, 1876-11-04
WHISKY.

CoNFEnESCE OF uisTII.tENs WITH INTERNAL
NEvANuE COMMISSIONER nAuM.
Gen. Raum, Commissioner Ut Internal Rove
nuc, Inns been in the city for tho past two or
three days, making pcrsonal examination OF
Tho work Of collecting the revenue In tlsit,lis-
trct. Yesterday afternoon he held nh important
conference with tho .listtcrs In the private Office
Of Collector 1iarycy. Thcru wcre prcscnt, In
ndditton tn the Collector and Commissioner,
Wachsmuth, siufeldt. Junker, Dcarslslcc, Nlcc,
lscvenno Agent Miller, OF Iowa. Tho conycssa.
tlor was somewhat Of an Informal character,
though the entire conversation WIS reported by
n striuErabller, to be written out aud tEnlsr1(t-
ted 10 Tho Commissioner ct Washington. AZ
ter Collector Harvey had introduced tho
stuffed Tint be had requested their presence
for a friendly conversation over matters Cn,-
rcrnDE thu collection of thn rcYrnle Oh Ills
titled sntrits, anu would be pleased to bear any
suggestions that they might feel 1lspOsetl to
oitcf. lie had un!lcrat,od TINT the Chieago
listfl1crs complained tint the system Of lnspec-
t!on and gauRlnv Of distilled spirits "ns tlorc
rigid III this diatrict thar In others, aud ho
would like to ascertain II they Ind atiy plan to
ui1cr whcrebyn uniform System could be had
Several Vt tic distille.s stated that the Gov
crnmcnt officials we're too severe III their systetn,
wines auy margin tn protect himself from tho
necessary iUsscs incurred through natural leak
age, absorption, and evaporation. They stated
tint 1t was customary In Cincinnati to allow ths
n,urgA, and hence III TINT district there were flu
complaints. rs the dssttltcrs there did not suffer-
the losscs that were entat1ctl here.
SlinoB Powell thought that Oil alcohol and
htghw1ncs destined for tic California market,
there should ba u liberal nsnrEtn allowed 10
cover tic losses consequent upon tho long trans
port aud rough handling to which the goods
were subjected.
ii. Ii. 5hnfeldt believed that the only correct
way to COLLECT tho tax was ou tho weight Of tho
pavkaEes-llet weight Of tic spirits ut tcmpcra-
ture Of TO degrees.
Another dsstllier suggested that tho tltsttllcrs
twcntY-four hours utter tho goods had left tho
wine-tubs and were plnccu III the h0ntlci warc-
house, "a In almust all clscs half Il gallon III,
each barrcl was lost by absorption mud lraikagc
during that time.
All these questions were commented on at
full length by the tiistiliers, ar,d thrir views
werc attentively listened to by the Consnis-
siOncr.
After tho conference lad concluded, the
Commissioner intcrrugntc0 CnllcctUr uarycy Us
to Ills views. Tie latter 6tatci that IN Ills
opinion thy collection Of the tax By weight was
tile most direct md best In tho loug run. 1t
offered fewer opportunities for fraud, anil
would clfectual1y 10 away with tic crrurs Of
the Gnugcrs, as It was q wGll-kno%n fn:t tllut
no two Uaugers could 60 over atty-barrcl lot
and agree Oil the r.sult.
The Commissioner stated to a TH1BuNH re-
portUr tint un Ills return to Washington he
should give tho ynrious suggestions q careful
examination and would recommend thu A,iup-
tlon vi tlose which tu him seemed advan!n-
gcous 10 tho collection Of the revenue.
The conference Was very Mrtlonious one,
und the best possible feeling prevailed through
mt ttt keHsitn