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1 1 I ROOM Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Prince, Carl E. The U.S. Customs Service: a bicentennial history/Carl E. Prince and Mollie Keller. p. cm. Includes index. 1. U.S. Customs Service— History. I. Keller, Mollie. II. Title. HJ6622.A6 1989 353.0072'46'09—dc20 89-600730 ISBN 0-9622904-0-8 PREFACE When we began the research for this book, the sources appeared daunting: the customs records in the National Archives alone measured 8,000 linear feet. There are more customs records among the Treasury Department's papers and other collections. Thousands more linear feet are located at the regional federal records centers across the United States. Every major research library houses collections rich in customs history as well, and innumerable histo- rians for nearly 200 years have written about the Customs Service or touched on it in their extended studies. Knowing that we could not possibly exhaust existing primary sources in one year of research (or 20), we chose a policy of sampling the richest primary sources, many of them obscure and little used because they lie buried amid poorly catalogued or uncatalogued collections. We hoped by this means to provide a small path for others to follow; customs records, like the Customs Service itself, are rich not only in American economic and political history, but social and cultural history as well. This study is intended to reflect that variety. We also realized that a one-volume study could at best provide only a superficial chronicling of Customs' myriad involvement in the nation's history, so we chose to discuss in some depth representative topics —pressure points like the Amer- ican Revolution, the embargo era, the nullification controversy, the Civil War, Prohibition, and drug enforcement. Rather than survey complex customs oversight of immigration in the 19th century, we opted to deal with the enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 as an example in depth. It is axiomatic that the function of the Customs Service from The U.S. Customs Service its inception has been to defend the revenue of the nation. It has achieved that task as well as circumstances have allowed. Until the overworked Jacksonian era there was little corruption and a high degree of professionalism; that pride was egregiously assaulted from outside for the next three-quarters of a century. About 1900, civil service reform finally took hold, and the Customs Service thereafter returned to its professional origins. It has successfully met its obligation to "protect, secure, and defend the revenue" since then. From its establishment, the Customs Service has also been asked to do more than enforce tariff regulations and collect duties. It was the nation's first public health service, its first immigration service, and its first coast guard. Customs was also from its earliest moments a public agency exploited by the American political party system. Opened up by successive administrations to party patronage, the Customs Service remained thoroughly politicized for over a century. That it was able to retain its professionalism stands as a remarkable tribute to dedicated individuals who either fought the system from within, or more usually, manipulated it subtly to maximize honest achievement of the service's mission. And it did so even as it was handed the dirtiest jobs. Customs, as noted earlier, was at the forefront of official presence before the American Revolu- tion, and thus bore the brunt of popular American disfavor. During the embargo and nullification crises, Presidents Jeffer- son and Jackson asked the Customs Service to enforce badly drawn revenue laws. Customs was virtually the only government screening agency during the 19th-century years of massive immigration, always with grossly inadequate resources. It was asked to enforce morality during Prohibition. Now it holds a significant share of the responsibility for preventing drug traf- ficking, as usual without adequate resources. Throughout America's history, therefore, the Customs Serv- ice has remained close to the center of the action. Few will dispute its claim, as the most enduring government agency, that it has always tried to do the best it could with what it had, and Preface for the most part successfully, bad laws, bad politics, and public friction notwithstanding. * * * It is a pleasure to thank the large number of professionals in the Customs Service who went out of their way to make our efforts easier. They all share a deep awareness of Customs' rich history, which they translated into commitment to this study. This group includes Michael Lane, Deputy Commissioner; D. Lynn Gordon, Assistant Commissioner for Commercial Operations; Stephen A. Dougherty, Executive Assistant to the Commissioner; William F. Riley, Comptroller; Theodore Kasna and Linda Angellata in the Contracts office; Mieko Kosoba- yashi, former Secretary to the Commissioner; and Ernest Cham- bre, the Conservator of Customs. Many members of the library and executive staffs and several regional commissioners were also helpful. Patricia Coss, Editor of Customs Today, saw this volume through press, adeptly adhering to the publication schedule, managing proofs, and selecting illustrations. She was both efficient and cheerful throughout a complex process. A special thank you to Stuart Seidel, the Customs Historian and the Director of the Regulatory Procedures and Penalties Division, whose study of Customs during World War I we drew on so heavily. Always an astute observer of the Customs Service, we prevailed on him to write the Epilogue to this volume. Michael N. Ingrisano, Jr., the Director of the Information Services Division, has been involved in this history from its inception. He knows more about the agency's past than any other person we know, and he freely allowed the authors to tap that knowledge repeatedly. Ingrisano read every chapter in draft and saved us from any number of errors. We depended as well on his own published studies of specialized aspects of customs history, as well as his fine Biographical Directory of the Customs Service. His sense of humor and warmth made it a pleasure to work with him. We first came to know Commissioner William von Raab 111 The U.S. Customs Service when he came to New York University as Vice President in the early 1970's. The Commissioner has an abiding passion for history, and he saw well in advance of the Customs Service's bicentennial anniversary that time would be required to produce a deep history of Customs. His foresight and interest in the project made it possible. Many historians and archivists in the National Archives and the regional Federal Records Centers have helped us in our research. In particular we want to acknowledge the support of Frank Burke, now of the University of Maryland and formerly the Acting Archivist of the United States. We also want to single out for mention Kathleen O'Connor, Staff Archivist at the Federal Records Center at San Bruno, California, who spent hours digging out obscure collections touching on the enforce- ment of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Several colleagues at New York University have facilitated our efforts. Chancellor L. Jay Oliva helped to secure the grant that underwrote this study. Dean of Administration Ann Burton helped establish the project in the College of Arts and Sciences. Lisa Tate and Martha Dunne administered the grant through the university's Office of Sponsored Programs. Lynn Anderson edited portions of the first seven chapters. Claire Potter coped valiantly with the typing of the manuscript and its often complex footnotes. Ken Silverman in the English Department helped identify cultural figures in the Customs Service and critically reviewed that portion of chapter four dealing with Nathaniel Hawthorne. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Carl E. Prince Mollie Keller IV INTRODUCTION By William von Raab Commissioner of Customs Few Americans realize that British customs practices drove the colonists into the American Revolution. Ironically, however, the powder that destroyed English rule soon became the fuel that launched a new country. Prior to the French and Indian War, Great Britain and its colonies were unified, and the colonies were dependent upon their motherland. Trouble began after the war, however, when Parliament realized that revenue was needed to cover its war debts. Soon thereafter, the seeds for the birth of our nation were sown at the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. The English then blundered by responding with the Townshend and Coercive Acts. Customs duties thus became the catalyst that set in motion the events that destroyed English rule in the colonies. Customs officers have been actors in some of the most important events of early American history. The development of Customs has not only been a major factor in shaping our nation, but in many ways the story of U.S. Customs is an accurate reflection of the development of our nation and its history. In New York in April 1789, immediately after the first House of Representatives had been sworn in, James Madison of Virginia rose from his seat to introduce: ... a subject that requires our first attention and united exertions. The deficiency in our Treasury has been too notorious to make it necessary for me to The U.S. Customs Service animadvert upon that subject. Let us content ourselves with endeavoring to remedy the evil. To do this, a national revenue must be obtained, but the system must be a one that, while it secures the object of revenue, it shall not be oppressive to our constituents. Happy it is for us that such a system is within our power; for I apprehend that both these objects may be obtained from an impost on articles imported into the United States. By Madison's wisdom and tenacity, the Customs Service was created, then signed into existence by President Washington on July 31, 1789.

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