Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-19
BURLEsQUE CUSTOM HOUSES,
Ports Of Entry Where No Foreign
Goods Are Landed

FROM the New York Tribune.
Nathaniel Hawthorne once described the
tranquillizing routine of life In the cob
webbed office of the collector OF the port OF
Salem. Mass. Salem was then living as a
seaport on memories of former greatness.
and the dusty ledgers on the collectors
shelves were seldom disturbed to enter a
new record of valuations and duties Be-
tween entries the great romancer had am
pie leisure to delve into Salem tradition and
beat into shape the raw material OF his re-
searches and his fancy. From compfla-
ton recently submitted to the House OF
Representatives we should Judge that an
indulgent government is still maintaining
full complement of these quiet retreats for
poets and romancers. Ports of entry with
out shipping and collectors offices without
business still figure literally in our customs
establishment. The fact that they may be
harboring other Hawthornes is dismissed,
however. as an irrelevant consideration by
rerormers who want to abolish sinecureS
and to abandon the pretense of collecting
revenue at points where no revenue Is col
lectible.
The list Of ports of entry at which Gus
toms expenses exceeded receipts for the
fiscal year 19O4-'05 Is astonishinRly long
There are fifty-one custom houses now kept
open at an actual loss. At these f1fty-one
ports an average of less than 81 900 apiece
was collected in 1904-'O5. while the cost OF
collection averaged more than $1,000 for
each port. In ten cases no collections what
ever were reported. These moribund ports
We're Beaufort, N. c.; Kennebunk. Me-:
M Mass Egg stob harbor n. J.; NANTUCKET.
Patchogue and Port Jefferson. N. Y; Vicks-
burg. Miss. and Yaquina, Ore. There were
eighteen other collectors offices which took
lecting 81 running as high as 1921 at Abe
marie. N. c.. and 500 at Cherrystone, va.
The greatest actual outlay at any OF these
non-paying points was at BRACES de Santi-
ago tBrownsyille), Tex. but this post was
established and is maintained chiefly TO
prevent smuggling across the Mexican bor-
der. Its expense roll for 1904-'O5 was
$4O131, and only 1854 was received In Gus
toms dues.
Such offices have their uses and must be
retained. whether they produce revenue
not On the Canadian and Mexican bor-
ders and In the gulf states accessible to the
West indies observation stations to hold
smugglers In check cannot be dispensed
with. but there seems to be occasion for
perpetuating the farce of collecting duties
at other ports whose commerce is dead
and whose microscopical business can be
transferred to live custom houses In the Inn
mediate neighborhood. It would be safe
and practicable to close for entry such ports
as Castine, Sace and Kennebunk In Maine:
Salem. Barnstable, Nantucket and Ply
mouth. in Massachusetts,; Patchogue. In
this state: Burlington, Bridgeton and Little
Egg harDor, IN New Jersey; Annapolis, In
Maryland: Cherrystone, Tappahannock.
Albemarle. Beaufort, N. c., and Pamlico.
on the southern Atlantic coast. and interior
river ports like vfcksburg, Matches, Cairo,
Paducah. Burlington, Iowa; GaIena, Chat
tanooga and Rock Island. Foreign mer-
chandise actually reaching these points for
entry is infinitesimal In value. and only
local vanity fs served by classifying as
ports of entry certain towns and cltsas
nearly a thousand miles from the seaboard.
Congress Is considering a measure to con-
sol!date the present customs collections dis
tricts and eliminate some of these fictitious
ports. The economy to be effected 10 incon-
Siderable but the abolition OF sineoures
which would result Is to be commended as
step toward stricter and more rational
administration.