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

AN immense whiskey ring-simi'
lar TO the one that perpetrated such
enormous frauds on the revenue dur
ing Andy Johnson's administration
been discovered to exist in the
West, and thirty-two distilleries and
other property amounting to severa.
millions of dollars has been seized by
the government officials at st. Louis.
Chicago, Milwaukee and other places
1t seems that early last winter the
Secretary of the Treasury became
satisfied, from the fact that quantities
of whiskey was being put upon the
market at a price less than the tai
and cost of manufacture, that there
must be q large increase of Illicit dis
tilling, and accordingly took meas
ures for its detection and suppress
sion.
The methods resorted TO to cheat
the Government are various. One
is to keep an account Of, and make
purchases equal TO the regular pro-
6%uction, and secure that in excess,
and sell it without tax or stamps.
Another method is to apply TO the
Collector and receive tax paid stamps,
for which they pay their full value
These they place upon what would
be called straight goods, which are
taken to the r~eetifying house, and
dumped. So far the transaction is
honest The rectiher, after dump
ing the whiskey, removes the tax
paid and warehouse stamps and re-
turns them to the distillers, the gaug-
er certifying that ne has seen the
same destroyed. These stamps are
then placed upon fresh barrels filled
with illicit goods and shipped to New
York, or some other point, and no
entries Of the transactions are made
upon the books of the distill er, the
only entry appearing being the first
shipment to the rectifying house
Another msde of selling illictit goods
is to send a package having the rec
ti6er's stamps upon it to a dealer, say
in Charleston, S. c., and when the
goods are used to have the same
stamps returned and placed on fresh
packages filed and sent to the same
dealers, without any entries having
been made upon their books. To rem
der this practice bic the stamps,
which are supposed to be put on with
a strong glue, are in reality prepared
on the back so that they will not
stick, and are kept in place by small
nails, so that no difficulty whatever
is experienced in removing them.
The headquarters Of the ring were
at st. Louis, but it had covered the
whole country with its secret net
work, and had assumed the charac-
ter of a vast conspiracy TO swiudle
the Government and saddle upon
honest taxpayers al excessive and
unjust proportion of the national ex
penses. Two-thirds Of the whiskey
from St. Louis for the last
year has, it seems, been what is term
ed crooked" as whisky which has
not paid tax is called. The amount
Of the frauds in St. Louis alone will
not fall below a million dollars annu-
ally for the last two years. The de-
.Velopments at Chicago and Milwau
kee are also on a great scale. Illicit
whisky has been traced into all the
prominent Eastern and Southern
cities, and the Government is in pos
Of the necessary proofs to en-
lble it to trace the larger part of all
he Illicit traffic which has been car
led on for the last year. The law
the spirit wherever il may be
Ound, till it has paid the tax.
or course these frauds could only
e PerPetrated through the conniv-
nee of the gaugers and storekeepers,
nd probably the Collectors, aud the +,
eeretsry has determined to have all
hcers implicated, as well as the dis i
Hers, prosecuted to the full extent !
the law. 1t is alleged, also, that =
lis "riDg' had not only corrupted d
lie local officers, but had their paid e
lies in the Office Of the Commission o
OF Internal Revenue ct Washing !,
q, and thus were kept fully posted !,
regard to all contemplated meas /,
es for their detection. d.
AFRAID in Baltimore. sc
49, G