The Scramble for the Customs House
With a new President taking office, candidates are fighting for the most lucrative federal post in Washington state.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The most lucrative Federal position in the state of Washington is the office of collector of customs for the Puget Sound district. The office remunerates the incumbent an annual salary of $3,500 and in addition thereto there are forty-nine subordinate positions at the disposal of the collector. Scarcely had the news of Grover Cleveland's election to the presidency been received when a swarm of candidates appeared on the scene scrambling for the collectorship. J. C. Saunders, of this city, who has the modest distinction of having been Mr. Cleveland's private stenographer during his last presidential term, is presumed to be in the race. The only local rival Mr. Saunders has is H. L. Tibbals, Jr., agent of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, which is generally regarded as the arch monopoly of the Pacific coast. The company is owned and controlled by some of the most influential politicians of California. No other corporation on the coast is so thoroughly dependent on the collector of customs as the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, and if one of their agents should be collector their business would be greatly benefited.
“Scarcely had the news of Grover Cleveland's election to the presidency been received when a swarm of candidates appeared on the scene scrambling for the collectorship.”
The 1892 spoils system—where federal appointments were effectively auctioned off to political cronies—highlights a long-standing tension in the Pacific Northwest between monopolistic corporate interests and federal oversight. The battle for the Port Townsend customs office mirrors the historical role of customs as the primary engine of federal patronage and wealth extraction in the Puget Sound economy before the rise of the income tax.
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