The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-06-23

Wax6AE1 EHAUUS.
The Causes and the Remedy.
That old classic apothegm Jalsus IN uno Jals,s In
o'nntoas, sound maxim in ethics In It's general
application to human conduct it is as broadly peril
nent now as on the day 1t was written. Applied to
the present horde Of internal revenue ofcers in the
government service, the latest and most approved
though somewhat introverse rendering of this
ancient epigrammatic utterance into our own YER
nacular Is, 'where one internal revenue oficer is
corrupt all are corrupt" Commissioner Rollins
himself Is the chief and august and incontroyerbe
authority on this point. He OF all others possesses
the best possible information on the subject He
knows all the ropes perfectly. He is thoroughly con-
versant with the whole business. He Is intimately
posted on all the ms and outs. He has seen
the wirepufling and begging and cringing
and trickery and bribery to secure appoint
ments He has witnessed the wholesale plunderlng
ofthe government that follows His controversy with
Secretary McCulloch has led him into telling plain
truths He asserts that corruption pervades the
tire Internal Revenue Department. that this corrup.
ton Is principally due to the present high tax
whiskey; that he is unable to stay the tide of corrup-
tion, and In his anxiety to wash his hands clean OF
the whole matter asks to be relieved from further
duty in the department.. With Mr.. Rollins seeming
and repressed anxiety to vacate his present posi-
ton the public have been for some time familiar.
What becomes Of him, however-whether he re.
mains in ONCE or goes QUITS to the public
matter of perfect Indifference as much SO as
the motives that may have induced him to
tender his resignation ana to take to writing
letters to the Secretary Of the Treasury Nothing that
has been said or can be said by him or by any one
else can open the eyes Of the public much wider than
they have been opened for long time ON the subject
nj n no Int
Everybody knows there is corruption Of the most
fghtful character and 1t needed no letters from the
head commissioner OF this bureau to give intelligence
as TO the chief cause Of this corrupton-that 1t Is
almost wholly due to the high tax on whskey and
the frauds perpetrated to evade payment this tax
All about us are cropping out evidences of
the fearful decentralization which disgraces our
internal revenue service Embodened by past
successes and the IMMUNITY with which they
have carried on their schemes OF corruption,
the caution exercised at first by officers of this
bureau is fast losing its restraining influence. Re-
ceivng salaries Of only three and four thousand dol
lars year. and before holding their present offices
known to be penniless politicians, hardly able to
keep up vagabond existence they now
recklessly branch out into the most expansive
speculations. We hear Of their buying largely
Of stocks and bonds and houses; we know
Of their living in fine brown stone front
palaces, and In their magnificent furniture, and the
pictures and paintings Ornamentng their wallis and
silver service and retinue Of lveried servants,
keeping up style requiring prncey income to
support; we see them driving the best turnouts in
the Park we them in the best society Of the city,
in the best pews at the best churches In the best
seats at the opera; they nothing but the finest
garments and the most expensive jewelry, and just
now we hear Of the families Of many Of them going to
Europe to spend the summer. The same state Of
facts exists throughout the length and breadth of
the country. The government has maintained and
Is maintaining the expense Of all this vast luxury
and display and enjoyment. The drafts for payment
are'drawn on the whiskey fraud fund-the whiskey
ring honor the drafts the government furnishes the
money. How to stop this corruption, how to secure
efficiency and integrity in this branch Of the public
service are the questions that deeply concern the
public One way to stop the corruption Is certainly
to punish those found guilty Of it, to strip them OF
their igotten gains and to force them TO undergo
the pains and penalties OF prison life and hard labor.
1t is gratifying to know that there are government
attorneys bold enough to take hold OF these cases
and prosecute them, that there are juries who are
not afraid to do their duty and judges resolute enough
to punish the offenders. The OF Collector CALI
colt gives pleasing presage Of the fate likely to follow
some Of those INSCRIPTIONS robbers Of the govern
ment and So too, that Of his deputy Allen, and Of
Devlin also Of the City Of Churches All these three
worthless, as is well known, are now In the Albany
Penitentiary, and there are others directly and ndi
rectly associated with them who should be compelled
TO keep them company. Collector Anderson, OF
Richmond, Va. and some Of the revenue inspectors
OF that historical city have received sautary les
the subject OF honesty in ONCE at the hands of
Chief Justice Chase, and now doing their State
service through the medium Of daily manual
labor 1t Is probable that other prosecu-
tons and convictions will follow elsewhere.
But this Is very slow and uncertain way
of remedying the evil. The conviction OF Callicott
has failed to show who got the $4,000 paid for his
appointment-the initiatory step in the bold path.
way Of corruption he had marked out for himself.
At the best only few offenders can be brought to
justice and the most guilty the most likely to
escape. The case Of T. P. Levan, T. Burrows Tton,
Francis W. Tappan, indicted some fifteen months
ago in the United States Circuit Court, Eastern Dis
trict, Brooklyn, at the same time with Devlin now
In the Penitentiary, is instructive on this point On
the day set down for the trial OF these parties two
important witnesses had suddenly and unaccount.
ably disappeared These witnesses cannot be
found-are not likely to be found Others will adopt
the same plan to screen themselves from justice, or
any stratagem promising immunity from their
deserts
Courts vi law are clearly not tne meu1um through
which TO put stop to the present whiskey frauds.
Manufacturers and dealers and Others interested in
the sale Of liquor, with the tax at Its present high
rate, win cheat the government all they can. The
whiskey rings are formed for this purpose. They
dsburse tens OF thousands TO revenue oficers-they
save hundreds Of thousands to themselves the whole
system Is o gigantic fraud on the government As
for the revenue Officers, the temptation to abet In
the fraud holds out too gtterlng prospect OF gain
to be resisted. And thus 1t will continue with
the tax on whskey at its present figure.
1t rests with Congress to put stop to these Frauds
to reduce at least fifty per cent the present tax to
remove by this course all temptation to evade the
law, and to coerce revenue officers into being honest
from taking away the temptation to dishonesty.
Following the reduction we have suggested more
than quadrupe the amount now paid into the
Treasury would be received. A deputation of dis
tillers from Kentucky, Illinois. Ohio and Indiana