Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1882 — ABOUT THE CUSTOMS. [ARTICLE]

ABOUT THE CUSTOMS.

Supervising Agent Martin’s Annual Report. Supervising Special Ag nt Martin, of the Treasury >n Ms annual report for the. fiscal year ending June 39, 1882, s'.qws that the amount recovered on account of seizures, finer and suits was $89,§79; increased duties, #760,-146; miscellaneous, $12,15’; number of seizures, 217; appraised value, 591,475; redu tion in expenses recommended, $18,322; number of arrests, 54; number of reports received, 2,976. Of these reports, 58 relate to smuggling, 319 to under valua ion, 64tomisconductof customs officers, l s 2 t > seizures, 199 to inspection of customs districts, 15 to suits commenced, and 2,2 9to miscellaneous subjects. The Supervising Special Agent says: “To secure more efficient and honest administration of customs service throughout the country, a consolidation of collection districts and abolition of a large number of ports, at some of which there are no duties collected, and at others where the expenses arelargcly in excess of the receipts, would seem absolutely necessary, and in this connection it is gratifying to know that during the last session of Congress a bill for the consolidation of ail fees and giving the Collectors fixed salaries w .s int oduced by a member of the House, who was formerly a special agent and familiar with the wants orthe service. ” ReKuecting smuggling, he says; “Through the actlwtVf J'Jand vigilance of the officers of this ..service, assisted largely by 109*4' customs offioara, smuggling hasA been' confined to very narrow limits. The re on the night of the 3d of January last of nearly a ton of opium . valued at $26,000, while an attempt was lieing made to lanid-it from the steamship City of TOkio at the yharf of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, is the largest and mostimportant case of smuggling discovered during the year. It is reported that the business of opium smuggling on the Pacific coast has been carried on by an organized company, which includes capitalists, Custom House employe- 1 , steam-hip employes, local politicians and Chinamen. All customs officers suspected of complicity with smugglers have been dismissed fron# the service. ’ On toe-subject of undervaluation, Mr. Martin sayfe: “Investigation has shown that, upon the advice of an agent, foreign manufacturers often invoice consigned goods far below the cost of production. It is estimated that less than 40 per cent, of the 60 perc fitum ad-valorem duty Uta s Ik is collected in consequence of the undervaluation of that article.”