You are no doubt already advised that the people of California, in convention, have adopted a constitution of State government; and the election for governor and for other officers is this day being held. Our friend T. Butler King is a candidate for the United States Senate, with some prospect of being elected by the legislature. He has been, I am informed, quite ill. I have not had the pleasure of seeing him, as he is at present located at Benicia. I am perfectly astounded at the amount of business in this office. I took possession of it on yesterday, and during so short a period have been unable to make all the inquires and examination necessary to put me in possession of all the information desirable. The amount of tonnage, however, on the 10th instant in port, was 120,317 tons; of which 87,494 were American, and 32,823 were foreign. Number of vessels in the harbor on that day, 10th instant, 312, and the whole number of arrivals since the first of April, 697; of which 401 were American, and 296 foreign. This state of things, so unexpected, has greatly surprised me. Desirous as I am of conforming to the instructions received from the Treasury Department, yet you will see from what. follows, that so far as the salaries of the various officers employed in this office is concerned it will be wholly impossible. The clerks, for instance,. are receiving from $1,800 to $3,000 per annum, and there is not a sufficient number to ansact the business. More must be employed, and that, too,. with like salaries. The inspectors are receiving four dollars per day, and a large number are employed. The necessity for the payment of such salaries arises from the fact that the expenses of living justify the payment. For example: Flour is this day selling for forty dollars per barrel, and pork at $60. For boarding the average is $5 per day, without rooms or lodging. A small room, barely sufficient to contain a single bed, rents readily at $150 per month. Wood is $40 per cord, and every article of food is at a like rate. It is impossible, therefore, to retain clerks or other officers without the payment of salaries corresponding with the expenses of living. So much for the expenses of the office. The business is now daily on the increase, and my whole attention day and night will be required. I shall be compelled also to employ additional clerks. One difficulty, however, presents itself; and that is, where to put them. I am occupying what was the old Mexican custom-house, constructed of unburnt brick. It is a long, dark, one story building, in miserable condition. The roof leaks so badly, that during a rain our papers are liable to be wet. The doors are some of them off the hinges, and all are insecure. I have no vault for the safe-keeping of the public money. Owing to the rates for rent, I am afraid to lease a building. One for myself, containing four rooms, two below and two above, without fireplaces, were offered to me on yesterday at $2,400 per month. I am so remote from Washington, that under these circumstances I shall be compelled to" take the responsibility" of making repairs, even at present prices, to wit: shingles at $60 per thousand, and lumber at $300, and shall have to pay the carpenters from $12 to $16 per day. These facts may startle you, but such is the true state of things. I hope, therefore, that in ordering these indispensable repairs without waiting for these instructions, I shall not be censured. A custom-house must be built, and ought to be immediately contracted for and sent around. One of cast iron will be the best, if it can be built. There should be no delay. The business will justify it, and it is indispen sable. Great inconvenience is felt, and no little risk incurred, from the fact that we have not a house nor a room for stowing goods. I have been compelled to continue a practice which I found existing, of stowing goods and for warehousing on board of vessels. There are now nineteen thus employed. This is a hazardous and most inconvenient practice, and opens a broad door for smuggling. Several warehouses (not less than four) should be immediately sent out. You will see from a paper addressed to me by the merchants of this city (containing thirty thousand people) that they deem it indispensable. I may, nay, I probably shall be compelled, before I can hear from you, to rent a building for a warehouse. Should 1 do so, it will be at a price that may astonish you, and yet the government will not be the loser. The charge for storage must correspond with the price paid, and in the end the building or buildings thus employed will be a source of revenue. I have written by the steamer to Messrs. Saffarrans & Co., urging them to push forward, without delay, the building already contracted for, and desiring them to call upon you in relation to the construction of four others of the same dimensions. We have not now a room for the appraisers or inspectors. Goods that have to be appraised are either exposed on board the ships, or deposited in the store of the owner or consignee. When it is known that, in a commercial point of view, this port is equal to that of Philadelphia the necessity of providing suitable buildings without delay must be seen and acknowledged. I should be doing great injustice not only to the government, but to all concerned in commerce, were I to refrain from expressing my opinion frankly upon these important subjects. On my voyage to this port from San Diego, I had an opportunity of visiting some of the points on the coast, which, in a commercial point of view, are of no little importance, and to which your attention is solicited. One of them is San Pedro. I am fully of opinion that more goods are landed at San Pedro than at any other point, excepting only San Francisco. A large amount of smuggling is carried on at that place. It is distant from Los Angeles some twenty-five miles, and from the latter the Mexicans obtain all their goods for trade in the interior of Mexico. These goods are generally of high price and rich fabric. I met several large parties of these traders on my way to the Pacific, and in every instance was advised by them that they purchased their goods at Los Angeles. I saw, while at San Pedro, (which contains but three buildings,) in a warehouse, a large amount of goods from China. I have been unable to ascertain where they were entered. The collector resides at Los Angeles; and these goods, together with most if not all that have been landed, have escaped the payment of duties. I recommend that it should be made a port of delivery, and that a deputy should be stationed there. Santa Barbara is also a place of some importance, and should be made a port of delivery. As a town, the latter is far superior to San Diego. These are the only points where I landed on the coast. To enforce the revenue laws in this district, and to cut up and prevent smuggling, which has been and is now carried to a great extent, it seems to be necessary that an additional cutter should be sent out, or that the Ewing, now in this port, should be assigned to that duty. Do all that you can, I fear it cannot be prevented; but it may be greatly curtailed. In connexion with this service, permit me to suggest the propriety, nay, the necessity, of shipping, as soon as possible, a sufficient amount (for at least one year) of supplies for the Lawrence, and for any other vessel that may be assigned to the revenue service. I have advertised for proposals for furnishing provisions, but cannot take the responsibility of entering into a contract at the present prices. It would be an immense saving to the government to despatch forthwith an ample supply from the Atlantic. I presume that no proposal will be offered at less than $50 or $60 per barrel for pork, and not less than $30 per barrel for flour. Under these circumstances, I must purchase a temporary supply, and wait your instructions upon the subject. You are aware that the duties collected on this coast have been hitherto collected under military authority, and that the money has been paid over to the pay and quartermaster's departments. I have already been inquired of, whether I would cash the drafts of these departments. This I cannot do without your instructions. Situated as I am, I should like to be relieved from the responsibility of retaining the money in my hands for any considerable length of time. The duties will amount to a large sum; and I have no secure or safe place of keeping it. There is another subject to which I desire to call your attention that of the establishment of a marine hospital. Almost daily applications are made for relief or assistance by sick and disabled seamen. I do not know anything that I can do without your instructions. A suitable building, even could one be procured, could not be rented for any reasonable sum. And yet humanity requires that this class should be provided for. A physician could not be procured by the offer of three times the present fees. I had hoped to have found on my arrival letters from the department, but was disappointed. It is extremely difficult to institute and carry on a suit commenced against a vessel seized for violating the revenue laws. Two seizures have been made since I took possession of the office. These suits are to be instituted in Oregon or Louisiana. How is process to be served? Can the marshal in either district serve process without special authority to do so by act of Congress? Can he appoint a deputy for California? It seems to me that great difficulty will be found in carrying out the law in this particular. The act of Congress making California a collection district requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a port of delivery as near as may be to the junction of the rivers Gila and Colorado, at the head of the gulf of California. The establishment of such an office I do not consider as at all practicable. The Colorado will never, in my opinion, become navigable to the point. It is far off from civilization, on the borders of the great desert, and in the midst of numerous tribes of Indians. The line between the United States and Mexico will not be more than two or three miles from the junction of the rivers. The valley of the Gila is utterly worthless, and I would not take a deed of the whole country to-morrow. It is true that here and there a spot may be found susceptible of cultivation, but they are "few and far between." I presume that no white man could be found willing to become deputy collector in a port where a flag would never flutter. I have had possession of this office but two days, and have hardly yet recovered from the toils of my long and weary pilgrimage. What I have written has been done in great haste. The early departure of the steamer, however, will be my excuse. I beg you to be assured that this port is of the first importance to the country, and deserves, and will no doubt receive, the prompt attention of the department. In the discharge of the responsibilities of this office, I may, and no doubt shall, commit many errors. Situated as I am, without the aid of courts, and remote from Washington, I shall be called upon to exercise discretionary powers. The rights of our countrymen and the interests of commerce seem to require it. I hope to so discharge the trust confided to me as to secure your approval. By the next steamer I hope to address you, if not more fully, at least with less haste. be. Before closing this communication, permit me to say that the articles directed to be shipped from New York for this office have not as yet arrived. I have, consequently, been compelled to purchase such books as were to be provided here. They are not, however, what they ought to May I ask you to have forwarded without delay, by the steamer, a supply of sea-letters for vessels, coasting licenses for vessels both under and above 20 tons, both for steam and sail vessels, registers and records for vessels, crew lists, and two dozen copies of the tariff of 1846. The price of printing here is enormous, and I must look to the department for a supply. Since writing the foregoing, I have to add that I caused the publication of notice in the papers in this city soliciting proposals for supplies for the revenue service. I enclose copies of two that have been received, in order that you may the better judge what course should be pursued, and of the propriety of my purchasing temporary supplies, looking to a decline in present prices. Very respectfully, yours, Hon. W. M. MEREDITH, Secretary of the Treasury. J. COLLIER, Collector. SAN FRANCISCo, November 13, 1849. SIR: The undersigned, merchants of the port of San Francisco, Upper California, take leave to congratulate you on your safe arrival at this port, and whilst, for the better protection of their interests in lawful trade, they ask of you the strict enforcement of the revenue laws of the United States of America, they also desire that the usual facilities afforded to their fellow merchants on the Atlantic coast shall likewise be extended to them, particularly the warehousing system in public stores. The very fact that San Francisco is daily becoming the grand depot for the whole trade of the Pacific ocean, is sufficient evidence that their wants imperatively demand of our government warehouses for bonded goods. The undersigned are, sir, your most obedient servants, MELLUS, HOWARD, & CO., CROSS, HOBSON, & CO., GILLESPIE & CO., FINLEY, JOHNSON, & CO., E. MICKLE & CO., T. M. Z. DELRON, ROBT. SMITH & CO., SAML. MOSS & CO., To Col. COLLIER, THOMAS O. LARKIN, ROBERT WELLS & CO., WARD, & CO., SHERMAN, RUCKLE, & Co., Collector of the port of San Francisco, U. C. CUSTOM-HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO, SIR: The departure of the steamer so soon after my assuming the duties of this office, prevented me from calling your attention to several important questions which I had been called upon to decide, and which I now beg leave to submit to your consideration. Previous to my arrival, the then collector, acting under the instructions of the military commander, from whom he received his appointment, with the sanction of Commodore Jones, the commander-in-chief of the naval forces on the Pacific, had issued licenses to foreign vessels to engage in the coasting trade in the bay of San Francisco and its tributaries. This practice was introduced, as they claim, from necessity. There were but few American vessels in the bay or on the coast, and the large number of persons employed at the mines looked to this port alone for their supplies. In order to afford them relief, this practice was introduced. On assuming the duties of the office, I revoked all the licenses granted to foreign vessels to engage in the coasting trade, and have refused to grant licenses to all vessels other than American. This has been the subject of complaint on the part of some American citizens who have purchased foreign vessels with the expectation that the former practice would be continued. Upon this subject I received a letter from Commodore Jones, a copy of which, marked A, together with my reply, marked B, I herewith enclose. I think I am right, and shall carry out the law, as I understand it, until I am otherwise directed. Another practice, as I suppose, in direct violation of law, had been sanctioned and approved of by the same authority—that of permitting brandy and other spirituous liquors to be imported in bottles and cases of less quantity than fifteen gallons. The law, as I suppose, was violated in two particulars: First. According to my understanding, brandy can only be imported in "casks of a capacity not less than fifteen gallons." By importing in bottles of less capacity they violate that law, and escape the duty also upon the bottles. If I am right, (and I shall act upon that supposition until otherwise advised) the vessels and cargoes are forfeited for an infraction of the law in that particular. Still another practice prevailed here-that of permitting French vessels, for instance, clearing from a port in France for San Francisco, and taking on board a part of their cargo at Valparaiso, the product of the latter country, to enter. This I have supposed to be contrary to law. I desire to call your attention to a case where I felt called upon to seize a vessel having a valuable cargo on board. The facts are as follows: The British barque Collooney cleared from this port on the 6th of August |