The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-05-19

one day than the accounts show to
have been stamped and delivered, a
fraudulent issue is conclusively PROV
ed. The special agents would, there
fore, take rooms in some place where
! they could command q view Of the
warehouse operations, and would
count very carefully all the package s
delivered. The counts on being
compared with the records established
still further the existence Of fraudu-
lent deliveries of spirits. In short.
the operations Of the special agents
show that the dealers who have been
implicated were paying taxes upon
only about one-half their production,
or that The Government got he tax
only on one barrel in every two bar
rels produced. La addition to the
means before alluded to for detecting
irregularities are the wholesale deal
ers' accounts. These accounts must
show from whom each package was
received, the serial numbers of the
package and of the stamps upon it.
Transcripts of all the wholesale deal
ers' books have been made in New
York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and
they afford the means, by comparison
with the official accounts, of tracing
out each untaxed package that reach
ed the market through regular trade
channels. The work of comparison
is now in progress, and will be push
ed forward with unremitting activity.
There were several methods dis
covered by which the frauds detected
were perpetrated. The following is
a description of one Of The favorite
modes. 1t involved collision be-
tween the distilier, the reeti6er, the
gauger, and, perhaps, the storekeeper.
Each distiller had a favorite rectiiler.
For instance, Beyis & Frasers sent
their goods to Beyis, Frasers Il Co.;
Ulrie, distiller, and Tenseher, distiller,
sent their products to g. Bensberg
to be rectifed. These parties, are in
st. Louis. Under the regulations of
the Internal Revenue Bureau, when
goods are sent to a r~ectifying estab-
lishment, the rectifer must, before
emptying the package, give notice on
a blank form. No. l22, of his inten-
ton to rectify or re-distill. The
form requires that the serial number
Of the packages, the numbers Of the
warehouse and tax-paid stamps, With
the number of gallons and proof OF
the spirits, and the name Of the origi-
nal inspector, and the distiller who
produced it, shall be stated. When
this notice from the rectifer is re-
ceired at the Office of the Collector,
be sends q gsuger back TO the rectify-
ing house with it, and the gauger is
required to verify the numbers and
contents of the packages, and on the
bottom of the form he must certify
that be saw the contents of the
packages emptied, and the stamps,
marks, and numbers on the barrels
erased and destroyed. When the
spirits have thus been emptied in the
presence Of the gauger and the proper
entries have been made, the notice is
returned to the Office ofthe Collector,
aud-at the end of the month, all such
notices are forwarded from the Col
l~ector's Office to the Commissioner of
Internal Revenue. The history Of
the barrels of highwines thus dis
posed Of, if all the officers concerned
have done their duty, is ended so far
as the Government is concerned
since the tax has been paid on The
production, and the reetiGer and va
rious dealers through whom it after
ward passes to the consumer, are
dealt with according to the other
methods.
The law has been violated by the
implicated producers and officers,
who have either emptied the barrels
without destroying the stamps, and
have sent them back to the distillers
to be reGlled aud introduced into
trade surreptitiously, or in most of
the cases openly, without suspicion,
through regular channels. In some
cases the erasure Of numbers and
marks on the emptied barrels has
been apparently complete, but the
stamps have been carefully and in
geniOusly Gifted" and returned to
the distiller to be.reused. /.
The fraudulent operations have
been upon a grand scale. In st.
Louis five out of six distilleries have
been implicated. In Chicago four
out of seven distilleries are charged
with evasion of the tax, and cheat
ing the Government. The following
rectifers are also implicated Rol
lee, Junker & Co., and Golsen &
Eastman. In Milwaukee six out of
ten distillers and seven rectifying
houses have been implicated. The
investigation shows that in St. Louis
alone the have been de-
frauded to the amount Of 81, 900, 600,
and there is evidence that from the
LIST day of January to and including
the LIST day of April, 5000 barrels of
untaxed spirits have been placed in
the market by St. Louis distillers.
The tax on a barrel of highwines is |
about SEQ, in round numbers, SO the !
Government has lost since the begin !
ming of the year SI75,0 600 in that !
city. /
The law follows the spirit WHEREBY
or it may be found, till il has paid
the tax, and through taxes and pen
alties much that nas been lost nav I
be recovered. Secretary Bristow :
has given orders that no c~ompromis- :
must be considered. The evil !
denec is overwhelming against the !
implicated, and their cases r
must go into the courts. IL
CO~nfraband Whisky Seized. '
BosToN, May l5.-For some days q
past United States Revenue Collec- O