Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1875-11-24
THE THISHET ENG.


The proceedings at St. Louis against
the Whiskey Ring have fallen heavily
upon members Of that combination
of defrauders of the government. The
Ring is completely broken up. Sew
eral of its members have pleaded guilty
and divulged what they knew OF the oper
atoms Of the Ring, one has been sentenced
to the State Penitentiary for three and
half wears. and about 81, 900 900 will ulti-
matelv be collected of thieves and their
bondsmen as some recompense to the
government for their ill-gotten plumber.
This Ring originated it is said before Pres
ident Grant was first inaugurated. Its ex'
istence appears to have been known some
time, but not until recently have its men,
bers and its mode of operation been cx-
posed to the public. Upon the appoint
ment of Gen. John Mcdonald as Super
visor of Internal Revenue in the St. Louis
district, in 1871, with Col. c. W. Ford rs
Collector and Col. John A. Joyce as
Special Agent attached to the office oil
Supervisor, the power of the Ring ln-
creased. These men it seems at once en-
tered into an organized and extensive
plan Of robbery of the revenue. They
were as audacious as wicked, making free
use of any and every means that would
further their schemes. The following
from an article in the New York Times
gives succinct account of the mode in
which the Ring conducted their operations.
the manner in which their proceedings
were discovered, and other principal
facts connected with the matter.
The Ring began operations by levying contribu..
tions on the distilers, for the nominal purpose OF
raising campaign fund for the municipal cleo
ton. The method ofoperations was simple The
distillers were allowed to produce whiskey on
which they paid no tax. The profits on their I'M
taxed product we're divided between Me distillers
and the members of the Ring. Ii a distiller did
not come into the arrangement willingly, these
corrupt officials oppressed him in various ways.
or entrapped him into technical violations of the
law, until he was ready to enter the plot. lie
chose between conspiracy and bankruptcy.
Gradually it was found necessary to enlarge the
Ring, until nearly all Of the subordinate oiiicias
II.
The conspirators grew avaricious, and, IN order
10 collect the money required, they pushed the
manufacture of illicit, or crooked whIskey TO
. great extent. This could not be done without
the connivancc Of storekeepers, gsngers, clerks,
and deputies. These were kept quiet by dlvi-
dends paid them from the officials share of the
profits of the business.
In 1872, there was established at St. Louis
daily newspaper called the Globe, of which the
principal owner was William Mckee. This jour
atae ta1 tn he
istratlon in the campaign Of that year. But it :
charged that it was really an organ Of the Ring,
and that Mckee was a member of the combiIa-
ton He has been indicted for completely in the
whiskey frauds. AT that time, one Leavenworth,
since dead collected the assessments and divided
the shares among the members Of the ring. Ford,
the Collector died, and Col. Constantine Mcguire,
an old ally OF Mckee, was appointed in his place.
Leayenworth, who had acted as collecting agent
for the Ring also died, and j. n. Fitzroy, who
has since pleaded guilty and has testified, succeed
ed as confidential agent. Another conspirator
was one Megrue who has testified that he was
brought TO St. Louis by Mcdonald, the supervis
or, with the express understanding that he should
the custodian OF the funds of the Ring, and he
says that he received, on an average, about S.
100 per week. These sums were divided into five
parcels, one of which was for the subordnates,
and the remainder for the principal members Of
the combination. 1t appears that the thieves were
suspicious of each other. Some OF them complained
that they were cheated by their comrades, and
others were accused Of falsely reporting to the
Ring headquarters the amount OF "crooked" whis-
XIV manufactured in the district.
From year to year this conspiracy grew, until
the annual loss of revenue In st. Louis alone
according to official figures amounted to VI 200,
600. THIS fact is established by the commercial
statistics Of ST. Louis II is possible that the
figures are under-esiimated. The King had long
defed detection, though they made no secret Of
their dishonest gains Complaints forwarded to
the Secretary of the Treasury Oh TO the President
ayailed nothing. Whenever there was any ap-
pearance Of danger, Mcdonald rushed IN TO Wash
ington, and all was calm again FINALLY, Mr.. FISH
back, proprietor the OF st. Louis Democrat, COM
municated confdenially with Secretary Bristow.
The figures collected for the newspapers proved
the existence of gigantic frauds. The CONNER
cial reporter of the Democrat was secretly COM
missioned as special officer of the revenue, with
ample authority. Nominally engaged in collect
ing statistics for his paper he secured all the evil
dence needed to begin with. A.comparison Of ship
ments with official returns exhibited an enormous
unlawful product of whisky. When the figures
were finally in the hands of the Secretary Of the
Treasury, and the first prosecutions were ordered,
8 Telegram from Washington to the st. Louis con-
spirat0rs announced" Lightning will strike on
Monday" Lightning did strike, and an immense
number Of criminal prosecutions were immediate
" begun. Mcdonald, Joyce, Mckee, Mcguire,
Fitxroy and several lesser officials, were indicted.
w. o. Avery, Chief Clerk Of the Internal Revenue
Bureau. was also indicted for completely in the
frauds. Several of the defendants have pleaded
entity. Joyce has been sent TO the Penltentiary
To- three years and half.
The holiness Of the operations Of the Ring, and
s long existence stretching over i've or SIX years
we're apparently due 10 the fact that it had its
rani6catiOns among high places in Washington.
Il would appear that somebody was near enough
10 fhe President and the Secretary CT the Treas