The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-07-15
Frauds on tho Gsvernnent-Necessity Of
Immediate Action by Congress.

The smazins and lately discovered frauds On
the government through the evasion Or non
collection of ths tax ON whiskey and o.hef
articles, cannot fail to arouse the attention OF
the people to the utter inef cheney of tho Score
tary of the Treasury. The evil has reached such
. magnitude that Congress will be guilty Of
gross neglect of duty if 1t should not immeii-
ately demand the removal Of Mr.. AcCulloch,
and thorough investigation into the ruinous
Encouragement of the Treasury Department
His incapacity 10 costing the country some
thing like two hundred millions Q year, and ID
fast bringing the republic to state Of bank
ruptcy Should Congress be 20 unmindful Of
this startling fact and adjourn without demand
ing his immediate removal we shall probably
lose another hundred millions between this
time and the meeting Of that body in Decem-
ber We shall find ourselves having Q def
ciency in the revenue and unable to meet the
expenditures Of the government, ct the same
time the people are taxed 10 the limit Of for
bearance, and ct time when there ought to be
. superabundant income.
The facts are 90 astounding that even the
friends Of the Secretary cannot ignore them.
One of our trimming contemporaries Of this city,
while attempting to expose some Of the frauds
in whiskey, tobacco and petroleum, endeavors
to whitewash Mr.. McCullooh. In the face of
these revelations 1t speaks of his skill and Wis
dom in managing the financial sffairs Of the
nation and tries to shift the responsibility on
his subordinates and on President johnson.
But no forced apology or labored mis-
representation can deceive the people as
to the really responsible party. Mr.. McCul-
loch is to blame. To blame, we say.
but that word is Too mild guilty is not too
strong a word for such gross neglect Of duty.
Suppose man at the head of any large BUSH
ness establishment should permit fraudulent
agents and outside rascals to steal more than q
third of his employers incoms, and bring them
to the brink Of bankruptcy, how should we
characterize his conduct We should say it
was little short of being criminal, if at all,
though the delinquent might not be reached
by the laws. What is the difference between
the case Of such person and that of the man
at the head of the Treasury-of the financial
business Of the nationf None, except in the
offence being magniaed In proportion to the
amount Of the loss. The guilty manager Of
business firm may lose his employers ten, fifty
or hundred thousand dollars; Mr.. McCulloch
has lost the people and government whose
servant he Is, hundreds of millions.
Let US repeat the facts, which we have stated
before, in order that the public may not lose sight
OF them. Sixty or seventy millions Of gallons of
whiskey year are manufactured in this country.
This must be regarded as q low estimate when
we consider that ninety millions . year were
produced before the war. The tax Is two
dollars gallon. The revenue from this article
alone should be from hundred and twenty
millions to hundred and forty millions I; yet
according to present returns the amount will
not reach twenty or thirty millions. In plain
terms, Mr.. McCulloch has suffered the govern
ment to be defrauded about hundred millions
year on whiskey alone. Take the losses from
other spirits, tobacco, petroleum, and from all
the rest of the frauds on the Treasury, for
which the Secretary is directly responsible, and
we shall find that his Encouragement costs the
nation about two hundred millions . year.
We confine ourselves here simply to losses in
the revenue but if we look at the evils Of his
administration in sustaining the infamous
national bank swindle, by which the people
are defrauded of over twenty millions year,
and the industry Of the country swallowed up
by monstrous moneyed monopoly, with oil
the other evils arising from his utter incom-
potency, he will appear to be the most costly
administrator of the Treasury that this or any
other country ever had.
But his weak apologists attempt to lay the
blame on the President, on the Treasury agents,
and on the rascals who practise the frauds.
The President will be to blame if he does not
remove the Secretary now that the facts are
known to him-that is, il he has the power.
At all events it is his duty to lay the matter
before Congress and to do what he can to stop
such Wholesale robbery Of the government
The Secretary and not the President admins
ters the affairs Of the Treasury. We hold him
responsible for the conduct Of his agents or
subordinates; for he selects them in the frst
place, can remove for cause, and it is his duty
to keep q vigilant eye over all. He Is mex
cusable. Then, - to smugglers, perjurers and
robbers Of the revenue in every way, there are
laws to punish them, and II he did his duty in
bringing them to punishment he would soon
stop the frauds. II IL all bosh talking about
the high tax on articles being the cause Of
evading the Revenue laws In other countries
taxes on some Of such luxuries are higher than
with us, and yet they are collected. Why not
heret
Il seems to us that Mr.. McCulloch Is more
intent on managing the patronage Of the gov
eminent in this vast Internal Revenue Depart
msnt, - well - the national bank system, - .
political machine, than be IL for the interests
Of the Treasury or the good Of the country.
He acted with Chief Justice Chase In the
organization Of both, and while his political