The sun., 1918-08-15

In going DaCK 10 revue" hnu 'eNit"i
lie the life OF the Old Custom House
the chronlcler is apt to call to mind
James Anthony Froude's essay on
"EngIands Forgotten Worthless" In
II the historian recalls the careers OF
Sir Francis Drake. Sir Walter Raleigh,
Martin Frobisher and the galaxy OF
seamen who were the pioneers OF Eng
lands achievement of maritime great
ness. 1t may seem n stretch Of COM
Do rison to liken tho forgotten worthless
OF the rotunda of the old New York
Custom House who sat under the
egis of n gNded eagle with spread
wings taking toll of the worlds COM
mece to these adventurous makers
Of it, But as their occupation was
OF necessity bound up with cargoes OF
the argosies of the last century. II
may not be amiss to tag even these
men Of whom am to gossip with the
title of worthy. While few IL any
could be called brilliant they were
serviceable lot Of good American
/ citizens, some OF whom were not slow
| to take double toll Of commerce.
1t is a far cry back to the collector
ship Of Tom" Murphy and Chester A
Arthur, and the days when Alonzo b
Cornell was the Naval Officer for the
port. The collectors OF those days
were powerful men politically and
could command respectful hearing for
their views from the powers at the
fountain head OF Federal authority
Sometimes, though, they were at the
mercy of a petty clerk whose offence
even IL fragrant, could not be visited
| with the punishment 1t merited. be-
cause Of the powerful influence that
had procured his appointment. But
such cases were OF course rare.
The method Of appointment to the
minor posts in the Custom House In
| those days was one that imposed
onerous duties on the chief officer OF
customs. He had to be a man of as
tute political training to know or
which Of the particular applicants
among the hordes that filled his office
| the mantle Of favor was to fall. II he
failed, his own qualifications to fiji
the post of Collector were likely to be
challenged. A notable instance of this
is the case Of Preston King.
King was appointed Collector in
September, 1865. His sreign" was
shot lived. for he went from the
| s. Ane OF his political triumph as APP
pointee to this important Federal post
about three months later in a sudden
| and tragic manner.
This Collector, who was more nota'
BILE for his exit from Office than for his
! conduct of II. was q heavily built
forid faced countryman OF genial tenn
permanent. He came to his post prob.
ably prepared to fulfil the mandate OF
political clique whose purposes he
was to reflect in the appointment OF
his aids. The task was Herculean
In the brief space of few weeks, dur.
ing which time his office had beer
filed. probably daily. with an army OF
hungry office seekers. all of whom II
was impossible for him to satisfy
| King went to the river and drowned
| himself; the belief being that the
hopelessness of the task confronting
him had unsettled his reason. Com
pared with a job like his, Collectors
of the Port to-day are reclining or
beds of roses.
In those old days the right OF mer-
chant to have his business transacted
at the Custom House was relative; II
involved a corresponding right OF the
minor appointees who aided in the
| collection Of the revenue to exact their
! toll on commerce. There weren't many
| subordinate tax gatherers of those
days who sat at the seat of customs al
New York who would have followed
the example OF ST. Matthew, for trim.
ming the merchants of New York fol
the privilege of doing business at the
! Custom House was too lucrative n pas
time for all Of the Collectors subordt
mates to make resigning to follow some
chance vision very attractive !
was during the regime OF Collectors
who antedate Edwin a. Merritt thai
the phrase few die and none resign
| was coined.
To detail the particular method OF
| this privileged toll taking by public
servants would be in the nature of q
technical exposition that would de
| tract from my story. 1t belongs to the
realm of the writer OF dry facts. But
It may bo briefly stated the WOO
buyer knows the wool Satherer," as
runs the adage, and many n Matthew
at New York who had a berth at thS
seat Of customs made it condition
OF his clerical activity in the discharge
| of the duties that he was appointed
| and paid for out of legal levy on the
taxpayers, that a private toll be paiC
to him for his service. So many a mer
chant who presented the documents
on which the Collector was TO bas,
his demand for duties was held up fol-
n private tip by the man who was Il
pass on them. If there had been g
general agreement among merchants
to resist this payment it Is probable
that the Government would have beer
minus the revenue to pay salaries, ant
the whole business OF the port woulC
have come to n standstill, Based or
the records OF the Custom House O
recent years this toll would have
accounted TO 100000 in n period OF
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