The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-02-08

soncr fu history OF what has been done in ali cause.
VITA the tfne whel lssp'a: When asuIt shan lave
viii f"f s duty
having such su IN chars. 10 press the same 70 knis
inter- Interests 81 ., the unod ssiss Where cause .ss
next return 10 the to@missionsr state Spon whose
SSSeS 'nS 10 81 % Tsa As VII III
OF consent to dismissal or continuance thereof
.m6n, is,n SsS5eG n, @ Sca S State. taken entitled a.
clam n view Of the Violations Of law committed by the
defendant without esgrcss n5ucons from thc &C. Con,
opinion that The SUIT y heen Improperly brought that
ceeoings which may be fatal TO tho inter
est OF "a, hat 10 '9s sNSsHSe e sson m
and there shan not be suineien time to communists
may consent 10 suspend Or to S9nInn &
,iy m ~ rerr ~ f,cts and he reat ons f"f h, action
to the Commissioner.
THR LAW AND REGULATIONS
above quoted are in force to-day, as will be seen
by reference to sections 377 ~, and S,s5 OF the
Revised Statutes OF the United states. The At
torney General has nothing whatever to do with
the District Attorneys when they are engaged
In the prosecution Of internal revenue cases,
and they are to be governed entirely by the In
struc;lons which they receive from the Coinmls
sionor OF Internal Revenue, who In turn ia rulcd
by tho Secretary Of tho Treasurf, ard hence It
Ia, as Blaine would say" bold, presump. p.uous
fraud" on the part Of the Attorney -Ceneral II he
intcrfores and dictates \ line Of policy to these
officers contrary to that laid down BY tho Treas
ury Department. Now this Is precisely what
Attorney General picrrepont has done. The
theory upon which Secretary Dristow has been
waging his matchcss crusade against the whls-
key Ring Is a simple one. 1t may be reduced to
two propositions:
Frst-rhat there could have been no frauds
81. tli..ra
out the connivance ami assistance Of the reve-
nue. officials.
SecOnd-rhat tho revenue ON ,ials would not
hsve entered into such a conspiracy with the
distlegs had they not been assured of the sup
pnr, Of the politicians who controlled the ap-
pointmcnts. and received In return portion OF
the stealines for political purposes.
Having aid down those laws. Dristow was
compelled In pursuing tho criminals OF the
whiskey Rinz to follow them out to their leeiu-
mate conclusion, sod hence he traded OF unim-
portant and Insignificant saugers. storekeepers, g,
and dsiillers for principals like Mcdonald
Joyce. Mckee, and Megure.
EMBARRASSING RESULTS.
Du, by this process Blbcock happened to be
| caught. and It was thought quite cert ain that
| the same manner OF proceeding would catch
John a. Logan, Charley FArwelI, Marshal Camp
| bell and nalf dozen others OF import tnce In
Chicago, and Matt. H. Carpenter, Dosi Keyes,
GOV. LIdington, Hubbeil, Payne, and more OF
the same ilk In Milwaukee. In short. II this
thing OF allowing dlstlllers and subordinate rev.
cnue officers to - free with only nominal iae,
on condition that they betrayed the eroat GRIM
inals. wasn't stopped In some way, there was no
telling who would escape. The White House
itself might be emptied, and half the Republi-
can leaders sent to the penitentiary.
But how was II to be done1 Bristow not
to be moved, and the law made him sole arbiter
of the fates Of all who were caught violating
the internal revenue laws. There but one
way to do 1t, and that was to servo no tice on
the informers by q circular letter addressed TO
District Attorneys that II witnesses exp ected TO
escape the pententlary and heavy nnes by
swearing Babcock and other distinguished Re
publ lcans-friends OF the President-into the
state prison, they were very much mistaken
Bu, who was to do this7 The President couldn't
That would be too bold and transparent an at
tempt TO save Babcock. The Attorney-General
had no more authority to do II than the Secre
, tary Of War had, but nevertheless he did 1t al
, Grants dctation, and the following Is bis note
OF warning:
PIERREPoST's wARSISG VOICE
wisniSsTsS, nFrSsTsSsJJ JSa. 2y :. svsgIS'' is7S.
~ - tr9;ef Sai,, D.'te, % 1Horn,y Gala, -
nav newspaper reports stating that In = Louis Chi
os sSsis;' lst sali is! d ir5@ g+o.sca,oS
cannot surpo'e, 'pa. Ihis Is trus bqt my tien,ioi
tnoso ps..s tnaI he piirie A,toiny my know tha
are 10 - uupnnlsled an aw5re tnat "a the 1eite
vour good to drive away any possible scands
from Any .nins I9a % s rSTh e SHa & nSy y
the Pre.iens' Tci,erasd desire that ao gully MA mS
don on o nart OF ay one charged with the admiais
u irion Of the avs 10 favor any on and the app
sfe MS by way OF caution. for have determined
SSa sn uSfS 81 he ass s"Yn the Scshy uG
= Il from maics and that no guilty has bee
cn pTa, y or hs. s.a 5 nS himself su
" has cen suf. red TO escapc punishment
y EpwAgDs PIERREPoNT. Attorney General
?, Although this order Is dated Jan. 8, II was nc
!, made public until Jan. 81, when 1t was furnishe
IL to certain papers In Chicago and ST. Louis b
/ Babcocks counsel. The object OF the order Il
h self, as well as OF Its publication at this In
d portant Juncture, Is apparent Pleuepont sue
% denly woke up on the Sth Of January to the fac
=. that the newspapers were reporting that In s
d Louis. Chicago, aud Milwaukee large number
W of guilty men who confess their guilt are to
: let OF from prosecution" Had It taken hiI
y from the lst OF November, when the trials CON
l. menced in st. Louis and the distllers an
Ie subordinate revenue officers pleaded guilty an
% went on the stand to testify for the over
D. ment, to discover what Bristow's policy was
Ct Did he not know very well at the time that Il
n- conditions on which these men were allowed I
v turn States evidence we're that thoy should I
"A leniently dealt wlth2 Certainly he didl BI
this policy had caught BabcocK and was like
to get him into the penltentlary, and as the bo
n tom began to fall out Of the Chicago and Nj
waukee Rings about the 9Th Of January, II WI
Is thought time to lot those informers know, an
y. the District Attorneys also, that Bristow wi
~ not the Government
d. THE EFFECT or THIS ORDER
has been seen In Chicago and Milwaukee. IT
Of District Attorneys there, although In pc
ny session OF abundant evidence TO secu
u. the Indictment and conviction OF prom
g5s nent Republican leaders In Illinois al
to Wisconsin, have not allowed II to be plac
Il. before the Grand Juries. In st. Lou
ng thanks TO the fearless soul Of Pat Dyer, Dstri
he Attorney, Perrepont's order has been as u
o. availing as were his appeals for Babcock la
W fall. What effect 1t may.have, however, on q
he witnesses who are TO testify against Babco
n. remains yet to be seen. Its effect here has be
ha | % nlaca an ImDasaable gulf between Drist(