, 1876-06-15


prosecutions in Chicago arc virtually closed.
The evidence that has been brought out in
tho two or three trinls leaves no doubt that
the Chicago Whisky-lsing WAS tho largcst,
boldcst, and most aggressive in the country.
1t probably embraced moro different PERSONS
than my other combination of the same
kind. AL tho distillors except ono house
wcro involved, and but ono emp1oye Of the
Government in a position to be made useful
escaped suspicion, and lie Ia now known dis
tinctively as the "Iloncst Gauger." Yet
there was no point in tho country whcro tho
work Of fer1etiug out tho crookodncss was
hcsot with 30 many obstacles and embar-
rassncnts, and it was months after tho job was
earnestly undertakon before twas ssntisfacton
ly accomplished For this part Of tho work 1t
is likely that ELMER WAsi1DunN, Chiof Of tho
Government Secret Service, aud Col.
AIATTrEwB, b1uHNs SUCCESSOR as Supervisor
of this District, nro entitled to the
greatest credit; tho late Gen. WEBSTER,
however, spurrcd it on untiringiy, and
gave it proper direction by his excellent
counsel. There Is no means Of arriving oven
approximately ut tho gross amount Of which
tho Government WIS defrnudcl during tho
several years covered by tho indictments,
but tho property traced by means of ware
house receipts, bills-of-1ading, books that
were soizcd, otc,, would Indicate that tho
Government waa robbed Of botwocn 81 ,6o0,-
200 aud $1,000 0GO. OF thin amount thero Is
rcason to bclievo that JAKE nEHM, notwith-
standing his statement on the witnesa-staud,
received in tho noighborhood of $iD0, 900,
aud retained nearly quartor Of million for
himself as "cigar money" Tl,ia In the in,-
prcssion among many of those who hRye
| been intimately nssoc!ntea with tho iuycsti-
CATIONS. There Bcoms to DO tolerably fair
prospect Of recovering largely from tho
"crooked" diatillers,--at all evonta
creator proportion than is usual in such
cases.
Tho Government cases hnvo boon managed
shrewdly for tho most part, though not with
the oerre and energy TINT characterized the
st. Louis prosecutions. It YVES wiso md
polite, probably, to accept the qualified pleas
of guilt from tho horde Of distillers and
Gnugors who gave up in panic after the
first break In tho Ring had been made. There
was much money aavcd by tho avoidance Of
largo number OF trials, and tho policy pur-
s,lod enabled the officers TO estimate tho
cnornity Of tho frauds, and tale measures
for tho recovery Of lnrger proportion Of the
spoils than they would otherwise Aavo no.
cured. But serious orror WIS mado. whom
tho Government counsel began to fish for
sprnta with whnles for bnit. They wero cn-
couragcd in this course by The Washington
authorities, who pressed tho point TINT tho.
Governments Chief interest was In punish
ing ita own fnlso employees and purifying It's
own service. Nor IL thoro any reason to
doubt that tho Government COUNSEL ut ono
tino beloved they could convict tho men
whom they hare recently acquitted by dis
1nissal Of all proceedings against them. But
1t was M error OF judgment which Chicago
mon should not havo 1natlo. However much
or littlo If truth there was in JAKE RE1tus
story, upon which tho 1ater Indictments were
based,, it was evilont to tho intellect of
child thnt his story was not tho wlolo truth,
and that it WIS permeatcd with lies, It was
a mistake to 20 to trial under such q condi-
tion Of things; and, aa tic result proved, no
jury could bo found which would forfeit its
common sense by crediting 10 prcposterous
statement Us REuM made OF the case. 1sEuM
should have been forced to tell tho whole
truth, or, in cnso Ut refusal, hc should hive
bcon brought to trial antl tho whole truth
proved against him, leaving him to suffer tho
consequences.
Many of the bcnedrisrics OF the Chicago
Whisky-Ring havo escaped the penalty OF
their crime. Death sparod 1av1s tho disgrace
and punishment, as it did Fonp, Of st, Louis,
who waa iu tho samo relative position 9th
ers, prominent among whom aro Da1DaEa,
1IoYT, aud 1loor, havo joined tho American,
colony in Canada, whese thoy aro outlaws.
Nuns was acquitted hero, but still Inns to
stand trial in Milwaukee and st. Louis.
WApswoRTu aud WAND, respectively Colloct-
or md District Attorney, hold their placos
very short time at tho fag oud Of the con-
spiracy, md 1t il not impossible tint tile
remnant Of fra1,d was practiccd without any
guilty knowledge on their part; at MI events,
tho Government counsel havo confessed
their inability to provo guilty connection
| against thon, they have conducted thom-
| selves like innocent men, and they aro entitled
now to general admission OF innocence,
however tho public may criticiso their
apparent negligence In running down tho
thieves after it had become apparent that
the Government waa boing robbed. 1t was
not possible to convict CuLLEnToN OF any,
thing but negligence, and tho penalty il 80
severe for this lin Wow Of the faot that ho
was Gaugcr 10 short time aa scarcely to
learn the duties OF the placo) TINT il iB nrot,-