The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-01-28

tom House. desk by desk, and obtained reuOrts
thu force. by which reports successive Secreta-
res have been guided in their action.
With reference 10 tho reduction in the force,
Mr. Sherman SAYS that while thought a rcduc-
ton ut twelve per cont. WAS all that WIS proper,
the Jay Compassion reported In favor ottwenty
per cent. and that this hus been carried out Mt
u large annual saving. md increasing the "fii-
cheney OF the revenue" Upon this subject re-
fer To tho following paragraph OF the letter Just
quoted:
had myself ARRANGED with your predecessor that be
iors ~ OF ,e Prssgns year There should De maze Is
to which | believe, even in dull times, reiIenchment
and causing DELAYS to the mercantile community The
,ssultoi reducing ~ excess Of his made on
branches At least most injurious delay have been caused
ability Of the force to dispose OF.
In fow weeks the. delays caused to NOR
chants in single day by the insufficient force
of entry clerks must have cost $4,000. though to
relieve the press to some exteut temporarily
took clerks from other duties. where they woro
needed, to perform the duties OF entry clerks,
Upon the question OF the adequacy OF the
force may add that no one Is yet justified in
easy 10 say what number of men Is necessary
for the transaction OF the clerical md inside
business OF the Custom House and the exam.
portion Of the force which Is or should be en-
ploycd in what may be described u the pre-
ventve service, there is room for great differ
| once ~ opinion. and the loss resulting from the
| employment Of too small force cannot
become evident until after years OF ex;
| water front Of about twcnty-four miles.
| To perfectly watch this front at night so rs TO
| prevent smuggling requires large iorce.
! while II only half the necessary force is EN-.
! llOycd the consequent but certain loss Is not
| euslly detected. Again. the proper carrying
out OF the lawas 10 goods intended for Transport
| tatiou in bond and export required many men.
| That duty is now. with the reduced force. per
| formed only on paper. and there is practically
almost no protection against frauds. This fact
and the necessity Of u much larger force Tor this
| ury Department by Special lns pector Madge in
! january 1875 ] have been unable to obtain "a
copy OF the report, but 1t Is on file in the Treas
That The reduction OF the clerical force was
| carried 10y me to the extreme limit. Is shown by
! the fact that when, within fortnight after
| my suspension. the Secretary directed q special
Investigation TO be made. the acting Col
| lector wrote the Secretary that, after care
full examination OF the entire force, he could
not ind any who could be spared for the
work required. and he therefore insisied
upon the appointment OF six additional
clerks. and such appointments We're made
with the approval q the department.
l am informed. though l have not had time 10
verify the report. that the force has. since my
| suspension, been much Increased by tue np-
pointment OF other sao9 , temp9IT1,r Try
snlaries under the acting Collector's admins
! traton during the latter half Of 1878 is con-
| sderably larger than was paid under my ad-
ministratiou during the first half o. the same
year. II should be further noted that tho
| amount OF reduction In salaries stated by Mr..
sherman. viz. s295000. includes the reduction
in the Naval once aud Appraisers Depart
mcut. over which hal no control. The reduc-
". .i75 o sR the COLLECTORS department was on"
Mr. Sherman repeats. in considerable detail
the allegations OF the third report OF the Jay
Commission rs 10 the weighers, and assumes
that they we're correct. He should. in common
fairness not have omitted TO state that the truth
OF these charges is vigorously denied by the
weighers In letter 70 the Secretary. OF which a
copy is annexed. The ,weighcrs alleged that
the Jay Commission had before IL no evidence
70 sustain their ALLEGATIONS. They called IN
vain for a copy Of the evidence. Withoutreier;;
call your attention 10 tho following extract re-
lating 10 one Of tho allegations adopted by Mr..
Sherman. MS nnording good sample OF tue
fairness Of the jay Commission. The weighers
say:
Assn instance O. ths un'. course Of The cs%m,.on
sppssdiS NJ h.t Of irregular ices to be charged foI
sosis' :. rs,srn' q Tsshss ssid BY ssisher to sAyS
tie ezt % u,sr report they say that one y
that II lad been adopted BY the BoArd o.. 'wrshcrs
ns eo"%,SS a Iss H. T,9 ao,.
& the Commission DENYING that "a, LET ~ question nag
were shown 70 accord Win Mose mat we're proven .
have Gegn ls,d o. We ~s'sh.,s ela,s $50
that every weisher. save the one eNam,ned by them
requesting to bc called before Commission
.: ihsr s.seron and that TIE comms.i IN decinsd {
do this l. such conduct gn the psrt vt those ~lo CLAIM
touayc usht 10 &c ~ judgement upon the eharseter
other. sny'nnE el's Hri ai.ree,su, VIVA"
appreciation Of what islust And fart
In my letter 70 the Secretary Of Nov. 20. 1877
already referred TO. ! wrote:
, There NAV he unat men IN that department As wei
4 IN others. aud the system may be. some
respects detective but complaints asaihs, tile wegher
iSy invs.assssd throssh the Surveyor. bsIsitmsnr
Where immsS,a,s 'GPT ~ y, ey Law PLACED
Irrssd ,heir 'stsiaelio9 with The mauner m Me.c
probably greaer than is necessary the perform
se Of hs,r dnpG' during 'es g,sssn, PsSd OF IAN, d
Tie reduction Of the force, which as already stated.
we're With The concurrence yourself and Tie Con
mission. omitted from the reduction recently made pen.
! $40 them,
.. 1t should be INDEED that after the receipt of tn
report Of the jay Commission and the letter q
q | the weighers. Mr.. Sherman delayed action 10
. many months during which he caused yariou
4 special examinations TO be made, and himsel
| personally examined into the subject, and AS
result, while reducing the number Of wegher
4 | from thirteen 10 seven, he expressly retained Il
the service seven. all OF them those again
| whom the jay Commission made the sweepin
I | allegations he now parA0es. and In communl
: eating his decision q mo he expressly state
a that they were eNcusabe for any breach OF reg
ulatiOns they had committed.
The Secretary claims that the reforms pro
posed by the jay Commission in the welghers
n and gaugers' department were carried ont b
4 his orders, and have resulted in u saving c
3 over {2OOOOO per annum; As TO the amount q
Il saving the fact Is that II is on the salary and la
= Dor account slOl .l4O.32 per annum. IA compare
: with the yenr ending July 80, 1877. and tina
r apart from the saving OF f2l 900 by the redut
q ton in the number OF wei2hers the entire econ
. | omy in snlaries is caused by the fact TIN
r tho Government Tor very many years, ana Ion
:, prior TO the time when ] came into oiiice. pal
"a laborers at the rate OF forty cents per hour lou
n that by the present system the labor is obtaine
! by contract for gross sum per annum. Tn
n change TO the contract system was recon
i mrnded by myself and Gen. Sharpe, then SUI
veyOr, both to the jay Commission and tll
1 Secretary. but the Commission disapproyul il
II adoption. On Nov, IA. 1877. however. myse
a and the Surveyor reported in favor OF its intro
4 ductlon. and answered the objection OF the ia
r Committee. COPIES OF the correspondence az
!. enclosedl
a Our advice was approved rs early as Januar
4 1878. but the system was not introduced Till
~ wees later. This contract system and the COZ
r. scquent saving was therefore introduced b
! my advice and was In operation some flN
= months before my suspension from Office. an
yet the Secretary ascrlbcs 10 the ncting Co
+, ector such portion Of the credit OF this savln
y rs he does not claim for himself. | was su,
u pended on July IL. 1873. and the actual eXpens
< OF the weighers department for the last 81
u months OF 1878 was little IL any less than durin
Y the first six months OF that year. II this accoul
. il charged with the same classes Of items To-
y merly charged to II. but now appearing In III
general SALARY account.
= With reference 20 the expenses OF tho weigl
= ers department. | call attention 10 the anneXe
:; statement. taken from the third report OF Il
~ Jny Commission. TO which, however, | ha'
- added the figures Tor 1877 and 1878 1t SHOW
~ that from 1872, whom nearly tl50,00O,O0O =
u duties were collected the expense OF that IL
III.