In the fiscal year 1960, the imports reached $13 billion, and in 1962 they climbed to more than $15 billion—pouring through 350 ports of entry and Customs stations along the borders. The collection of duties soared in 1962 to more than $1.5 billion. International air travel at New York’s Idlewild Airport increased more than 10 per cent over the preceding year, and air cargo shipments were up 20 per cent. Similar reports came from other points of international travel.
Perhaps one of the more notable achievements of the Service is the fact that with improved management controls, better auditing procedures, and swift action against crooked employees, the Bureau has not had a major household scandal in more than a quarter of a century.
For years, the Bureau has had one of the lowest personnel turnover rates of any of the government agencies. It is now in a period of rapid change. The reason is that many of the long-time employees, including those in top management positions, are reaching retirement age. They are the ones who came into the Service in the early 1920s and chose to remain.
Government employees may retire any time from age sixty-two on to the mandatory retirement age of seventy. Most of those retiring are stepping out at age sixty-five, and since 1960 the Bureau has been forced to seek approximately 400 new employees each year—with a heavy turnover in the upper management echelon.
The management vacancies are being filled by promotions within the Service. The upward move has left openings in the lower positions for young men and women interested in a government career and, more particularly, in the specialized work offered by Customs. This trend in employment will continue through 1965.
Why did they stay with the Customs Bureau in such numbers? One of the old-timers put it this way: “We came into the Customs Service as young people and it became a part of our life. We felt we had more than an ordinary job. We felt we were taking part in something important to our country—and for this reason we felt important. There never was time to get bored because there never was a day when you didn’t run up against a new and interesting problem. I don’t mean a gimmick problem—but a problem that might mean millions of dollars. Of course, no job can be perfect—but I don’t know where I could have found another that would have kept me interested this long....”
There is every reason to believe that the Customs Service—the gray old frontier sheriff among the Federal agencies—is improving with age.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Don Whitehead was born in Inman, Virginia, and studied at the University of Kentucky. He has spent most of his working life in newspaper work, and for twenty-one years was with the Associated Press, twice winning Pulitzer prizes. For a time he was chief of the Washington, D.C., bureau of the New York Herald Tribune. In 1956 he wrote the widely acclaimed The F.B.I. Story, and in 1960 he wrote Journey into Crime. He now lives with his wife in Concord, Tennessee, where he writes a column for the Knoxville News-Sentinel and does freelance writing.