or provisioning and housing the several hundred thousand soldiers supplied by the state to the federal cause, as well as for the defenses of New York, Arthur dealt with hundreds of private contractors and military personnel. The military service played to his advantage; he gained a reputation for efficiency, administrative genius, and reliability.Although eager to serve in a battlefield position, Arthur never pressed his case. His wife, a Virginian with family members in the Confederacy, could not tolerate the thought of her husband taking up arms against them.Upon his retirement from duty, Arthur threw himself into his law practice, representing clients in suing for war-related damages and reimbursements. His practice thrived, making him a wealthy man by the end of the war. He also worked actively for Roscoe Conkling, a New York Republican Party Boss and U.S. senator who used patronage and party discipline to advance his power in the New York. By 1867, Arthur had become one of Conkling's top lieutenants, serving as the chief counsel to the New York City Tax Commission from 1869 to 1870, at an annual salary of $10,000, a significant sum of money in those days. By comparison the wages of a skilled worker ranged from $400 to $650 annually in 1870.In 1871 President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Arthur to the position of Collector of the Port of New York. Arthur served in this capacity until 1878, supervising nearly 1,300 agents responsible for the collecting about 75 percent of the nation's import duties. His domain included the entire coast of New York State, the Hudson River, and parts of New Jersey. Paid a salary of $12,000 annually, Arthur augmented his income by sharing in a portion of all fines collected on undervalued imports. While customs office agents frequently accepted bribes from importers, warehouse owners, and ship companies, there is no evidence of Arthur ever partaking in such graft. Arthur routinely collected, however, kickb...
