The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-06-12
Break the whisky Ring.


That the heavy tax on whisky has
been a costly and demoralizing failure
is no longer denied. Originating in
the sincere desire to make drunken
ness costly, it has increased intoxiea
ton Of all kinds, physically and NOR
ally. The sentiment for its reduction
is no longer an opinion but a demand.
Every reason combines to make it
resistless, aud Congress should not
hesitate to act. The Baltimore Amsert-
can of yesterday concludes a powerful
article on the necessity of prompt
measures against this terrible evil, as
follows:
The tax was four times the cost of
production, and in an article of such
universal consumption the amount Of
money involved vas enormous. AL
though the acknowledged religion of
the land tells US not to lead men into
temptation, yet our legislators tempt
ed men with glIttering millions and
babe them remain honest The
temptation was TOO great. Honest
men were suddenly transformed into
dishonest men,. Even the most up
right connived at fraud oftentimes
through pity for the men who would
be ruined by the enforcement of the
penalty. Those who obeyed the law
were driven from the business by
their losses, and rascals thFove. Thus
dishonest men soon obtained control
of the whole trade, and uniting
the influence of all concerned,
they welded the power of forty mill
lion dollars per annum. They broke
down the integrity of every official,
obtained appointments for their own
T adherents, and babe defiance to the
laws. Here was a second rebellion,
but one more terrible than the first.
The first was an appeal to arms and
an open blow at the national life, but
this was a secret undermining of the
morals of the community a drain
upon that moral force and energy
| that makes a nation strong aud great.
The laws are brought into contempt
by a large portion of the nation, and
the rest were taught TO regard the Of
Tense as light and trivial The mag
nitude of the temptation was always
urged as a palliation of the crime,
and the success with which the fraud
was committed was notorious, and
this notoriety blunted the pub
lie conscience to the enormity of
the trangression. Every man knew
that whisky properly stamped
and branded could be bought at
any time In the market for less than
the tax that appeared to have been
paid upon it, and hence he re-
garded the r~ascality as a matter of
course. It was thus that be was not
led to think of the depth Of baseness
and ~iniquity involved 10 it. Thieving,
perjury, and corruption are the most
heinous of all offenses, yet all of them
abounded in the officer that had
charge of the collection of the reve-
nue., Hardly a week passes by in
which there is not a disclosure of a
fraud upon the internal revenue.
Sometimes a high official has been
bribed; sometimes a large distiller
has smuggled through thousands of
gallons; sometimes large quantities
of bogus bonds are discovered. HUI
man ingenuity, stimulated by the love
of gain to an unwOnted activity, has
exhausted its powers 10 the effort to
devise new modes of knavery. At
one trial in New York the prosecuting
attorney held in his hand half a mil
lion of bonds that were perfectly
worthless. The only good one
in that district during a long
period was said to have been
entered by accident. IF all
of the villainy that has been per
uetrated under this law alone could
be gathered into one volume, it would
form a fearful record. It would un-
fold such depths Of baseness and
crime that the heart would turn sick
and loathe the sight. Yet all this ras-
: cality is organized into a band more
t extensive, more unanimous, and more
e powerful than. any other "a the coun-
q try. 1t extends from one end of the
e land to the other, aud embraces every
e corrupt official. every dealer In whis-
e Ky and every distiller. The funds
. that are at its disposal are simply
enormous. Thousands of dollars are