Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-12
NASHVILLE. TENN. WEDNESDAY MAY IL, 1876

| Louis. Herr, OF Philadelphia, was as
patched to Chicago. The revenue laws in
dictate how many packages ought to leave
every warehouse on any particular day. Ii
more barrels were removed on any given
day than the accounts show to have been
stamped, the delivery Of fraudulent spirits
is conclusively proved. b the
The method of operations Witeeured
special agents was this: They
rooms which could command view Of the
warehouse operations, and carefully counted
all the packages delivered. The accounts,
upon being compared with the records,
further established the existence Of fraudu-
lent delivery Of spirits. In fact, the reports
Of the special agents show that the dealers
who have been implicated have
Paid Tax Upon Only One-Half
of their production, and that the govern
men has received tax upon only one barrel
in every two produced. The accounts of
the wholesale dealers furnished additional
means by which the detection of fraud was
possible. These accounts are open to the
INSPECTION of Government officers. They
furnish the means for tracing the history Of
every package Of liquor by the stamps and
serial numbers. Transcripts of all the
wholesale dealers books in New York,
Boston, and Philadelphia were made,
which, by comparison with the official ac-
counts, afforded the clue which enabled the
officers to trace the means by which untax-
ed packages reached the market through
regular trade channels. The work of com
parison of these books with the official re-
cords is now in progress, and viii be con-
tinued until every package has been traced.
There were several methods discovered by
which the frauds were perpetrated.
One Of the favorite modes was this. 1t
involved
Collision.
between the distiller, the recti6er, gauger,
and possibly the stOrekeeper. Each dis
tiller has favOrite rectiheT. The follow
inc was the method of some of the 81.
Louis firms: Bevis & Fraser sent goods to
Bevis. Frasers & Co., Ulriei, distiiler, and
TueScher, distiller, sent their products to
Bensburg; Bingham Bros, who have a
branch house at Evansville and New Or
leans, sent their goods to FOederer 10 be
rectifed. The forms which it is necessary
to comply with upon sending goods to
rectifying establishment, further enable
the detectives to trace the wild liquor. The
special notices certified to by the gauger
from the Tectifying house which are re-
turned to the office Of the Collector, are
forwarded at the end of each month to the
Commissioner of Internal Revenue at Wash
ington. The implicated distillers and Off
GERS, instead Of complying with these Tegu-
latiOns properly, have emptied the barrels
without Destroying the Stamps,
and have sent them back to the distillers to
be refilled, and have put their contents
again upon the market. In some cases the
erasures Of numbers and marks upon
empty barrels have been apparently COM
plete, but the stamps have been carefully
and ingeniOusly lifted and returned to the
distiller to be used.
Another method Of defrauding the rev.
enue was to take out twice as many barrels
as had paid tax, and to Introduce unpaid
packages into the trade in a manner which
would escape the suspicion of local officers
In the cities where the goods were shipped.
The shipments to Charleston and Savannah
illustrate this method.
The evidence shows that the sales Of I'M
taxed whisky have been chiefly made TO
dealers in New York. To some Of them
the fraudulent character Of the transactions
was doubtless known, while there IS no
doubt that many dealers obtained their
goods in the regular manner, without sus-
piciOn Of wrong.
In st. Louis five out of six distillers
have been
Implicated.
In Chicago four out Of seven are charged
with evasion of the tax. The distillers in
Chicago are the Lake Shore, the Union
Copper Distilling Company, B. c. Meserau
and d. G.. Russell. The implicated recti-
fiers are Role, Junker * Co, and GOlsen
& Eastman. In Milwaukee six out Of ten
distilleTs and seven rectifying houses have
been implicated. The investigation shows
that in st. Louis alone the revenues have
been defrauded to the extent Of s., 100000,
and there is evidence that from the lst Of
January to the LIST Of April three thousand
barrels of untaxed spirits have been placed
upon the market by ST. Louis distillers.
Supervisor Macdonald, Of st. Louis, re-
signed day or two ago. Supervisor Tot
ten, of Philadelphia, has been sent to Chi
cagO to seperintend the seizures there.
Supervisor Hendrick, Of Iowa, has been
sent to Milwaukee. IL is no more neces-
sary that the supervisors should have been
personally cOgnizant Of these frauds than
that Commissioner Douglass should have
been privy to them. So far as is now
known, there are no personal charges
against any of the supervisors, bit absolute
evidence has been obtained against many
CANCERS and stOrekeepeTs. The tax on
barrel Of highwines is about sixty dollars
in round numbers, so that the Government
has lost since the beginning of this year
$4,000 in st. Louis alone.
The following dispatch which was cap
tured by a special agent shows the manner
q - Iz-4s ,v,a-.kaHs
sSend US more extras; we can use good
many Of them"
Friday last, at a cabinet meeting, it was
determined that the seizures should be
made to-day. On Saturday, special agents
telegraphed that dispatches were received
in ST. Louis from Washington, in these
words: lightning is about to strike"
and another, "The plague is approaching,
let our men leave the city at once" The
Government has reason to know that
some Of the secrets Ofthe Internal Revenue
Bureau, and particularly OF the dispatches
directing the movements Of special agents,
were taken at some points from the tele-
graph wire. Several persons inside the In
ternal Revenue Bureau are suspected OF
having furnished the cOntraband intOrma-
ton. 1t is said that a member Of Con-
gress was the person who forwarded the
secret news TO Western agents OF the
Whisky Ring.
Orders were given the latter part Of the
week to the officers to be at the several To-
calities named in their instructions at a
given hour to-day, and to await further in
| structions. The agents nearly all tele-
graphed early this morning that they had
| arrived at their respective stations. Orders
| given to-day would cause the seizure OF
about thirty distilleries. Of these one is
| in Evansville, four are in Chicago, one IN
| Milwaukee, and there are several IN st.
Louis.
The Secretary of the Treasury has re-
/ ceived several kilograms to-day from spe-
cial agents in all parts Of the country,
stating that several persons connected with
the Ring have volunteered TO surrender
themselves and
Turn states Evidence
against the Ring, upon condition that they
shall not be prosecuted. General BristoW
has decided to accept no such offers, and to
20 into court with the evidence already OBJ
tanned.
Several of the Supervisors and Gaugers,
during the progress of this investigation,
have reported TO the Department attempts
on the part Of the Ring to bribe them.
Special Agent Yaryan is one Of the few rev.
enue officers who have co-Operated with the
| oaScsro Of fI,a Cacrnt Carvica in this iDyeSti-