The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-03-02
Shall the Laws be Enforced Against
the whisky Makers

the Whisky Makers
THB Special Congressional Committee ap-
pointed to investigate the frauds committed
on the Government in the payment and col
lection of internal revenue duties on distilled
spirits, very appropriately call attention to
the "COmpromiSes Nth fraud" which have
formed so striking feature of the past admin
istration of the internal revenue laws, as one
of the chief evils to be condemned and guarded
against. They make the remarkable state
ment that, of all the seizures and prosecutions
in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, and
Brooklyn, they cannot ascertain that a single
one has been pursued to the extreme limit
provided by the law. Is it to be wondered at,
in the face of such statement as this, that
the Government is systematically and persist
emily and boldly swindled in the whisky
business and that source of revenue
which might pay hundred millions of dollars
yearly into the Treasury yields but beggarly
pittsnceH What else could be expected when
the law is so feebly enforced3 Suppose no
thieves were punished, would not larceny
increased
Very sensibly, too does the Committee sug-
gest whether or not it is wise to continue in
the Treasury Department the power to com
promise and settle cases of seizure for viola
tions of the law. They say
at is obviously difficult, If not quite impos.
slole, for the Secretary of the Treasury or the
Commissioner OF Internal Revenue to acquire
sufficient knowledge of the real facts in any
given case to make proper determination and
maj disposition OF 1t. In most instances he
must rely upon eG pdTte statements, and de-
pending very much for his Information upon
the opinions and recommendations of colIec-
tors, assessors, and inspectors, to say nothing
of the influence created by the opportunities
OF the culprit and his personal and political
t nienus 9e Is iiaDle 10 De deceiXed by thestate-
ments OF interested persons. Why should not
these ohenses be disposed of by the same rules
that are applicable TO other violations OF the
servation of the public, in which cases are
prosecuted by public officers, and evidence is
received according to the rules of law, subject
to the test of fcross-examination and liable to
rebuttal, would be much more likely to ad-
minister substantial justice, would secure a
greater degree of public confidence, and would
be lar more effective in holding rod of terror
over the heads fevil doers"
Those who are familiar with the practical
working of these compromise cases will at
once appreciate the force of the Committees
suggestions on this point. So gigantic are
some of these whisky frauds that they spread
out into wide combinations, including local
officers both of the State and United States
Governments, prominent politicians of both
political parties, and sometimes even members
of Congress themselves The moment one of
these enormous swindles is disturbed by the
officers of the law, tremendous "outside
pressure"-personal, political, and monetary
is brought to bear to prevent the guilty
parties from being brought to justice. If the
local officers of the Government can neither be
intimidated nor bought off, the fight is trans
ferred to the Treasury Department at Wash
ington, where, in too many cases, comprO-
mise is effected, by which, upon the repay
ment of few of the many thousands of dollars
stolen from the Government, the parties are
permitted to go to work again, probably to
swindle the Government Just as much as ever.
1t is about time that such farcical opera
tions as these were brought to close. Every
other department of our industry is being
taxed to its utmost limits of enduranc, while
the whisky-making business sets the law at
defiance. Many of the men who are engaged
in it seem callous to all considerations of honor
and justice. The most solemn oaths have no
binding force to restrain them; they rob the
Government with as little compunction as
pickpocket steals mans purse in a crowd.
Not merely is the Government swlndled, but
every honest citizen is defrauded. The taxes
which whisky-makers ought to pay, and do
not pay, are necessarily collected off of the rest
of the community. 1t is in effect money taken
out of the pockets of the honest, industrious,
law-abiding citizen of the country, and put
into the pockets of sWindlinU and periured
breakers. A business so followed as the
whisky making business now is, ought to be-
come a stencil in the nostrils of the people.
All the temperance lecturers in the country
could not set forth so vividly the terribly de-
moralizing effects of whisky, as the whisky
makers themselves are doing by their defiant
disregard of the law, and their shameless plum
dering of the whole community.