Tombstone weekly epitaph., 1882-09-09
MEXICAN CUSTOM HOUSE
 MEANNESS. g.
The TribalatlOns of Ancrican Mining Companies in ssOn0ra-ENorbitant
 Charges and Petty Prosecutions.

The TribalatlOns of Amcrican Mining Companies in sOnora-EXOrbitant Charges and Petty Prosecutions. l It is to be hoped that, as political econc-
 my gets to be understood better, and civil ization generally advances, those relies Of barbarism--custom houses--will become
 thing of the past All custom houses are | essentially the grossest nuisances, but some are worse than others. There is hard | ly a doubt bat the Mexican custom house | is about the worst and most uncertain In. | stitution of the kind to be found in any
 civilized country. In the first place, the duties demanded by tbe Government are
 exorbitant, next the regulations for its col
 lection are full of rigid technlcalities, and ] thirdly, the officers chosen to collect the
 unholy tax are invariably either ignorant | or corrupt, or both. If the statement of Americans doing business in Sonora is the custom house at San Pedro is rich in | all the attributes above described The
 officials are cxacting in inc extreme, and | as full of tecbnicalities as a Tombs Court
 lawyer The Santa Maria Mining Com
 pany has been arbitrarily bilked out of of several thousand dollars in fines and il- legal confscatious. This company has been in tho habit of purchasing goods al San Francisco, and submitting either the invoice or the goods to inc Mexican consul at that port, to whom all duties were paid and full release gwen, with the necessary papers for presentation to tue customs off cer at San Pedro. This document was on all occasions presented to tine officials while the goods were still on this side oi
 the line. Frequently it was declared o. K.
 until the goods were well in on Mexican soil, when some technical error would be discovered, and fine imposed. On other occasions the papers would be declared incomplete at a glance The agent of the company would remonstrate, state that he had paid the consul the legal demands,
 besides heavy fees for his trouble, but there was no release, the money should be put up or the goods would be cOnfiscated. Not long since the company was fined on
 a technichality that was really the fault of the officers, and although the Mexican
 minister at Washington was appealed to, there has been no redress as yet. A few
 weeks agoA. W. Miller, of the San Angus
 tine Mining Company, started from this
 city with a load of goods. He submitted
 the articles at the Custom House, paid his
 duty and was duly passed. A short dis
 tance beyond Arispe the river was
 swollen and the mules were unable to haul
 the load He secured some burros, and
 succeeded Tn having that which Vas pel-
 ishable packed to Sinoquipo, and sent l some more mules back 10 where the wag-
 on was mired to help to extricate it. A
 man named Frsbie drove the mules. A
 little exertion on the part of the animals
 got the wagon started all right. Soon af-
 ter the driver was appealed to by man
 who was vainly trying to drive a pack
 hurro to carry the load little distance
 for him as his burro was played out. The driver consented The load was transfer
 red from the burro to the wagon and the
 tired animal abandoned. A few hours af.
 forwards couple of Custom House guards
 rode up and asked te selrch the wagon
 The goods belonging to the strange man,
 that had only been transferred to the w3g- | on few hours before, were declared D. traband and the whole outfit, including
 mules and wagon, were ordered to be taken to San Pedro. Frisbie, the driver,
 was roughly handled, notwithstanding the
 fact that the pedler, Tor such he proved to be, admitted that the goods were his, and
 that the driver was guiltless of any wrong doing. There was hoisting machine in the wagon that the company were much in
 need Of, but arguments were in vain. The
 outfit was taken to San Pedro, ex-
 cept the whim which was left un. der seal with the district judge at Arispe. The driver had no idea that the goods he took on were contraband, suppOs.
 ing that they were purchased at Arlspe. The end of the matter was that MT. Miller
 had to put up in the neighborhood of $500
 before he could get a release of hIs prop erty. These are only instances of the out
 rages and annoyances to which foreigners are subjected by the customs officers.
 When it is remembered that very nearly
 every article taken into :he country by the
 American companies is used in the devel-
 opment Of the country's resources, the equity of the case is made apparent
 St. David's Democratic Nominations
 ST. DAVID, September 3, 1882.
 IN