The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-12-02
A BOLD REFORMER.

Secretary of the Treasury, addressed tell
graphic message to s. P. Dyer, Esq, U.
District Attorney at St. Louis, relating to
rumor that he was interested in distillery Q
liquor house at Louisville. This rumor wa
mentioned by witness in the trial OF VIM
o. Avery for criminal completely IN tn
frauds against the treasury, and as the pro
ceedings of the trial were telegraphed IN fui
: to the Secretary, who at once noticed tn
! ibelous report, and identifies its originator
with "the guilty distillers, their confederate
and friends, who circulated a similar rumo
last spring in order to break the force of pro
ceedings against them. The message con
cludes as follows:
So long as the matter rested in mere street
rumor or in the columns OF newspaper
friendly to the ring could not properly take
notice of it, but now that 1t has been dragged
into court, as appears, at the instance OF In
dicted officials, deem it proper to request
that every person whose name has been OF
can be given you as having knowledge of such
alleged facts shall be brought before the
| Grand Jury and subjected to the most rigid
examination The statement is absolu seiy
and urquaifedly false SO far as it affects me,
| but do not desire to allow the matter to rest
upon my denial l beg to repeat the request
1 heretofore communicated to you, that these
! frauds on the Government shall be probed to
the very bottom that every ramifcation of
the ring shall be followed in every part from
beginning to end, and that no one having con-
nection with, or guilty knowledge Of, its
operations shall be permitted to escape.
So far as this department is concerned, /
,jy +bo+ al rff1oo of
it, from its head to its hunt lest employee, be
thoroughly investigated and vigorously prose
cuted, if any ground exists therefor.
| have read this to the President, who re-
peats his injunction, "Let no guilty man
escape"
Since Mr.. BR1sTow succeeded Mr.. RICH
ARDsoN as Secretary of the Treasury, no doubts
have been entertained or expressed by the
public, through the journals of either party,
of the sincerity and complete earnestness Of
his efforts to prevent and punish frauds upon
the public revenue. Whatever criticisms
may have been passed upon the means and
agents employed by him, no doubt has been
expressed from any respectable source as to
his honor as a citizen, or his fidelity as 8
like another new member of the Cabinet,
Attorney General PIERREpoNT, whom he re-
sembles in courage as we'll as in integrity.
We are not partisans enough to believe that
either of these Justly distinguished gentle
men would neglect his duty through favor to
political friends, or swerve from it through
interest or fear of consequences.
Gen. Grant, wiser than his interested
friends, was earlier to discover that the Re-
publican party was imperatively called upon
to throw off the reproach that rested upon it
in consequence of the notorious venality and
corruption Of an army Of spectators, leagued
with minor ofice-holders. To "unload be-
fore the great contest for the succession
should take place, or at least to appear to
make an effort to ferret out offenders, was an
evident necessity in party tactics, to which
the President yielded, although with chief
respect to the interest of his party and Of
himself, and with little concern about the
good of the public.
The new Secretary Of the Treasury, if not
before aware of the fact soon discovered that
he had undertaken colossal job. He found
that he had no few or mean adversaries to
cope with, but was confronted with an army
of leagued and banded marauders upon the
revenues of the country. He has met with
succession of formidable obstacles from the
outset. The witnesses upon whom he de-
pended to secure exposure of frauds and the
conviction OF the culprits were often found
to be participants in the crime as principals,
or criminally interested in the fruits of the
felony. A common base interest closed
the mouths Of distillers, buyers,
vendors, storekeepers, gaugers, agents,
detectives, attorneys, and all the countless
throng of crooked" men engaged in the
common enterprise of defrauding the gov
eminent of ninety cents in the gallon on mil
lions of gallons of CROOKED whisky. To
wiring the truth from any Of the leagued
thieves and swindlers was like extorting from
a gang of highwaymen the names of their
confederates, the secrets OF their haunts, or q
confession of their robberies. Each was
interested in shielding all the rest. The
greedy were silenced by money, which the
members Of the rings scattered lavishly
out of their stolen boards. Ths timid
were bolstered up with brides and
promises Of protection. Bold and cunning
operators, grown audacious by long IMMUNITY
and insolent from their large gains, managed
to mislead the agents whom they could not
bride, and for long time to baffis all at
tempts to bring culprits to justice.
But the "crooked" men have learned 1t
last, and some of them to their sorrow, that
they were dealing with man of great intel
lect and energy, joined with the strong will
which reformer Of public abuses specially
needs. Important convictions have been
made for beginning and these have been
attended by disclosures which must make
further convictions less and less difficult.
1t cannot yet be affirmed that the chain of
whisky rings is broken, but the longer the
kho cfrop the QgGQlIAnfS