, 1876-02-28
CR00KEDNESS.
A Nest Of Custom.House Cor.
ruption Discovered at
Pittsburg.
Two Officers Turning an Honest
Penny BY Doubling the
Legal Taxes.
Congress to Call To-Day for All
Documents in the Whisky
Gases.
Attorney-Ctntral Pierrapont will Assume
the Entire Responsibility Of
Ills Letter.
Babcock Says He Has No Present In.
tention Of Resigning His Sec
rctaryship.
q Plan to Simplify the Law Relating
to tho Tax on Distilled
Spirits.
4 Plan to Simplify the Law Relating
to tho Tax on Distilled
Spirits.
PtTTSBuRC.
CEHfOH.If0f1HE ETTnnTYnN-

RI lS6UHE.
cCBToh-lousR ExToRTyoN,
Speetat Dtspatth 10 TAs Chtea9o Tribune.
PfrrsnuRn Pa, Fcb. 27.-Tho unoarthing Of
. aystem ot pecu1atious, extortious, and oyor-
charges, carried On in tho Custom House here,
duplicating stoolc, tbs Surveyor, and McGil,
hia deputy, bhs tnado 4 sensation hero, where
both men haro long been recognized as loading
polittciaua. and ha7o ranked a. Of high char
acter. Though tho facts havo bcon atudously
kept secret it appoass that for some days pnst,
Detectives Iyndalo and For, Of tho Becrc. Ber-
vico. have been engaged ia fcrrostng ous the
matter. Tho first discovery thoJ made uaa that
Ass'stsnt-Susvoyor Mc6itl haa for yeass been in
tho habit Of charging and collecting for aeoau,-
boat cloaranco-papers Is, In gold, while tho foo
fixed by fsw Is S1.60. For releasing goods from
tho custom-Houso the legal charge ID "not
oTcr" $3.50, but tho charge has boen from
$3 to e3.6o. The oYorouargeb wsro In no in
stance entered upon The books and they hayo
boon mado for about elo7en years past. On the
foes for coal-bargcs, 60 conts morn per "apacs
(tho bargoa are measured by spaces) than is a.
lowed BY lam l,as also been regularly collected,
which would average about $40 on each barge
No entry OF theae oyercharges No made upon the
Office books
70 SHOW WHAT 4 noNANzA
this latter proved to tho ofHcials implicated 1t IL
ctssary to state that tho capacity Of tho aver
sRe coal-barReo ranges from $4,000 to 100000
bushels each, and that during tho year NOT less
than 100000 600 bushels Of coal hsyo boon
cleared from this port.
During tho past decade tho Custom HOUSE
hero has bcon practically under control Of tlodo
men, ,-Thomas 8teete tho Surveyor Of tho Port
ono Of tho shrndost politicians In Western Penn
sylvania, aud J. D. Mc0ll, his assistant, both
Of whom hsvc stood high In this community, and
tlrno ia mainly owing to fortuitous oiroumsssa-
oes.
1n addition to tho ovcrchargo for clearance. i
brokerage fec, averaging O. was charged for
EcGill, this custom has obtained during tho
who!a tima that he haa been In Office, over eleven
.oa1u. Upon bong interviewed, Ito said tho
charge Of o. vas u,ado BY him in tho capacity Of
u,ent. 10 expedite his work in this direction he
Lad blanks printed according 10 tho form pre-
scsibed by Inv, and until awakened 10 the fact OF
his trausgreseton BY tho GoFornment officers he
vas not AwAro that he had been acting Illegally.
Ho profeaacd ignorance ~ to the amount Of
money that he had derived from blu brokerage
buslucss, and upon tho question Of fraudulent
nteannboAt ueaeuromento no Has
DuaD AZ Az oYsTEn.
Ills printed blanks "ere always kept tu tho Office.
aud he hAd mado no effort At any ttme to conceal
thon from hia superior ot1lco..
Thomas 6tae]e, tbs Surveyor OF tie Port. pro-
fessed enttrc Ignorance OF ths issue Of frAudu-
lont or oxtorttonsta receipts. uo donied that
business. saying that, until tho investlgA
began, he Was not awaro Of tho existence Of
such doonmsuts, and that he WAS ignorant Of
tho fact that his deputy dealt In printed forms
until he was informed Of 1t by tho otlicera,
He admitted that there had beon oyeroharged
Tor steamboat papers, hut a>iogcd tlat the ex-
oesslve cl1arges wero--1nado without bis knoWl.
edge. Tho extent to which tho business oi
| fraudulent receipts had extended Was unknown
| to htn ana, u tie booka wore kept In 70.
cordanco With tho legal schedule Of prices, he
! had no moaus Of knowing that say fraud wAa
beng perpettated.