Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-12-08
THE w,,,SKy ruArnS

The milwaukee, y ears, which j. the
Dcmocratic organ there. with Whisky
Ring inspiration, has AZ length ven
iurcd an opinion. this morning. that
there has been something of Il Ring
there. and elsewhere in the country.
which has robbed the Government OF
untold millions, but with character
istic mcndacity il attributes il all to
the decentralization of Grants Adnnin-
iStraton. For the first time since the
! Bourbon raid commenced. it demands
/ punishment for the guilty. ii any such
can lac tound.and il sespecially clam
| orons for the punishment of all The
officers engaged in The frauds. This
( demand Is somewhat Significant. con
/ sidcring the source from whence il
cmanatcs, and it may be considered
The first newspaper howl over the il.-
rcpressible contlic, inauguratcd be-
! tween the distillcrs and Gaugers in
the latt-W elmer conspiracy ease, as
/ heretofore detailed in these columns.
No honest man can object 10 at-and-
dog-fght between The whisky thieves
and their equally guilty contcderates
! the officers who permitted them TO rob
the Government and illcn divided
with them the plumber. In that case
the old adage about honest people
getting their dues when thieves fall
out, viii have another pat illustla-
] ton. The hrassincSs of tho mtimation
contained in The -Ncws. to-wit: that
these whisky frauds are the legiti-
mate outgrowth of Grants Republic
an Administration. win be fully APP
parent when il is considered that OF
| the filty-fivc persons under indictment
III Milwaukee. about fifty of them arc
thoroughly rock-rooted Democrats
/ and this proportion of Democratic to
/ Republican thieves in the Whisky
Ring. will hold good elsewhere as
well as at Milwaukee, in the opinion,
of our informant. who has had per.
lhaps rs much to do with The prosecll-
1 tlon of violations against the Internal
] Revenue law as amy other officer in Tho
4 service. Recent developments in ST
/ Louis, Chicago. Milwaukee. and else
! where. are disgraceinl enough in al
conscience. but they are in no sense
partisan affairs, and il is patent 10 III,
1 commoncst understanding. and Choir
on@hly understood by The officers ii
charge ofihesc prosecutions, that from
Bristow and Pratt down to the hum
hlcst official. the order Of the presi
dent To Let no guilty man escape.
! is intended 80 be understood i'm IT,
strictcst sense. II the Democratic or
gans can figure ont any consolation
from the fact that four-iil'ths of tn,
/. men engaged in these steals are Dem
ocraiS. and that all of the officers
from the President down TO the hum
hlcst subordinate. engaged in bring
ing them TO light. without fear favor
or affection, are Republicans VIII,
then they arc easily satisfied.
In Andrew Johnson's time. vile,
, HE tax was 81 per gallon.
\ DEMOCRATIC WHISKY RING
existed which. by ihe side OF this one
was i Niagara 10 u riylilet. Thel
whisky was openly sold III The mar
kei for half the tax. and thousands o
dollars were made to hundreds du
|, ring The late lubber-packa wan
which is now for the time being pref
~ cileciually suppressed. Suppos
that the reform movement had sue
cceded in 1872. then The Rindskopf,
} of Milwaukee: the Binglams, Of In
diana: the Bartons. OF ST. Louis. ant
the Masons. of Chicago. would lay,
been the Collectors and Gaugers %
/. Internal ReYenuc. and again high
wines. rs under the johnson reafnlc
would have been hawked about tho
streets ut onc-haif of the cost of il
production. Bad as it has been, liquo
has not been sold ono day since Gen
/ Grants inauguration Tor less than III,
| cost of iiS production with 4 reason
able profit thereto added. and The col
, lections for the last fiscal year made
by the Internal Revenue Department
, exceeded the estimates about 5000.
0NO.- (Aic0GO IyIbNne.