Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1902 — RELIEF TO TRAVELERS. [ARTICLE]

RELIEF TO TRAVELERS.

Secretary Shaw's Amelioration of Customs Regulations, Secretary Shaw has done his best to mitigate the sufferings of returning travelers, about which there has been so much complaint. The inspectors of personal baggage are to wear white cotton gloves hereafter, so as not to Boil the frocks and other garments they may have to handle. They must repack the trunks they empty, must avoid unnecessary exposure of trunks’ contents, and must put up with the reasonable impatience of distracted travelers without discourteous conduct in return. An efficient person in suitable garb is to settle points under discussion between Inspectors and travelers, and receive travelers’ complaints. Officers are enjoined to avoid “petty exactions under a narrow interpretation of the law and a misapprehension of the purposes of the inspection.” Customs officials are forbidden to accept gratuities, and passengers are requested not to tempt them. Any lady who wants her baggage examined in private shall be gratified in that particular, provided the steamship company has furnished a suitable room. As for the practice of requiring a declaration from travelers and afterward examining their baggage to see if they have told the truth, the Secretary says: “If all people were honest, one or the other of these requirements might be avoided, but under existing circumstances it has been found impracticable to omit either.” The recent Issue of four circulars and a statement has attested the earnestness of the Secretary’s purpose to makefthings as much easier for travelers as the laws will permit. There is a circular for travelers taking ship out of the country, and another for returning travelers, telling them what they must expect when they get home, so that their minds and documents may be prepared beforehand. The path through the custom house is not lined with primroses even now, but the Secretary has doubtless bettered it a little, and certainly he has shown solicitude and good-will.—Har-per's Weekly.