New-York tribune., 1879-01-28

iIcr, him sf,cr The ud,onrnmcnt OF toe senate.
Collector leIrIt aud Naval Olicer Burt wouu seem TO
ruttle them tu ne RECOGNITION O tht Sehalc anu w % %
JOuN SHERMAN secretary
TIE DEFENCE OF GENERAL AklHOh.
HE GROUND CONTESTED INCH By INcH-lHR GEN
ERtL NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THAI IL
| CHARGED ri FORMS UNDER ARTHUR
NEw-YOEK, Jam u, 1879.
/ Hon Roscoe CoNKLISG. Chairman
/ SIR: have the honor to acknowledge the
recepf of your favor OF January 1G Transmitting by
consent of the Senate and direction OF the COmmtee Oh
Commrce, a copy Of the communication addressed 10
the Senate by Hon John sherman, secretary OF 'o
Treasury under of January -. ana purporhS 10
state the reasons Of my suspension 1om the once o
Collector OF this port For the opportunity 10 answer
t,c assertion, OF this paper am deeply grateful.
cannot without longer delay than would De )us'l
fable reply as fully as would like to all OF Inc etae
! mcnts Of MI Sherman's, but think shail nave ho
difficulty In salts wing the Senate that H. az Is presu
ably the case. his communication contains an at can
be said against my administration OF the once OI to'-
! lactor NV suspenson was not only directly con-
traly 10 all the professions Of the administration
| hut was a violation OF every principle OF 1us'ce.
When an administration deliberately avows ana CON
,tauflv rcilcraes that removal from ONCE Is 10 'ake
ps, only for cause, it il obvious. no matter "hat may
he said 10 the contrary that removal must at east III
the estimation OF that portion OF the pdbc when mas
tab I'm tho sincerity the administration carry Wthta
stigma upon the character Of the removed oncer Auu
t- stigma is fully removed even II the iSt hOuce
of intended removal is accOmpaned-as was the case
with In,-wth urgent offer Of an important foreign
appointment under another department Of the Govern
ment
Mr. Sherman III the opening OF his com
! municaton, refers 10 the criticisms made III
Congress in the press and in private on the New-lork
Custom House. 1t Is notorious that during the neary
| seven years I was in Office there was mnch less
! conplaint agains; the administration OF the New
/ York Custom House than FOR many years
before The laws have been greatly criticised
! AID TO some extent changed Ny adminlStra-
| ton Of them has been rarely complained
or Mr. sherman relies greatly ur0n the report OF the
lay Commission. and in lns communication 10 Inc sen
! ate implicitly accepts Its statements as true II
! ,,, ha nrc.rutiy seen that in OF hls
I ,ctiops he throws entire dscredit upon them.
/ IL is important, however. that the cOnstitu-
ton and methods of tls Commission, upon which
so much reliance placed should be known to the sen
| ATE In my letter to the Secretary Of November ~
1877 a copy of which i, ncosed. correctly as be
| icye described these in the following terms
There can he no prctcnce that IN the Commission a.
finally constituted one represented tbe ohcetS OF
the port even unbiased as TO the meet OF iVcst
CATION The Commission thus constituted sought for All
that could sand against the officers oi customs giving
no opuortuuity Xannatlon dud niue iOr lc-
bntta or explanation and of course TOOK partial and
one-sIded view. They did rot pretend TO lnyrstS tte
both sides. Not only by public advertisement,
but by hundreds of ietttTs >, th@y ntiueG ti.;l
cOmplants. A re erencc to the testimony WIZ SNOW
OF this port made complaints against Inc sdhhstta-
ton the during the last i've years .,.,u II.
The members OF the Commission mann esed thelI uis =
appoin at this and il apparently did not occur to
them the real explanation was that th"sr whose
plant to make. but were, on the contrary anxious.
an to bear GT@Sy h IN w@r rayor ep Of
formed The Commission either refused 10 receive tes-
tmony iu answer to such complaints a. "ere III lac, e
to tu,nI. or, when II was loTeeh upon .nn y, % m,oS y,
disregarded it, Moreover it dd not seem 10 oecnt TO
them that willie they IN effect sitting III Judgment
upon those who for years past have administered
the Customs at this port justice required tina!
th,y should bear witness to the improvements tldt had
| becn introduced, improvements which have rendered
the service more efficient, honest, and more eco
uonical than any previous period III the history OF
| Even taxing the testimony the Commission pre-
sented IT, without IpanatOn- from those attacked,
without opportunity being given TO cross.cxamne me
witnesses, to show the spirit which animated them;
your maDifo,d occupations 10 examine II y0n wiil come
sweeuinG and general allie CATIONS OF the Comm ssion.
trust that If the reports shall be submitted to Congress
| the testimony may accompany them''
| GRATUITIES TO CLERKS.
Mr. Sherman says that the second report OF the Jay
| Commission shows that it a common practice
among entry clerks, withdrawal clerks, liqui-
dating clerks, weigbers, guagers Inspectors and
storeReepers to receive from importers and
| brokers irregular fees, emoluments, srathi-
| ties and prrqulstes In the nature ol oiloee
! While the jay Commission made some general state
ments which NAV seem 70 Justify this sweeping asser-
ton have no hesitation In saying Though Mr. sher-
man has carefully and pruuenty kept the evidence
| taken by that commission from pubicatonl
that they obtained evidence which hears
out tins assertion. such practices may exist
| to some extent, but 1t Is almost impossible
To obtain proof Of them. The payment OF gratutics TO
entry clerks and other officers is, as MI Sherman
says matter Of general report but as pointed out III
nv Iette OF May IL 1871 annexed TO the second report
| of the Jay Commission, bOtn the BiVtr and the
receiver EXEMPT IRON testlfylug, ana, therefore,
prn0 obaInabe by accident, ana then Is very
difficult to show WRONG intent 1huugh my lctirr
inst referred TO shows ncty that had edcavorod
To prevent and defeat tins abuse MI hherman SAY $
that not appear that any effort was made BY
the Collector to suppress iLls prdchce Tie fact Is
suspected that was not promptly investigated; ana II
facts justified IT, the persons involved were punished
| bY me
OF suggesting change IN the system OF presenting
Invoices 10 the entry Clerks by Which, ne say the tah
ing Uf gIaturs has been stopped 30 Tar az they are
concerned. On the contrary my letter lust referred TO
secOnd report oil Jay COmnissioD page I3l shows that
the u@EestiOn Of the system was WHOLLY my own eA-
pIessed, is true the fear that the system " wOdd
| involve annoying results TO importers by DELAYS"
MI Sherma saws was mistaken IN TINS. My own III
formation is The contrary but even # was wIong,
have vet TO that ear that merchants might cN
pelicce claSs at tho Custom House good cause Of
| removal. I am tOupccd hOwtyer 10 add that I .e
show that The complaint oi the Srcietafy as To my
failure seek 10 prevent the payment OF fees 10 tnIy
msInccTc and al variance WIN nls own acts fafy III
February evidence was furnished to The secretary
by ce.inn Tokrs ih they hid lald MONEYS at various
times ~ Hh entry CLERK WhO bhu III tn'ct eHhctth h
money tncn. Aftci nh invest CATION by special
agent the Secretary, on MAY s. 1873 diectrh me Ia
cllt tUr the cieik's TcsiguatiOn, but on june
IS he withdrew hin direction. In Ike man
ner, lu April last, having received evidence ih"I
two inspectors and StOrekeeper had taken