The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-08-15
TOO MANY oUsToM-HousEs
Supported by Uncle Sam, Says
Treasury Official.
From the Brooklyn Eagle.

From the Brooklyn Eagle.
Uncle Sam is supporting about
fifty or seventy-five more custom
houses than the government has any
need for" said an official of the treas
ury department today. land 1t would
be a wise move In the interest of
economy If we could lop off lot OF
these useless appendages to the GUS
toms service. At the present time
there are $50 customs districts and In
dependent customs ports, the latter in
GLIDING such cities as Pittsburg, Gin
cinnati, st. Louis and other interior
places to which goods in bond are
shipped and entered just as Is done
in New York. A great many of the
small customs ports on the coast were
established at a time when smuggling
was a profitable industry, and when
the government lost hundreds of
thousands of dollars every year
through the fraudulent shipment Of
goods into the country.
Almost every little port on the
coast was made place for the col
lection of customs. We have since
gotten control of this Illicit traffic. but
the customs ports are still maintained
with all their expensive officials. For
instance, there are fourteen separate
customs districts on the coast OF
Maine, whereas four are all that are
needed. The Massachusetts coast has
eleven districts instead Of three, and
so on down the list. There are several
unnecessary districts in New York,
and the same is true of New Jersey.
There are dozens of districts In which
the cost Of collections Is away out Of
proportion to the amount of money
gathered In duties, all of which proves
that we ought to do away with the
superfiuous ports. For instance, 1t
cost the government $124.S7 to collect
one dollars worth of duties at An
napolis, Md, during the last fiscal
year, and In the district of Buford,
N c., the government paid out in
salaries and other expenses 1852 for
every dollar of customs that was paid
in there. At Burlington, or In the
Trenton, N. j., district, the cost of
each dollar of customs receipts was
$1,000; at charleston, S. c., 1t was
$146. and at Cris1eld, Nd, it was
1921.
Each of these ports has col
lecuor and many of them have a dep
uty collector, and it is a great event
when a vessel arrives with foreign
imports AS l said before, these little
ports were established when SNUG
Cling was a lucrative practice, but
this is now almost stamped out. About
the only smuggling that is done on
the coast is of a petty nature, and is
done by the employees of the big
steamship companies. There is more
smuggling overland than formerly. A
prominent Montreal fur house Is our
most troublesome customer of this
sort. 1t has long made a practice Of
selling fur garments to American
tourists, agreeing to deliver the goods
tree of customs charges. 1t brides
railroad employees and others to bring
the goods over the border and keeps
up the business in spite of our best
efforts to head it off. To date we
have seized over one hundred ship
ments Of 4ur goods, ranging in value
from $40 to $500, but this does not
deter the Canadians. We have indict-
ed the firm in the United States dis
trict court of Vermont, but as snug
Cling is not an extraditable offense,
we can do no more"