The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-02-15
Wait rim the election Is over.


The testimony of Mr. j. W. Douglass, ex-
Commissioner of Internal Revenue. in the
trial of General Babcock contains some curl
GUS revelations The President, the Score.
tary of the Treasury and the Commissioner
were all agreed we are told by Mr.. Douglass,
as to the existence of extensive frauds in the
revenue service and the necessity of inves-
tigating them, and in order to facilitate fair
inquiry it was determined to issue an order
transferring supervisors from one place to
another This was based upon the principle
upon which Douglass afterward sent Joyce
to California, so that he would not be an OBJ
stacle to the investigation of his affairs in ST.
Louis. The order of transfer was q wise
measure, and ought to have been carried
out at once But Mr.. Douglass coolly testi-
fes that upon consultation with Secretary
Bristow they concluded to wait until
the fall elections were over We waited,
he said, ''and then there were a number of
Senatorial elections and we had to wait
until they were over; then we found that
we were in the midst of the Presidential
election, and that was another obstacle;
after that we arranged to make the transfers.
Here is startling news for the people. Enor-
nous frauds, amounting to millions of dol
lars, are committed by the Whiskey Ring.
The President and his nearest advisers know
of the facts, and are in duty bound to dis
cover and punish these Wholesale robbers of
the nation. But they refuse to do So They
postpone the investigation three times.
They wait till the elections are over.
Why should they wait upon such a pre-
text Because the thieves were the politi-
cal friends of the administration, hold
ing positions of trust and honor
under its appointment, and able to
control conventions and votes. To have
exposed these men would have been TO have
proved the charges of corruption against the
republican party and to have cut off a large
portion of its political revenues Gen
eral Babcock told Douglass that the
pressure on President Grant would be so
strong that the order would have to be re-
called. Mcdonald who is now in jail, con-
victed Of the very frauds this order was in
tended to expose, telegraphed to Douglass
1t will damage the government and injure
the administration. On February the
President revoked the order by the following
note through one of his private secretaries,
Luckey, to the Commissioner 1.-THE Presi-
dent directs me to say that he desires that
the circular order transferring supervisors of
internal revenue be suspended by telegraph
until further orders" Truly, Babcock was
right about the strength of the pressure that
was to be brought to bear on the President.
Joy was carried to every member of the
Whiskey Ring with the speed of electricity.
1t is true that after the elections Secretary
Bristow prosecuted these frauds, but the fact
is evident that before the elections the admin
istration suppressed even the investigation. J
The honor of the government was degraded
to win the elections for party, and the rev.
enues of the people were allowed to be
plundered to swell the revenues of State
committees. We learn with grief and shame
that in the opinion of the administration it
is more important to carry an election than
to punish crime Is this the spirit in which
the Presidents famous order, ''Let no guilty
man escape" is to be interpreted? 1t would
rather seem to be, 'Let all guilty men escape
till after the elections" Then, after mill
ions of dollars have been taken. after States
have been won by deceit, after Senators have
been elected who would have been defeated
had the people known the truth, then pun
ish the criminals whom it was necessary to
protect before. The President now claims
that he revoked the order to remove sus-
picion from the minds of the guilty officials,
in order that they might be more easily de-
tected, but Mr.. Douglass contadicts him;
and if the testimony of the latter be true
the government has committed a greater
offence against the people than any with
which even the Whiskey Ring itself is
charged.