, 1879-01-28

than 12 pcr cent could not he made In dull ttncs
without injury to the efficiency OF the systen,
and to business Of merchants. Sotvithstantf.
tnR tAis opposition, tho reduction Wac sub
etantIalIY carried Into effect ty my order, |
making
An ANNUAL SAVING or e235,gD,
and Increasing tic efficiency Of tie service.
Steo,M-The report show8 That It was tie cntp- |
mon practice among entry clerks, veiQ!,crs, |
raurcrs, Inspectors, and siorekcepcr. to receive
from importers and brokers irregular fecs,
en,ulumc.ts, 9ratu[ttcs, and pcrqnt.itcs in thu
nature of brfbcs. This practice wns matter Of |
general notoriety in the custon-liousc, anil Il
dues not appear that any effort was mailc by
the Collector, Naval Officer, or Surveyor to mp
press It. Tie Commission suggested q remedy
ior this state Ut aila!Es. but Mr. Arthur thought
ut might inyolvc aunUying results toimporters
by delays" It has, however, now been adopted
with gral!fying results.
scgularitics existed In the departments of
Wcghers and NauQcrs. Persons wcrc borne OH
Tie PAYROLL IA Ia borers ~ reward tor political
services who performed no service except to
sign tllcfr names to thc rolls and receive thcs
pay. 1}y REASON Of Irregularities the cost Of
weighing and EAuc!ng imported goods at tho
port Ut New York has Increased to tho enormous
sum of s348, 8,5o4 per annum.
These evils werc known: to Collector Arthur,
ret he made no attempt during his term 0t
Office 10 remedy them. On the contrary. In the
letter to nc he stated he was confident That the
Commission wholly 1s!lcd to appreciate
the amount Of work done by the
wcfgliers, and have By their general
assertions done great injury to them. The cx-
tslcnce Of all these Irregularities was subse-
quent1y rcctificd bY independent investigations
male under my direction. The reforms pro-
posed By tic Commission IN the wcighers aud
gauRcrs' department wcro subsequently
CARRIED OUT nj Mr oNDRn.
nn1 effected reduction dt over 100000 per
annum In tho cost Of this branch Of the service
alohe, besides securing al areat saving to the
pears, tron, the evidence Oh file in this Depart
incnt, that vicious pslctiec has for long time
existed Of granting fscs permits for i'm
ported goods without authority Of Inv.
bsputy fs cotse.or t Tydeest1 E % md the f Vsue q
cuods thus Illegally delivered free Of duty
amounts to very largo stl'n. prepared otrJ
to execute the reforms proposed with NJ.
President acqu'etccd III this v1cw, but It grad
TALLY bccatne evident that neither Arthur nor
C0rIell wcro In sympathy With tile recnnNen-
dattous OF tie Commission, md could and It'd
RESIST THEIR PAIR EXECUTION.
The President became entirely satisfied that It
While Arthur hetd his position, tile samo
Aystcn,, thG san>e perspns, md tho same In
tll,ences prevailed as before. From tho nature
of things Il was difficult for the Collector long
associated with the clltef subuEdiuases under
him u believe evil OF them.
Lydecker. Deputy Collector. vas practically
Collector Gen. Arthur did not give thai. per
eonal attention TO the business Ut tile occ that
sk@h&
Of It's duties. fle did not usually arriyo ut llfs
otllcu tnttl afternoon. Continued ys,mpslnts
cau,t In from other ports of cntry that utcon-
etltutlHual Determinations Werc tnade lit favor
d,lctt1i4 business 1t that uort; thst allowances
Tor damages nut permitted al other ports were
made: nnl Hystem ot undervaluation prevail
0,And by these mcans Important branc|leso
exclusively 70 tho Port Of Kow York. causing
ports md to 20 tic people oi ths Gnissl statos.
MonH TESTIMONY.
The Secretary calls attention 10 the rep,rt Of
General Appraiser Meredith md Special Agents
ltousc, which RAYS: "ln this connection We
would respectfully call httsntIon to our special
report in relation to certain practices of 8pccsal
Deputy 1yaccscr, md to several REPORTS In reid
| arc Informed, havo heretofore becn submitted
10 yuu. We werc surprised to learn tIlut Cut.
| lcctot Arthur, alter layiuX been auyiscl 0f Tie
connection Of specia-Dcputy Lydcckcr With
proofs Of suci, official mseopduct had been sub
| mlsted 10 him, still appears TO repo.c In Ly.
| decker
TnB MOST IMPLICIT CONFIDENCE,
md 10 allow i'Em to practically control the busi
ness management Of the otllcc. We found thai
the moru honest and intelligent oi1lciats III The
Custunl.liO,16e lind lung bad reason to distrlist
tydcckar's Integrity, nlNl that tue luluenecs ex
eFcsc.l by n[m over the Collector hasl been fot
| louy tiIno the subject Of comment.
S!nca lcD. Merritt has boon Collectors gcn'
cral Improvement hns taken place. Tic reduc-
tlon of 1lle fortc contemplated in tho lauVers'
Department md III several dtv'sious .oi
riel Into effect. the result OF which will
ssss sse"s ae": ~ sss:sas' isssstsial,
submitted that untlcr tho circumstances The
restoration Of Arthur aad Cornell would 10 Q
serious Injury to the public service, involving I
loss OF public revenue mud Increased expcudf
tutca. To require this tusinGss to 10 performed
by persons in hostility to the general policy U!
harmony. 1t would b unjust to tic President
aH! personally cHlbarrasstnE to mo IN the dis'
Charge Of my duties t1 haTs t1c Office OF tot
Will not perform Ills duties according to the gen
ernl rolfcy Ut tho Department.
tfau. Arthur's term Of hcryfcc expires Det. IL
1871, md his restoration would hs but lem
porary. cvun II tho President should not aYal
l'ulsel 4f his leaui powrr to scnd anotl@r natl,s
to lilo Senate, or to suspend hl1,t after tho nd
Iourument OF The Senate. The very markct
s.icccss VI the adn,tntstration Ut Collector Ner
ritt mud Nayal-0tliret Hurt Woultl seem TO ell
tltle them tu thu recognition OF tlu benats, vi,
OF ticir confirmation. | havu thu hunur to be-
very respectfully, JOIIN SHERMAN,
An1uuR's pEFRNss.
l fsHU. Arthur nlnkrG a TufF lGnEthY fHnlY Ii