The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-11-26

| Of their several duties, in order TO fnoucc
YOU to give this subject the attention it
merits and requires at your, hands. 17ai
1ssg INTERNAL REVENUE FRAUDS. 5
It is also incumbent ON you, gentlemen,
to INQUIRE into offences against the laws
providing revenue from customs or inter
| nal duties. -rl..r.a. z.rs-..
You viii have these laws before you:
You will find in the twenty-third section OF
the act Of July 13, 1866, "to reduce inter-
nal taxation y and amend previous inter.
nal revenue laws, that if any person shall
carry on the business Of distiller or
rectifer without having paid the special
tax, as required by law, he shall be liabie
for every. offence to fine of not less thsr
double theta1 imposed on the spirits dis
titled, OF double the special tax due for the
spirits illegally manufactured, and to i'm.
prisonment not exceeding TWO years; and
| other additional punishments by forfeiture.
9 You will find also in the thirtieth Sec
ton Of the amendstory act Of March 2,
1861, q severe punishment for all persons
who conspire to commit offences against or
to defraud the United States, when any act
is done by any one Of them to effect the
common object. Various penalties are also
imposed by the twenty-sixth section of the
same act on collectors, deputy collectors,
assessors, assistant assessors, inspectors,
and other officers or agents charged with
the execution of the internal revenue laws.
SPARE NOBODY.
We admonish you, gentlemen, to exercise
your utmost vigilance onthe subject. Frauds
on the revenue are an evil which the land
cries out upon, and frauds upon the revenue
are frauds upon the whole body Of tax-pay-
ers and no one who eats, drinks, wears,
or is sheltered under any roof, however
humble, now escapes taxation. Whatever
the dishonest avoid paying, their worthier
| fellow citizens must make up.
Investigate thoroughly, therefore, and
spare nobody; least Of oil those in highest
and most responsible positions. Those who
are worthy will welcome inquiry, which
must turn to their praise. s#aE .t
CoUNTERFEITING CURRENCY. a,. ~
Your attention will also be required, gen.
| tlemen, to offences against the laws regu-
| lating currency. ....-~..r
Within the last four years Congress has
taken upon itself its constitutional duty OF
providing q uniform currency for the whole
country. AS the benefits of such curren-
| cy, if secured, are incalculable, 30 are its
| evils incalculable if suffered to become un-
sound. The law, in the fifty-ffth section
Of the national banking act Of 1864, inn
poses heavy penalties upon presidents, di-
rectors, tellers, clerks, and agents Of ma
tional banks, for embezzlement and misap-
plication of funds, unauthorized issue Of
| klo,, Gp1a Nd ~
acts. The same act, in it's fifty-ninth Sec
ton, provides for the punishment Of the
offence of counterfeiting offence the
more to be condemned because its evil
effects fall heaviest upon laboring men and
women, who are least of all able to sustain
the losses which it inhicts. " e..r"
OTHER OFFENCES. ar
There are doubtless many other Of
fences, gentlemen, to which your attention
may be usefully directed. We have only
adverted to those which seem most imme-
diately and most urgently to demand it. AS
our country expands, as our resources IN
crease, as the interests which come under
the care of Congress expand and multiply,
80 occasions for laws to prevent or punish
offences become more frequent, and tempta-
tions to violate them arise efteneR and be-
come stronger. In like proportion should
the vigilance of grand juries be quickened
and augmented.
You will have the whole body Of laws be-
fore you, gentlemen, and you will have the
aid Of the District Attorney, and, so far az
you may think fit to invoke it, of the Court
You will now retire to your room and enter
upon your duties. If. n.r
The grand jury then retired. .