Forty years at El Paso, 1858-1898; recollections of war, politics, adventure, events, narratives, sketches, etc., by W. W. Mills. Page: 88 of 163

FORTY YEARS AT EL PASO.

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brother at Washington, but I could not complain, as I
saw good reasons for the refusal. To which he replied:
"The telegram has gone, sir; your brother will be here
in a few days."
He came, and got his promotion also.
Soon after this I was summoned to the State Department
for an interview with the Secretary, William H.
Seward. He asked many questions about President
Juarez and his cause, and about the real sentiment of the
Mexican people, and about their probable ability to
drive Maximilian and the French out of Mexico "without
assistance."
Mr. Seward asked me about our consul at Juarez,
Henry J. Cuniffe. I replied that he was an able and
patriotic gentleman.
The Secretary then said that in the absence of the
United States Minister, our consul ought to have an
extra allowance of money for expenses during the Mexican
President's stay at Juarez, and asked me what
amount I thought would be sufficient.
I replied $2,500 a quarter, and the Secretary said that
would not be too much, and if the consul would make
requisitions they would be honored.
I wrote my friend Cuniffe immediately.
This was before the days of "Retrenchment and Reform."
Now came one of my hardest battles. My term of
four years as collector of customs at El Paso, under
Lincoln, was about to expire, and there was objection to
my reappointment-there always is-but in this case
there was a serious charge of misconduct in office to the
effect that I had permitted the exportation of large
quantities of arms and ammunition from my district into
Mexico to be used against the French, in violation of