pocketed $50. 000.at Il
cost To the nation Of $50 000l (H r. $50.
second session Twenty y-Seyenth Congress.
These are bnt Characteristic instances in
Illustration of Hoyt's maladministr7ltion.
Their magnitude and extent were astou1d-
ing. His criminal rapaeity attained its
shocking results in his system of fraudulent
reapprsiisement. Goods regularly inyoiced.
and upon which all demands at the custom
house had been paid after examination aud
appraiSemelt by the lawful appraisers of
the customs, were followed by Wdsson.
Cairns, and Ives to Baltimore. Philadelphia.
and other cities, again examined, reap
praised. condemned, seized. and held for
trial. At the trials the trained :. triuinvir-
ate" were standing witnesses. Neverthe-
less, '-in nearly all these c;tses''-'.t thirty
two ont of thirty-three"-tried in the
United States district court for the southern
district of New York, 1.-THE yeriietS of the
iuries were in favor of the importers. A
like result attended the suits elsewhere.
BHt i'll every case, whether f.vorable to the
importer or not, the result to him was
equally disastroiis-ibsolute ruin to many
through the unlawful seizure. supported by
the systematic perjury OF a trio trained in
the service of Hoyt, with the sanction of
tile Secretary of tile Treasury. III. L.
500, second session Twenty-seventh Con-
gresS.
4 single instance will Illustrate multi
tude OF similar cases. Mr.. Bettomly swears
IN 1S41 Mr.. Hoyt has taken from me
the principal part of all the property pos
sessed. = ''In less than two years. Hoyt's
rapacity had mucted Mr. B. i'll costs ag-
gregating S200.00 .sOne-Ehird'' of all
tile English importers We're rsined. Their
property upon Che sales of which they de-
pended 20 meet their liabilities to the for
eign nanuf:iCtHrerj, seized aud locked up
Il.
the inevitable result and their bankruptcy
carried with il the ruin OF "a large mum
ber of English manufacturers. Mr. Bot
tomly had recently been in England, where
goods were unusually cheap, and swears
Il could have procured assignments to the
amount of 81, ,000,000 for the season (1S4Il,
and even more. if could have assured the.
asSignees that they would not lie sitzed
after they had passed the custom house,
and the duties thereon had been paid. I'll.
r. $50. second session Twenfy-SevcntI
Congress. As it was. they dared not risk
their goods within Iioyt's p:latiell juris-
dictioII.
Ho9T, BUTLER. AMI, TIE ''TRIUsIYfRATTs. "
III all this rapacious vilainy. systematic
ally pursued under the forms OF law. under
the grtiRlest protestatIons OF patriotism
and ''refurtn,' again and again repeated,
General Benjamin f. Butler,
President Van Buren's old law partner, tie
pious and prayertG president of the de
tunct bogus Washington and Warren
Bank" of Sandy Hill. ana subsequently
Prices successor as United States District
Attorney for the southern district of New
\ 1ork. was Hoyt'S adviser and active cold-
jutator. Through it all the Government
bore all tile enormous expenses. HoyI,
Butler, ami the ''triumyiiate asSoIl,
Cairns, aud IVes-absorbed all the profits
Besides the immense sums aeeruIng a. fees
IN all the cases of seizure under reappriise-
meut. Hoyt's practice OF retaining in his
own hands, with the sanction of Secretary
Woodbury.. the amount OF duties i'll such
cases enabled him toI inde periods of
tiIut--for yearS-to Use the vast sums thus
held for his private profit in loans TO banks
and brokers and i'll Speeuiations of all kinds
lin boisrering. by heavy deposits of the
Government funds, such rotten institutions
as the IN ortli American trust and Bank
ing Company III the stock OF which lac
WAS heavy gambler. BY his own state
meut Hoyt thus constantly held of the Gov
erilment funds, free OF interest. an average
OF $3.50. 900, at a time in New York when
money was demanding per cent. pcI.
mouth. The sum thus held was shown to
be much larger. probably not less than half
Il million, and lit WAS understood and
believed that his deposits ia rotten "hanks
were made under the sanction of the Sec
retaIy of the Treasury at time when
w Oouotfy was "DOri owing for the Gov
ernment ION Treasury notes bearing in
terest.'
The exact aggregate of Hoyt's plunder
is not known. The aggregate of his de-
fault was not less thai. $500. 000 His un-
lawful income-the aggregate of his pilla2e
OF importers and merehants-cannot be
exactly estimated; it was known to be
prodigious /; but his annihilation of the
commerce of the country. and the conse-
queilt heavy loss to the Government in its
revenues. while immensely Increasing the
cost OF collecting the customs at New
York, can be lpproximated. In one year,
in 1910. as compared with 1889, the falling
off Of imports was $40 232. 763, involving.
besides the heavy loss 10 the traffic of the
nation, a loss to the Government, IN its
revenues, of 1861, 760 5Y. As compared
with 1925, the first year of Adams Adj
the falling off III tile aggre-
gate of imports and exports in 1910 was
~, 975, I42, while the cost of collection had
Increased in corresponding ratio. In $50
tile amount of duties received at the New
York ellStom-hpuse was $I5.754 S29 Oh. at
an expense of collection of $2I1.57 81 6;
that is, at the rate of 1.34 per cent. In
ls4S the amount received by Jesse HoyC
was 81. 591. 760 95. at an expense OF eollec-
tiou of S563.S 80 8; that is, at the rate OF
I. AZ per cent. From 1925 to 1928, ilIciu-
siye, under Adams, the average cost OF col