The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-05-05

NOS guilty The Indictment contains two
that:
two or NOR peTeus consplrc either commit any
VnIncs agaust the United States, or to defrauJ the
ny states IN any manner OF tor ANY pod ara
ec Of +. me ,s SG,nsrIsy q. parties Sea
~. Wor lnAn tlOOOO and to BE- Imprisoned not moro
rHs srrolrc CHARGES
may be thus condensed: |. Conspiracy to de.
irtud the United stltes out Of seventy cents
per proof gallon ON 10000 gallons of distilled
April and 0. 1874. 2 On May /, ISL. Of the Tax
on 10000 pailons > w."
lie assistant attorney for the United States
IN hi, presentation Of the case. said to the
j,iry that the amount Of money out OF watch tho
Government had been defrauded was S. 600 !;
that IL was utterly inn ossible that the ffnud
shc MD have been committed II the crcers Of
the Internal Revenue Department had done their
than the distller reported. then there wa viola.
ton OF law that IL the books OF the distiiler
charge MN with tue receipt Of "A certain q1au-
tity OF gram, aud the books OF the store show
receipt OF an eqial number OF bushels of
the premises. then, a. mater u course, the
store keencr Is In collision with the distiller and
vcrmits the fr.ud against the Government. II
inc collector hnds nine tubs running instead Of
SIX, there IL collision. The dis,iery was seized
nb nut Anril 8 1874 ~ barrels were found on the
premises without stamps q tax-pald stImps.
Issued 10y the Collector Tor the serial numbers
I running from 4S2 to 5ul, had some of them been
used before ia blrrels OF spirits had been re-
novel from the distillery, uDon which no tax
was Id, and without a Government permit.
Frequent rsmov Il of spirits from the cistcrn
room were III de without the presence OF the
gauger or storekeeptr; the ngnt storckecper
was absent during n night. In order to connive
AT the fraud upon the Government there was
! omission to enter, according to law, upon the
books the amount of grain winch cane into
| tue distilery and fraudulent entry was made |;
there was omission to enter, accord
ing to law, the number a. mashes
"S snd % 'u entry of peer ASa
while the distillery books showed the receipts OF
only 1900 bushels of gram, $1,000 were &C u lily
received while the books INDICATE tue iermen-
iatop Of only ia tubs between Jan. Il and Mafcn,
| 1874. the correct number was GO, tuUs, 2SS not
its deposited In the wal ehouse was some 1900
eaiiots, while the actual production was Hs,s00
gallons. showing that 11i,7SO gallons were re-
| moved without the pay ment of the tax. These
.cs, said the prosecuting attorney new.
| could not have been done without the CON
sent of the internal revenue oficers, AMI we
mus conclude that there tcds not a single honest
9elcer q ne Government in the supervision Of tbs
dtstMcry-that there was a conspiracy between
these parties, each knowing what the other was
doing, to carry out the common end, the perue-
| tratton OF one act. or more than one, nv soIne
81 them, by ~hicb the Goverpmeut OF the
| United States W deirauded. II this can be
proved we shaii ask verdict of guiity."
STRONG TESTIMONY.
| The evidence heard nv the Jury IL said to have
| corresponded with ana sustained these state
nents 81 the prosecuting officers, and the CEN
| erIi opinion Is tina, they naye made out strong
case, aud that the Jury must render. verdict Of
guilty " they observe their oaths. II would he
sion Of twelve men In these times. There has
been onsicerable Interest taken by the putiic
| IN the proceedings. he court room has been
crowded every day during the trial, aud many
Of the lawyers OF the city, who are not mucn en-
sessed i1., now wi h business Of their own, nave
Ruhents Of counsel. For the Government hrs
apIeiIed District Attorney J. Il; Beckwith,
AIDED by JohD III. New, Esq, OF the New Orleans
bar. who can hardly he called a young lawyer
| now, having been at tie oar certainly for ten
years, In which time he has had large practice.
Mr.. New. however, has not had much, N any. eX.
| pereuce IN such 9, ses, and has Md to study
| hard. He is said to have done himself credit ia
The appointment OF special attorney In this
| case was offered by Attorney General Pierre
pont to the Hon. Jonn A. Campbell, bat he de-
clined II, assigning as reason that his disabili-
| Confederate Government, had never been re-
| moved by Congress. an he could not take the
oath required Dy law. MIR. william II. Hunt, Sir.
Themes j. Semmes, Gen. L. n. sheldon Eek
| CO, Mr.. John ID. Rouse and lesser Ights 81 tho
bar appeared FOR the defence. For two days the
argument to the jury has been progress sng, aud
the United Sites District Attorney closed for
inc pf nsecutlOn TO-DAY IN powerful speech OF
three hours length, wnicn IL said to have made
agreat ~ preston upon his audi oiy. Tue aIgu-
meDts for the defence are regarded us weak.
A TAME CHARGE.
The Judge delivered a very long charge to tho
jury In which he expouUded tie statutes gov
erpins the case with great Gle irness. aud set
forth their requirement. 10 detail. His ,ancuags
Indicated his Opinion 70 be that tue ease had
been made out against the accused. Hts charge
| Tor he told he Jury that the evidence tended
To show that tue regulations Of the Revenue
| Department had been yiol ted by the accused."
He told them plainly what were the acts OF
commission as well IA OF omission which tins
| prosecution had shown by the evidence. lie
exclaimed with great particularity not only the
laws governing tue case, but also the regulations
VI tbe depar ment, anu pointed out to tue jury
that the violations charged and testified To were
| inconsistent with the theory that the accused
| were innocent OF tue crime. He told them he
| thought they would have no difficulty in reach
| INK sure aud safe conclusion as to tue ch irge
OF con- piracy" As to the second branch # tue
inqutry,t e., as TO the parties involved In the
spirdcy, his ianRJJ9e was equally significant OF
bis opinion, and, unless the jury are detsrinincd
| not to he guided by the Instructions Of tine
Judge, they must Ind against the accu ed.
They are now deliberdtinR upon their veriict In
the jury room, the judge having refused u
allow them TO separate anu return to their
homes. They have been kept in the court
for nine DAYS eating and slee ping there.
Public opinion mere Is far less severe upon
whiekey FRAUDS than In other parts oi the cuun-
try. Our population has always been leuient
upon law breakers. As To escaping, by any
means, the whskey tax, that is considered a
veutal onence-a smart thing In fact, the gem
erllty OF people joke ABOUT II. The serious and
thOuk htful portion Of the community, however.
are dsgusteI with the whole bus iness-tnink
the tax IL excessive and Temps the topls to 20
into the busiress-that II Il actually provocative
of crime. Sucn persons blame the Government
and saw 1t would realize more money IL tae tax
were SIN Her.
snail not be surprised N the jury disagree.
In that event. the remaining Indictments wIl
probably he tried In some Western Ssate.