The daily gazette., 1875-05-17
The Whishey Frauds and the
UHisReU IuG.

" NiShfU IUG.
When Mr.. Bristow's raid upon the
distilers and rectiiiers of Illicit whiskey
was first announced, it was intimatcd
that his enemies or opponents in that
raid would prove that most of these
4 frauds were begun since he assumed
the management Of the Treasury De.
plrtmcnt. Whiskcy frauds are Ger.
tainly no new thing in our fiscal bis
tory of the past decade, and itremains
to be seen whether the threat of Mr..
Bristow's opponents can he made good.
But II large increase in the whiskcy
frauds was nothing more than was pre-
dictcd when in the dying hours of the
FCrtv-third Congress President Grant
went to Tie Capitol and lobbied to its
successful passage through the Senate
The Tux bill increasing be tax upon
Whiskey frla 20 cents tn % cents q
gallon. There h9f certainly been no
more potent agent ul corruption in the
internal rpVrnG, service OF The Govern
ncut than The CXorbitant tax which, in
defiance Of The simplest fiscal science,
successive Republican Congresses have
kept on the manufacture d spirits rs n
tempting premium upon fraud. When
the tax on spirits was two dollars q
gallon there was hardly a distillcry or
refinery in the country which was not
the centre of Il whiskey ring made up
of the proprictorS of the establishment
and Of the inspectors and collectors of
internal revenue, who were placed in
every establishment as inquisitors to
prevent the pcrpetration of frauds on
the internal revenue. The hlackmail-
ing cX1Ctions of these Government of.
ilccrs upon the manufacturers Of
crooked whiskcy were often So cX-
Orbitant that it was in the lUrg run
cheaper 10 pay the tax than to sltisfv
the demands of corrupt GuV, rnment Of
iicinls whose demands hnd to he salts
fled to prevent Govcrnm 1T seizure. la
proportion AS the distiling industry
was larger in amy given community,
the circumference Of the whi.llcy ring
generally widencd, until from its cen
tire Iii the West it reached, rs we now
learn, the Treasury and Internal Rcvc-
nue departments in ashin@ton, where
Ii doubtless often controlled appoint
mcnis IN the interests of eistilcrs and
rccliliers. When the tax was rcdue ed
to 90 cents IL gallon the frauds dimin-
i>hed, for the very obvious reason that
The PROFITS o; Illicit distilling were
Thereby reduced Just 100 a gallon.
" hen the tax was again raised to 70
cents 70 gallon the frauds oi the Mhis
key ring were again increased, for the
equally obvious reason that the profits
on Illicit distilling were thereby in.
crca-en 20 cents gallon. In 1870,
when the tax on spirits was 30 cents Il
gallon, tha quantity of spirits which
paid tax FOR the fiscal year, ending
with June was -, i2J, 3jj gallons.
Daring the fiscal year 1874, when the
tax was ~ cents u gallon, the quantity
OF sinlt5 which paid tax WAS only 60, :
5I2,u6l gallons. These figurcs show IL
falling oft OF nearly 100000 sallons in
( the quantity ot spirits paying TAX, d.
rectly attributable to the Increase in
the tax, Ion it Is more than probable
/ that the actual production Of spirits on
! which the tax of 70 cents u gallon was
lawfully due had increased rather than
diminished. 1t was simply inevitable
that the increase OF the tax to 90 cents
| a gallon made by the last Republican
Congress at the instigation OF Dawes
ano tie Whisky Ring, and finally prt S..
o through the Senate ut the earnest ST.
Acitatlon ot the President himself, and
should have added activity TO the efforts
OF whisky manufacturers and internal
revenue officers to escape the payment
OF the tax Whisky can be manuiaotur-
oil and sold at a profit for 2j on Il cont.
| IA gallon. When the tax is more than
thrice this amount the whisky manfuc-
turers can well afford, in order to eludo
the tax, to pay the internal revenuD OH.
GERS IN bribes more than two-thirds tho
amount out Of which they dofraud the
Government, and still make the frauds
pay into their own pockets loo per cent.
on the plarl;et value of uAtaxed whisky.
WITH these inducements to fraud, it is
simply impossible for Mr.. Bri tow or any
other Secretary TO do more than create
q sensation BY attacking tho Whisky
Rlng. lie can never eradicate the fraud
while the tax on whisky is SO erorlitant,
and tAe Internal Revenue Bureau will
continue TO be debauched while this
half-coTEpt, half-imbccilo outcome of
Republican fiscal ignorance .tands Il oon
thc statutc book.-IForld.