Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-07-25
from the ST. Adams Messenger.l
Lillian. nnnnrn.


The democratic campaign document known
as the Glover Report contains the following
in relation to the revenue service in Yer
mont
"By arrangement of the secretary of the
treasury, the small town Of Island Pond, Vt,
on the Grand Trunk railway, was made
port of entry for Canadian goods. The pc
nal bonds required. amounting to millions of
dollars at time, all had TO be executed by
two persons who were worth but few thou
sand dollars, which made the bonds worth
less, and showed that the stoppage at Island
Pond gave no security against smuggling.
The first effect of the order was TO enlarge
the compensation of the collector ofcustomsat
Island Pond to 5000 or $50, 900 q year,
three or four times that of the collector of New
York but the second result was to destroy
the in transitu trade, TO drive il out of the
States and down the st. Lawrence river, to ruin
the owners of a hundred bonded warehouses
at Portland, to break up the steamship lines
from that port, and to inhet heavy loss on
the owners of the Grand Trunk railway. To
this outrageous piece of tyranny is due much
of the hard times that has lately prevailed in
northern New England. II is said that this
exploit was engineeredby Judge Poland in ex-
change for his support Of Secretary Brstow
at the Cincinnati nominating convention,
where Poland violated his constituents in
structions by such support. Senator Ed
munds, however wrote n letter TO the Glover
committee claiming for himself the credit of
arranging the Island Pond achievement, and
stated in the committee-room that he did it to
benefit the collector, who was in some way
related to him."
This is a tissue Of falsehoods To begin at
the beginning it is not true that Island Pond
I 1
rangement. 1t has been such for years. But
when Mr.. Washburne was collector at Port
land (the whole Washburne family being very
inhuentiaD, n law was enacted for sending
goods under seal, the car doors being fasten-
ed by wire and lead seal The design of
this law and the practice under il for n time,
was to help Portland maintain its standing Ms
a first class port, by having the entries made
there instead of at the first port of entry,
which was Island Pond But this was obvi-
ously unfair to the collection district of Yer
mont, and dangerous to the public revenue
because the seals could easily be broken on
the long journey to Portland and the goods
spirited away without paying duties. When
these facts We're shown TO Secretary Bristow
(and we have no doubt Senator Edmunds and
Judge Poland did their duty in the premises
he made ruling, in accordance with the law
lnht the BOOub SHOULD ut entered ri lsihuu
Pond. That is all there is of the arrange
ment."
The deputy in charge at Island Pond is ex-
Lieut. Gov. Geo. n. Dale. His salary is on
ly s 600 and he has two assistants who are
paid less. His income has not been increased
by the change that was made, so the forty or
fifty thousand dollars story is all Inoonshine.
Neither has the income of the collector Of the
district Gen. Wells, been increased by it,
and his total income has never been ten thou
sand, nor anywhere near it, Neither Of these
gentlemen are in any manner related to Sen
ator Edmunds, and if they were. Mr.. Ed
III unds would never have been weak enough
to present that as a reason for any action of a
| public nature. The transparency of this
statement is enough to condemn the report.
Nor is it true that the change had the eff
! feet TO destroy trade across the States and
drive it down the st. Lawrence. The rail-.
road authorities say the traffic between Cana
da and the States over their lines has steadily
improved for years. What difference it could
make to shipper of goods from Canada
whether they were inspected at Island Pond
or at Portland is not apparent, though if any,
It would seem to be in favor Of Island Pond,
| because the sooner done the better unless he
| intended to break the seal and abstract the
| goods. II is doubtless true that owners of
bonded warehouses in Portland may have
suffered some, but nobody believes that "a
| hundred of them have, for there probably
never was half that number Of bonded ware
houses there. Besides, is it the business Of
this government to help people to rent their
| buildingsy
OF piece with this charge is the one that
the business Of the Grand Trunk has been
made to suffer and steamship lines from Port
land have been broken up. The Grand Trunk
is the only road running through Island Pond.
How can those deputies make forty or fifty
thousand year unless the Grand Trunk car
ries the freights The report condemns it.
self. As for the steamships, the only line
that Portland has ever had it has now, the
| Allan line in the winter. But the richest part
of all is the assertion that to this change is
| due much Of the hard times in northern New
| England. Not one in ten thousand of the
| people of northern New England ever saw
Island Pond, or shipped a pound of freight
through it, or had any interest, near or re-
mote, that could be affected by its custom
house any more than by a change Of postmas-
tiers ut Duluth. Such a ridiculous assertion is
fit only for laughter, and We ought to apollo
| gize to our readers for taking their time in
exposing falsehOods so apparent, political an
mostly so obvious, and fustian so weak and
contemplate.