The New York herald., 1875-11-12

thus apparen1 that II all the officers honest the
above described checks would effectively prevent any
spirits being sold In the market that had not paid the
sscosD-ro perpetrate fraud the disthler must nrst
obtain the consent Of the storekeeper to use more
been proven by experience that fermenta-
ton that will produce the largest yield OF
spirits from grain cannot be made in less than forty
eight hours The regulations therefore, allow this
time for fermentation and forbid more than one 1ng
OF the tubs IN scventytwo hours thus requiring the
tubs to remain empty For twenty four hours IT. how
ever, the dstiler will prepare what is known quick
yeast he Is enabled 10 complete fermentation In
twenty your hours, or less time though with loss OF
yield 10 spirits This he well afford If he soil
half his production without tax Having gained the
consent Of the sLorekeeper who keeps his books
the law were being complied with, the distler makes
two lamentations where one Is allowed, and then
has nearly double the quantity Of spirits that
the books show produced The dlstuler who
has thus Illicit product on hand does
not dare place It upon the market in the
only way possble-that is by the reuse OF stamps,
since the detection Of single package 50 duplicated
would subject him to the severe penalties OF the law
lie must therefore, call 10 his assistance the rectner
who, even IT detected, dealt with much more leneny
by the law while the difficulties incurred IN detecting
him are much greater than the OF the dister
To make the transfer OF Illicit spiritsrom The disti-
lery TO the recying house-the gauecr "a charge OF
the room either permit barrels 10 be niled
and surreptitiousy removed without stamps, or he
must afhx stamps which have once been used II the
spirits removed TO the rectiiying house without
stamps no notice of rechcatIon describing the same
could be the collector and therefore, no credit
could be had by which TO obtain rectnerS stamps Two
methods OF surmountng this difficulty have been In
vogue. The first made possible by the fact that
recers stamps have heretofore been SO prepared that
each stamp could protect any number of gallons which
the gaugers chose I'LL in This character OF fraud
will bo best indicated by ilustration:-A certain
recther buys from dstier say 100 packages OF tax
paid spirits containing say forty proof gallons each
He files with the collector the descriptive notice above
mentioned and asks for an issue OF rectners stamps 10
cover 1000 gallons OF spirits alter rectitcaton.
gauger detailed gauge these spirits the
rcctiiying tubs, carrying with him book OF blank
stamps 10 be filled up according 70 the contents Of each
package inc gauger reports, on prescribed form,
that the rectfer has placed the 1000 gallons in say
400 packages containing ten gallons each and returns
the stubs of the stamps nled up in accordance with
this statement The packages represented after
ward found to contain say eighty gallons each and the
stamps thereon filled up in accordance herewith
cover the straight sprts' and under cover Of the
naming $50 stamps Is 600 gallons of Illicit spirits
placed upon the market This case is by no means
extreme one, but is fair sample OF what the
slant practice in the districts herein specified.
The other favorte method Of placing Illicit spirits
on the market may be illustrated as follows:-The
dstler sends to the rectifyng house number Of bar
rels of spirits upon which the tax has been regularly
paid The descriptive notice aforesaid Is filed and
gauger detailed, who reports the stamps destroyed;
whereas the fact is that the stamps not actually
destroyed; either the packages with the stamps
cancelled returned the dstiller and refed with
Illicit spirits or the stamps are removed and placed
by the distier or rectiher on other barrels
OF spirits, upon which tax has been
paid These barrels sent TO the rectiher
and by him shipped to some distant market
government books modification Of this form of
brand consists in the rectlher filing purely fictitious
notice containing description OF spirits which he has
received and empying in place thereof an equal
quantity OF Illicit spirits In one OF the two ways above
described all frauds recently discovered have been
med, and the government has lost thereby at least
81, 600 600 in the last two years The frauds have
mainly been carried on at four places-namely, st
LOUIS Milwaukee, chicago and Evansville, and all at
disteries producing what is known as 9'hghwinesn
This class OF spirits does not require ageing
as does the fine sour mash whiskey made for
drinking purposes. II consequently does not excite
suspicion to dnd highwines the market to-day that
were produced yesterday. This rapid transfer from
the dstllery to the market affords facilities for the
reuse OF stamps which Is scarcely feasible with the
whiskeys that require years warehousng before
being ready for market since 1t would be primd facie
evidence Of fraud If q distiller OF fine whiskeys
would not take advantage of the year when
the government allows his spirits to remain
in warehouse without payment Of tax
If once in warehouse the government is sure OF its tax
hence the comparatively small amount OF fraud dis
covered In places producing fine whskeys As further
trated 1t may be stated that rule they do not
quire rectihcation and the frauds above indicated
not be committed without the aid OF the rectifler
TmRD-The checks which have lately been established
TO prevent the recurrence OF such frauds have de-
scrbed are as foows:-
Frst-As before stated every barrel OF spirits pro-
duced at distilery has serial number
which is never duplicated An account has
been opened with each dister, in which
is entered the serial number OF every pack
age of spirits produced by him fast
reports OF rectiners received showing the dumping
BS@hst~cl
and entry made showing the date OF efnptyng and
the name Of the rectiner. transcripts have been
qured monthly from the books OF every dstiler recti
fer and Wholesale liquor dealer in the United States
containing full descriptions of the spirits purchased
these transcripts that all the spirits OF each dstler
found in the several markets OF the country
densed into account monthly. These abstracts
then compared with the records showing the spirits
dumped by recters, that II spirits placed upon
the market afor they reported dumped the fraud
will be detected at once So perfect and unerring is
al M hay -ad
through several hands there is no trouble in fixing the
guilt where 1t belongs This prevents the reuse Of
stamps which ! have heretofore described the
second method Of committing frauds
Second-To aid sil further in preventing this char
OF fraud this Office has lately adopted regu-
latons in regard TO the use OF tax paid stamps by
which portion OF the stamp cut out at the time OF
dumping and returned with the gaugers report THIS
effectuay destroys the stamp and prevents its reuse,
while at the time sufficient amount Of the
craving is shown upon the slip to determine whether
the stamp Is genuine
Thrrd-To prevent what have described as the first
class OF frauds-namey, removing spirits to the
rectiiying house without stamps and dis
rectincrs' stamps with small number Of
gallons and the stamp with a much greater number
the following check has been lately adopted:-A
Of rectfers' stamps have been issued in which
each stamp has printed upon its face the number Of
gallons the package contains, so that the stub must
necessarily show the same thing Every gallon OF
spirits which rect1er's stamp Is issued must OF
cessy be returned by the gauger and charged TO the
rectiher 1t is therefore impossible for him to get rid
from the dstillery TO the rectifying house.
FotrU-As q further check upon frauds such as
have described the vigorous prosecution OF the bonds
OF more than forty storekeepers and gaugers, for
the forfeiture OF the full penalty OF the bond which has
been set on foot will do much TO make such officers
honest
FouRrH-wth regard to additional legislation required
TO enforce the honest collection Of the tax on distilled
spirits, give II my opinion that the only law neces
sary that shall make the requirements as strn
gent and the penalties for derauding the government
as severe In the case of the rccter they
the case Of the distller. The rectiner should
be required 10 give a bond in amount
equal the represented by all the spirits he
possibly rcctify each month The house and tract OF
land upon which II is situated, occupied by the estab
lshment should be forfeited to the United States in
case OF fraud He should not bo allowed handle aEy
spirits his rectfying house except those he pur-
chases for rectlcation and sells under rectihers
stamps Under the present system OF detecting frauds
at least thirty days must eapse before the discovery
could be made and The guilt liked As the apparatus in
a rectifyng house, capable OF refining quantity OF
spirits upon which the would amount TO 100000
a month may not be worth more than $4,000, u