the
part of the President or anyone to make a change in the officers
of the New York customhouse. This is apparent from my letter to
Collector Arthur. The commission proceeded with their examination,
and on the 2nd of July made their second report. This contained
specific charges, but of a general character, against persons
employed in the customhouse. They found that for many years past,
the view had obtained with some political leaders that the friends
of the administration in power had a right to control the customs
appointments; and this view, which seemed to have been acquiesced
in by successive administrations, had of late been recognized to
what the commission deemed an undue extent by the chief officers
of the service. These gentlemen, on the ground that they were
compelled to surrender to personal and partisan dictation, appeared
to have assumed that they were relieved, in part, at least, from
the responsibilities that belonged to the appointing power.

The collector of the port, in speaking of the "ten thousand
applications," and remarking that the urgency for appointments came
from men all over the country, added, "the persons for whom it is
made bear their proportion of the responsibility for the character
of the whole force."

The surveyor had said:

"I had, within the last two weeks, a letter, from a gentleman
holding a high official position, in regard to the appointment of
an officer whom he knows had been dropped three times from the
service for cause. He has also been to see me about him, and the
last time he came he admitted to me that he had been engaged in
defrauding the revenue; and yet he writes me calling my attention
to the case, and requesting his appointment."

The collector, in his testimony before the commission, said that
"the larger number of complaints probably come from the surveyor
of the port," and, on being asked their character, said:

"Some are for inefficiency, some are for neglect of duty, some for
inebriety, and some for improper conduct in various ways; some for
want of integrity, and some for accepting bribes."

The commission further stated:

"The investigation showed that ignorance and incapacity on the part
of the employees were not confined to the surveyor's department,
but were found in other branches of the service--creating delays
and mistakes, imperiling the safety of the revenues and the interests
of importers, and bringing the service into reproach.