The Daily empire. (Dayton, Ohio) 1865-1867, 1866-12-28
Mhisl., Lsrn,,d Ile,ic,,s.


brooklyn. &C. which Is now In course Of
preparation. Enough IS already foreshad-
owed, Of the character and extent of tie
lffauds, aud OF the tifainous. thieying le-
vices resortcl TO for their preparation, 70
startle the Government officials, having the
care OF this part of the public revenue.
whisky, regularly branded, but which
has never paid cent Of taX, Is regularly
sold on change aud In the street, ut from
ono dollar aud quarter to one dollar and
seventy five cents per gallon. Distilleries
OF small capacity have been secretly started
in great numbers in an parts of that city
IN cellars aud garrots-wherc from one to
two barrels day are made. So great Is
the demand for these small stills that the
coppcrsmths are oyerrm with orders. and
some of them had from ilfty TO one hundred
lopIets ahead. Men OF high business stand
ing are engaged in buying the Illicit whis-
Ky with perfect lmpunity, the inspectors of
whisky aud the Inspectors of listlllcrics
being, many of them. directly implicated,
and many of them have made fortunes In
the few months.
OF course, the main incentive 20 such
lrascalitcs as these. is the cNhorbitant tor
which the Government eNacts of distillers,
lwho manufacture and sell. Two dollars
tax on every gallon of whisky, good, bad
or indifferent. Sir dollars, therefore, on
every bushcl of corn which the distiller
purchases oC the farmer or trader-tor II Is
Iconce,led that bnshol will yield three
Igallons of "corn iuicei" At present ruling
ratcs the farmer gets &c cents for his bNshel
of corn; the distillcr. at - cents per gal
Hon, gets 81 cents; the Government de-
mauds. legally. sir doiidrs. but rs it seems
Is defraudcd out of good portion of its
lcxaction. IT, therefore. the Legitimate value
lof one bLshrl of corn, by conversion into
whisky, Is but 81 cents. is not the enormous
tariff, which the Government Imposes, the
Iycry strongest encouragement which could
be offered to INSCRIPTIONS men, 10 tax
their fertile brains for the surest means by
(which such an outrageous, legal imposition
may be cyadrd! Is it not the largest bid
(which law-maLers can offer for the rIscally
pactses complained Of and now about 10
be cxposed-or possibly We had better
say. promised to sec the light; for il Is
broadly iutimatcd. in New York journals,
that the Investigation. instead Of being onr
lor r1posurc, will DC one of sopproSSioa'
4 on consideration, while we are on the
subject Of frauds, their nature. and the
charactcr OF the perpetrators. our article
might he considered more interesting aud
Suggestive ii It were made iJro-fdced' On
second consideration, wc'll do it
| \ New York contemporary, congratula
ting the Investigating Committee--Con-
gresham DARLING, Its Chairman-on the
wide field whik, they were about entering,
and expressing gthe hope that they will ac-
lcomplish the object for which 1t is supposed
they were sent" indulges the fear that
there is general ",chite-,cashing business
lon hand" 1t says that there was a"whis-
Ky ring" and it has been u rich placer to
lall who have been IN the ring. The hettrr
class Of the dstlllcrs have been constantly
complaining ever since the taN was fixed
Mt 81 per gallon, that the law was not justly
leniorced. Those who made 1t their duty 10
lcomply with all It's requirements, as n mat
ter Of principle saw Illicit distllcrics
lspringing up all around them. The officers
lof the Government for long time winked
at these concerns, and the result was that
the honest distillcrs were unable To pay the
ltax and compete with these concerns, Or-
casionally seizure OF several barrels of
whisky would take place, when the matter
would he hishcd up in some mysterious
n,,t .,.. of l.,in .-tt.Rv.L-nl II
IeNtcnded.
There was e 'Brookiga Rhg," too, it
seems, made up of distillers, go-betwceus
land ubiciais. For some reason they got
into u quarrel over the spoilS, and the re-
silt is q general seizure. Tint some OF the
Government officials, who have hccu the
most Jealous in regard to tile seizures, were
in this ring, is made evident by such cir
cumsmntinl evidence ms leaves no other in
ference. When the public see men who
were constantly borrowing money 10 pay
their daily expenses, yet within few
weeks after they have been detailed To look
! after the Government interest IN the distil-
ling of spirits, purchasing elegant turn
outs and driving around with all the gran
dcur OF Fifth-avenue millionarcs, there Is
eertainly cansc for suspicion, il not gen
eral comment.
Such L. u faint idea ot The other side 0y
face of this matter-this corn. whisky,
revenue and private aud official fraudulent
practices, growing thcrefrom, which Com
grcssional Committee are expected to take
into consideration and report upon, But
say what they may, rs our New York co.
Temporary remarks, the whole trouble is IN
the excessive tax on spirits, 1t Is here thai
the temptation lies, and the inducemcnt fol
fraud exists. The tax at the present time
Is about four times the cost of the produc.
tion of the article. lfevcry gallon of whis.
Ky distilled paid this tax, the trade could
bear the burden, for the price in the mar
ket would in that event be maintained
! But the trouble Is, that while the principal
distlllers pay their tax honestly, others find
IL more convenient to tamper with the pub
iic officers pay them Il liberal fee. aud thus
be able 10 sell AT sufficient reduction in
, the price to meet with rapid sales and malle
handsome profits. They can do this and
Z have One-third of tho product OF their still,