New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-01-24
Tile WHISKY FRAUD Question:
PRESENT MODES or DETECTION ANOTHER PLAN
SUGGESTED.
Nep- York, Jan. 8, 1867

PRESENT MODES or DETECTION ANOTHER PLAN
SUGGESTED.
IT, n. Edor Of TAs " y TftbnG
SIR: Reading your articles on Whisky Frauds"
cannot but wonder why the Government has not been
able TO discover the only efficient to prevent them
TIE Revenue Department has adopted an analytical
instead Of synthetca method to arrest Illicit disna
finn by applyug special remedy 20 every special evil
"a each evil made its appearance, instead VI takDB
Wholesale and radical view OF tue case 49,,
thc last two months 10 examine about 100 distcrs In
the first place almost every one Of them were lIrespohS
bic parties serving catspaws for the real owners In
the second place, from measurements and actual 0hser
yatou- their returns were pretty uniformly alse In te
third place their local inSpecOrs-mOsy Ignorant low
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. came To plead for the dsiers
being holder In their statements han tue ustcIs
themselves; and. general thing, the inspectors
referred TO were partners IN the business
Therefore could not possibly trust either the dstier
or lis his inspectors How, then, got al INC
time amount OF business done Your issue OF jan in
connection with Mr.. wcls's report made reference to
meters; but this method offers very serious oDecu0r
and am convinced, through experience IN meters hAt
their use viii prove an expensive failure.
rec;ly LIQUID TO be taxed at 81 per gallon Under low
head It viii not run II tght and II made to run easy
It viii certainly leak IT. as Is the case ia dl7tet VIC
ian or prcssu,. is small, and the liquid trekcs Slowly
from tho worm tub Besides, any who has seen the
frothy and gummy sediment OF whisky VIII perceive INA
"A delicate meter will clog; a rough instrument VIII not
measure accurately The other aud only possible KIND oil
meter - the rotary meier lhls cas5 OF Instruments
cannot measure correctly under variable pressure, ana
like the former meter. II is even more liable TO clog Inc
truth statement can bc readily verified rom
delicate experiments conducted on scientific principles
with view to ascertain the relative meilt OF sc'ei
To the above wcghty reasons you may add that It viii
not be long before they will find way OF amperhg Wh
the meter, and shoud they not tampcr with them, sup
pose that meter should get ont Of order which very
probable. how will the inspector estimate the quantity OF
Tho best method Of assessment is in my opinion the
that have adopted II IS 10 measure The dshhg or
brewing capacity 81 the place. dcduce thcrcfrom the
number ~ units of the material employ ed ana assess
There are objections this method the value OF which
I do not intend 10 underratc.
The main objection. perhaps lies In the idct that lhe
of fcrmentcd or distilled liquor obtained from the
unit OF the material il not constant; but THIS mainly
bu their price &, proportonally cheaper However the
usual amount of those materials cohld eAsy pe lsfS
tanned aud this element could be entered into the cacu
iaiions.
to diminish the OF uusound siuffs for this purpose
and Government would be fulfilling one Of It's objects
through this indirect hygicnc movement without hinder
Ing the many other applications OF unaound materials
Another objection ~ that % Is Impossible To ten ~ what
proof the worts viii ont when distilled and although
temperature and atmospheric pressure affect the Yield or
spirits, the crude distilatOn Of whisky the great
source OF frauds the loss could be averaged within per
hnp- five per cent ~ the true yield. Beside, any nteh
gent d-tlcr OF his wort- nearer than five per
cent 10 any desired PROOF Wltmh INC usull limits VI
strength The following 7irc' are quite significant
A. near ~ nave been able toJu9S 'c revenue an te
city should BE- from iili suufrt hhpll Fi-" N'iI'
while the actual receipts VIII hardly reach s50@o'p
Hence the Government o. being deiTludcd OF ut least
ef0AO'l year, "hlch go 10 chfl.h hIcN uHpIus 1cu
at the expense OF the honest community OF tax
Take FOR granted the method that propose and even
allow fave per cent nfayor 81 the dstlcr Thon while
net receipts wOuldrcach M least tOOOOO0 year, IN
stead % Tho short tiONCOO that IL now collects at an
enormous expgusc. Further, the Oppressive tax OF s.
per gallon could be materially diminished, relieving the
people from paying Zoe an Imaginary tax, and destroying
effectively what some disters cali tho necessity OF
cheat hig tho Government
II mght also be objected that tho Government could
restrict the working capacity NJ dstiery but II Is
we'll known that dstlers have acquic-ced To even moro
stringent measures For example: They cannot carry ON
any other kind OF business at their diseries and
thereby deprived Of their liberty OF action IN the pursuits
the Of their welfare. dstcr has 10 pay for
an Inspector who should watch all his business aud the
detective nature Of this officer constantly makes him feel
" the people mstrust mo-"
Tho Government measures the strength OF bis spirits
under sened glass case, and the whisky into yas
secured under lock and key which procedure cannot but
hint strongly tho fact that he might steal the whisky
on the other hand, by compelling him to keep sufficient
number Of fcrmcnting tubs and more, because every
man should the extent ~ his business the Govern
ment would thus place the distiler out ~ the way OF
temptation without rcsorng 10 actually unpleasant
measures relieving him from close espionage, collecting
an equitable revenue, the ossos from which viii DO more
than repaid by the dlmnuiion OF employees, whose NOR
ais arc being sadly corrupted aud viii also restore the
lost respectabity Of thiS branch OF Industry.
TRUE RETURNS.