 The custom house staffs, especially at New York's Custom House were also political appointees, and were expected to contribute a portion of their salaries to the party to which they owed their appointments.Disputes over patronage at the Port of New York led to an ongoing feud from the 1860s to the 1880s between the party faction led by Roscoe Conkling and reformers who counted Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield among their number.The attempts at reform that began in the 1870s led to the political appointees at each port being placed on salaries rather than the percentage system.