New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-10-18
SAN FRANClsCO CUSTOM HOUSE.
TIE ri PORT or TIE INvcSriGAfl\G COMMISSION
OF UNI SMUGGLING, UNDrLvALuArloN. HAWAII

THE RIPJEr or The INVESTIGATING COMMISSION
or UNI SMUGGLING. UNDrLvALuAroN. HAWAII
AN TRADE.
ICY TELEGRAPH TO THE TEIBUNE.l
WAsHlNGroN Oct. 1.-THE Treasury Commission
consisting of Frederick T. Low. Henry l.. Dodge ana
Dr. IT, X. LInternan, sent 10 San Francisco To ex-
anime the Mint there and report upon its organize
ton and administration, were also requested To look
info tne carnations Of the Custom House IN that city,
The report this subj ct made public to-dy.
I'm general the commission found the several depart
ments of the Custom ii iuse honestly and faithfully
conducted L. referring to the smuggling of opium,
the prevention OF which has been found difficult
the commission say:
Apoo all lie IN ces enumerated the tariff list, few
can b, found offer scn Inducements To slnsgis a.
oiun pr, rcd ur smoking. lnis dug mus prpile"
i. uckrd IN small boxes o. bauuers oi convenient
z 10 be carried the person, or IL can be concealed
ofuer nIei cnauase Iayiug comparatively low rae OF
any win reasonable chance OF ITS escaping detoc-
tun Nth rate Of day (t6 per "Duhp huius
ouL "A ST. ong mducement for un'cl nlOus persons 10
,akr me rist Of detection ana conhscatOn Tor Tue
chance of large gums M case OF snccesS, anh the prom
on is iic large that all thc OH c,S Oh t"e Gus
toms WHOSE di,y il Is 20 deiect ANA prevent snhsGhS
or constantly .Or to have bfinos offered 10 tucn u
close t.,ir eyes 10 teese III gu OPERATIONS as r.
n nnary step IN the inquiry, tue commission e"1'ou u
statistics showing the guam ity oi SIN Aln "pi'n eher,
al ths VrI oonsun ton e'ch hscdl year ar cue ast
five wears, tue cOLsUmpt.n each year O'lhg ~ yer
data on which TO base COMPARISON IMAM Tue iua"i'S
Imported =,
This report when received, showed that the fall
ing off m the quantity entered for consumption IN
1877 as compared with 1875, was lG,l1s pounds
and a cons, quent dinuniuon in the amount OF duty
collected of $969iS. The gross value OF OPIUM
seized and confiscated was $G5.2Gl IN 1877, WINE
in 1879 IL amounted to only S;jO.226. AS the con-
sumption 0f this drug cannot have dccrelsed' tho
commission report that they are forced To Tie con-
clusion that more opium was smuggled III 1871 IMAM
III any previous year. One explanation OF thls Hia'o
of things u.s. that the inducement held out to III
formers by the provisions of the act oil June ~
1874 are insufficient to warrant persons, not con-
nected with the Government service, III spending
their time and money in hunting up aud ieirettihg
ont combinations which are constantly being formed
10 promote smuggling aud many persons who ap-
near TO have good opportunities for arriving
t correct conclusions account for the discrepancy III
the amount of duty paid OH opium CONSUMED oy the
fact that smuggling has been promoted since the IT,
neal of the Moety act. by coPuson between
members of the night force of inspectors ana those
directly engaged in this Illicit traffic, for the reason
that s,nugglers were willing to paw the Customs
officers more for closing their eyes TO fraudulent
practices than they would be likely 10 OBTAIN a'
izinq officers were the goods seized aud coniscat-
ed. The remedy suggested by the commission Is q
limited reenactment of the moIety laws
While the commission obtained no evidence OF
dishonesty incompetency or neglect of duty in the
Appraser,s Department they do call attention 10
| one or two suspicious facts which are oil interest
| especially to the New-York Custom House. Mer-
| chants ybo testified all agreed that there was nc
fayoritism shown In the San Francisco Custom
| paa