Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-07-20
,The Frula. ID meavy E.cI.e..

Excuses, like tariffs must not be excess
elve. Ifthey are so, the smuggler and all
sorts of Illicit devices may be expected to
spring up, thwarting the expectations of
revenue and working Injustice to- honest
dealers. The excise tax imposed by our
Internal Revenue law may be taken as an
example. Exposures of its workings show
how enormous are the frauds perpetrated.
One revenue agent, after thorough inves-
tigation, declared, II consider it a bur-
lesque to try to stop whisky frauds under
the present law" The witnesses before
the Revenue Commission reveal a state Of
facts which would have made their proper
impression on any legislators, not stepped
TO the lips In and besotted by partisan pref
.udIees iike the Radical majority in Con-
gress. A little Ingenuity can construct
out Of very cheap materials distilling ap-
paratus which may be used with entire
secrecy. A farmer, let us say, has grain
worth in the shape of grain not twenty
cents bushel. Ten bushels of this grain
he can turn into forty gallons of whisky,
worth ninety dollars-an increase from two
dollars to near one hundred dollars. The
temptation Is a very strong one. Another
revenue agent says: "These Cheap stills)
may In New York be used In a garret or
anywhere, because Croton water runs up
duced may be twenty to fifty gallons; ten
to twelve bushels of grain win make forty
gallons, and this Is sold to small dealers in
demijohns. Some stills are licensed, and
win report four gallons out of run Of
forty gallons. Others have vinegar fac
tory. With small still they make the
whisky from sour beer, molasses, etc., and
then sell the vinegar into which the Whis-
ky has been converted. At the West not
one fifth of the whisky pays taxes. In
spectors should be appointed, one for each
dlstillery, and paid a high salary. 1t Is
utterly impossible 10 prevent private dis
tillation. would propose that every per-
son found in possession of small still
should be imprisoned. 1t should also he a
penal Ofense for any smith to make small
still"
In the testimony Of this revenue officer
we see some of the mischief that is done
and In his recommendations we see other
mischiefs which are intended to counteract
the existing one. In the one case We see
the revenue defrauded by Illicit practices,
while the honest manufacturer and dealer,
who fairly pays the whole excise, is UNDER
sold by his less scrupulous rival in the
same business. Now, to cure this evil we
have proposed to us a remedy about as bad
as the disease: "Inspectors should be ap-
pointed for each distillery and every one Of
them paid high salary" Nobodyshould be
allowed to make any spirit or beer for
household use. Any smith who makes q
small still should be fined and Imprisoned
And this is what our Radical politicians
would hasten upon our people. But all
such penal regulations, which In the usual
course of such restraints are likely to end
in the death penalty for any mechanic who
makes a small distillery or brewing ap-
paratus, or any householder who brews
drink for family use, will still be found as
Intellectual as has been all the severe and
bloody legislation to put down smuggling
and other evasions of excessive tariffs and
excessive exeises. One witness states that
s'lt Is not unfrequently the case that in
spectOrs are workmen or partners In the dis
tillery inspected" Well, would it mend
the case TO give higher salaries to these in
spectors? We imagine not. What rate OF
salaries Is proposed, we have no means Of
knowing; but If they are not about as
large as the amount an Inspector could
make by going into partnership with ads
tiiler the evil would still remain.
In the particular case Of whisky, were the
tax reduced TO dollar per gallon, the
temptations to fraud would be much less
ened, while the revenue from the whisky
mannfactnre would not probably be Inn
paired. II we ever get again a really re-
formed Congress we may expectie legislation
will In this case, as In many others, be d.
rected into healthy channels.-St. Louis
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