Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/250

 206 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS instituted. The Jay commission was appointed April 14, 1877, and during the ensuing summer made four reports criticising the management of the custom-house. In September, Sec. Sherman requested the collector to resign, accompanying the request with the offer of a foreign mission. The newspapers of the previous day announced that at a cabinet meeting it had been determined to remove the collector. The latter declined to resign, and the investigations were continued by commissions and special agents. To the reports of the Jay com mission Collector Arthur replied in detail, in a let ter to Sec. Sherman, dated November 23. On De cember 6, Theodore Roosevelt was nominated to the senate for collector, and L. Bradford Prince for naval officer; but they were rejected December 12, and no other nominations were made, although the senate remained in session for more than six months. On July 11, 1878, after its adjournment, Messrs. Arthur and Cornell were suspended from office, and Edwin A. Merritt was designated as collector, and Silas W. Burt as naval officer, and they took possession of the offices. Their nomina tions were sent to the senate December 3, 1878. On January 15, 1879, Sec. Sherman communicated to the senate a full statement of the causes that led to these suspensions, mainly criticisms of the man agement of the custom-house, closing with the declaration that the restoration of the suspended