The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-05-21
the WHISKY FRAUDS.

The attempt of the Democratic press
to make it appear that the gigantic
whisky frauds which have just been
brought to light are tie result of an ex-
ceSSively OnerOus excise, will not wash.
Notwithstanding the tax was increased
somewhat last winter, it is still less than
half the amount it was in the palmy days
Of the old Ring. 1t is nonsense to AS
Sert, rs Senator Bayard is reported to
have done. that the tax had passed the
revenue point and become premium on
fraud. The law is all right, and every
penny of the tax imposed by il cOulI
have been strictly collected, provided
the local revenue officers had dis
charged their duty faithfully and honest
ly. It would seem that the only remedy
that can be applied under the cireum-
stances is discipline of the most rigid
character, instant new appointments
wherever merit is found wanting, and
the strictest accountability in every de-
tail of official duty. The times demand
the strongest nerve aud determination
at the head Of the Revenue Bureau, and
it is to be hoped that neither of these
qualities will be safouud wanting. The
details Of the late exposure show that
forty per cent of the stealings were paid
to Government officials This was a tre-
mcndOuS fund with which to corrupt
men, and nothing short of the greatest
vigilance on the part OF the Government
will prevent repetition of the frauds
now turned inside out.
The Ring, whose profits amounted to
hundreds of millions a year, had man
aged 10 manipulate its agents into the
revenue service, and its members into
all the departments, gaining the conf
deucr of leading officers, and frustrat-
ing every attempt to stop the frauds Of
the Gi-ti!Iefs and collect the revenue, 50
that it wa> NOT until the Secretary of the
Treasury had secured the service of new
and um-uspvcleI agents, that he was
able to detect the villaiuy, obtain the
necessary amount Of information re
specting the completely Of oflicers, and,
when fully armed with the requisite
facts, make the seizures without warning.
The headquarters OF the Ring We're
at St Louis, bat it lad covered the
whu.,- country with its secret network,
di,i had assumed the character Of II vast
and saddle upon honest taxpayers an ex-
cesSiye and unjust proportion Of the ma
tiOn;sl expenses. TwO-thlrIs of tiIe wins
ks shipped from ST. Louis for the last
year Las, it seemls, been what is termed
crooked, rs whisky which has not
paid tax is called. The amount Of the
frauds in St Louis alone will not fall
below Il million dollars annually for the
last two years. The Developments at
Chicago and Milwaukee are also on IA
great scale. Illicit whisky las been
traced into all the prominent Eastern
andSouthern cities, and the Government
Is in possession OF tie necessary proofs
to enable it to trace the larger part Of
all the illcit traffic which has been car
ried on for the last year. The law fol
lows the spirit wherever it may be found,
till it has paid the tax. No compromise
must be considered, the evidence is over
wheIming against the parties implicated,
and their cases must 90 into the courts
II the scoundrels themselves 70 to the
penitentiary, so much the better. IL is
satisfactory to know that the prospect
seems fair that the Government will be
able to establish so strong a ease To re-
cover from the property seized an
amount nearly, if not quite, equal to
the sum total Of the frauls p-rpetra-
ted