The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1875-12-22
New York gun Washington Letter.

lNew 4Ofk Bun Washington Letterl
Tn conversation with n gentleman whit
has been very familiar with the inside
history Of official life In Washington fol
very suggestive facts. IN 1868 Mr.. Rol
Inns. who was then Commissioners Of In
trrnal Revenue, was very anxious to 70
sign. He had become associated viii
the Cookies in the organization Of th'
National Life Insurance Company. nnt
desired TO accept MI important and IN
crative position IN tho management .
the concern. He communicated his in
tuutions tn Secretary McCullorh. ant
desired him 10 sccur tho appointment
Of his successor ut rs carly u date ~
possible. Tho Secretary informed til,
President. and u successor to Mr.. ItOl
Inns was nominated.
The instant this contemplated change
was made known the executive mana
gers Of the Republican party set about
mon named for the Office, but II was
soon ascertained that they could not be
confirmed by tho Senate. Finally the
name Of u gentleman was suggested &c
tho President who had sufficient In
ti1enae with certain Republican Sena-
tors to secure n confirmation, aud II
was known that he would DO nomi-
mated.
This discovery excited the Republican
party managers very much. aud they
set about defeating the plan. Finding
that they could not prevent the con
.tirmation OF tho proposed nominee.
they went TO Gen. Grant aud told him
tina. IL was absolutely necessary to the
s,icooss Of their party that fall that, il
any changes should occur Nv the Inter
nal Revenue Department, u should he
In their interest.
There was great danger. thoy said.
that IT Rollins resigned tho President
would uo,niuHtr n mnn who would be
confirmed by the Senate. AMI. therefore.
Rollins must be persuaded to stick.
Grant ut once suggested that tho AZ
point,nent Of Columbus Dclano might
be secured, and he went In person to
Secretary McCullocb and requested De-
lano's appointment. but finding that
there was no hope ri accomplishing
this he went to Rollins and insisted that
no should not resign. He did not, and
Congressional Executive COMMITTEES
were happy. Rollins had, by the many
vcxatio,is regulations which he pre-
scribed, closed many ofjthc Eastern dis
tileries. The few that were not shut up
by official regulation made In the inter
eat Of crooked whisky producers were
soop driven out Of the business by the
glutting of tho market with whisky
which had paid notax.
Now the query naturally suggests IT.
sclf. why did Gen. Grant go to Rollins
and urge him not 10 resign? Did he go
simply because tho men who were
about 10 run him for tho Presidency ro-
auested him TO do so, or did he know
ll..t i1..,. ..,-,, .t.. Las rt.-,,t
the lnrEe sum OF money which whisky
was to furnish them for campaign pur-
poses II tboy were let alone2
That u large campaign fund WINS
raised from this source In 1863 will
scarcely be questioned here. where tho
facts arc SO we'll known, and that n still
greater sum was drawn from the same
source In 1872 will not be denied. with
the knowledge of recent developments
fresh in the public mind. Rut there
was one significant fact brought out In
the trial OF Avery In st. Louis that docs
not seem to have attracted any alton
ton,
Ex-Commiasioner Douglass In his tcs-
timony told how he had, ~ far bnck rs
the summer Of 1872. become convinced
that there was something wrong in the
West. and he determined to make u
W tJiNl'I w foV Vli'fN'o sI'iN ~
East To- the West. He made soine effort
to accomplish this, but he was compell-
Ell TO defer 10 until after the elections.
He waited until the elections were over.
but found that he could not carry out
his plan, owing 10 tho opposition it
aroused.
When Secretary Briatow came in he
again proposed IL. and II was favorably
received and determined upon, but
again there was influences sufficient TO
secure the p~ostponement OF this expert
mcnt until after the election Of 1874.
Then. and not until then, was this
transfer Of officers, which he had re-
"a far back ~ 1872, finally
ordered. Then anne McDonnld's visit
to Washington and his ride down The
avenue with tho President, and Joyce's
to Babcock to crush out the
enemies of st. Louis, and Babcock's re-
ply thereto that he had succeeded and
''the goose hangs nltitudelum." Put
NIL these things together, and ON
Meeting them with tho "reminiscences Of
The campaign Of 1868, which | have re-
lated, IL not tho conclusion inevitable
Grant knew then and knows now
hat the whisky ring was more or less
IN adjunct OF the Republican Congress
Executive Committee.