The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-01-03

the opiaiop Of The revenue ocias only received from
81 s. per barrel which would only be equivalent 10
very small portion Of the steal perhaps tenth Had
al tho rest found s way INTO the pockets OF the dis
| nlers and recii1ere they must ali be enormously
wealthy men which Is far nom being the fact Where
| was She leakagei A prominent revenue oTicial in
vented very good ~ord In giving his opinion 10 me on
/ ihis subject Yesterday.
aWhy, " said he with significant smile sthe or
ganizers got il"
Ah the orsauizersl But who are the organizers 81
my dear fellow, said the gentleman above alluded
10 when put to him that question that's for Bris-
70" ana the new Grand Jury 70 find out Some say
Farwel got some, but the last Grand Jury refused 70
believe ~ Some say that Senator Logan got q pile,
but there ISM scrap OF evidence 70 prove H. Some
say that Wadsworth and Hoyi and Rehm got large
share Of this leakage but thas for the Grand Jury 20
Ind ont Ny dear fellow, II l tod you the names
4 oi the prominent men against whom think we have
evidence, the HERALD as conservative paper, which
would 90 no one any injustice, would not
publish them until the Grand Jury bad passed
upon the question Of guilt or innocence. So
thai the only advice can give 70 wait Till the Grand
Jury has taken the decisive action, and then youth
know exactly who Is presumed 20 be implicated and
who is not There's no other way Of telling IL In
Ike this the ouy reliable ground for accusing
anybody IS tie evidence legally sifed by Grand
Jury"
During this conversation this Official who is very
cautious conscientious man, and not at all given 10
warped OF exaggerated statements, admitted that no
doubt dsillers had been implicated in the depreda-
lions against whom the evidence had hitherto not been
sufficient 20 ask for indictments. Common sense
would tell any one that while these extensive
frauds went on here, while the crooked dis
tiller Saved" seventy cents per gallon-that
was the amount Of the steal-there was
ted here for the honest diser. The latter could
not possibly have competed with his dishonest rivals
and i Is thus sensiby argued that the very fact OF
disiilery hrm doing business during that period and
continuing u prosperously proves that they also must
have been IN the Ring "ln the face Of such odds, y
remarked an honest disler TO me- who has only lately
entered the business IN Chicago, mo honest ds1iler
could exist and II he did exist and did flourish they
AL did, only proves that they made crooked whiskey
too !" .-.4r..
Nevertheless we have the extraordinary spectacle or
some Of these disters untouched while others are
indicted The explanation, no doubt is found in the
remarks above quoted Some OF the whskcy men
were more Cautious than the others, and covered up
their tracks much better that the evidence against
them was weak or incomplete The new Grand Jury
IL expected Will indct Of these distillers who
nave hitherto been unscorched by the nre OF these
whiskey prosecutions AT the same time it is quite
likely that some of the shrewd members OF the Ring
who have hitherto enjoyed happy obscurity have
covered up their tracks SO well that while the prose-
cutting officials have morally not shadow of doubt as
TO their guilt II VIII be impossible TO bring sufficient
eyidencc against Them TO procure even Indictment
WAS THERE RiNGf
Speaking OF the Ring, this is word which Is very
generally used but which has hitherto never been ac-
curately defined as applied TO the combination OF
Chicago whskey deifanders Was there RingS Did
these with mutual knowledge of each others
guilt and In pursuance OF programme Of conspiracy
distinctly agreed uponY or did each act ION his
hook With simply an assumption OF the rascay OF the
othersf This Is an important and highly interesting
question, which has been settled Some exceed
ingly well informed persons-among others
revenue collector OF Chicagohave stoutly maintained
10 me that there was properly speaking, 10 Ring at
all
"Look at It yourself" said he; twas there any ne
cessity for Ring? Ia New York merchants cheat the
government Of millions and millions every year through
undcrvauations &C The thing Is regularly and syste-
maticaly done; but nobody supposes that there a
Ring, that there Is agreement among these
chants TO cheat the All YOU can cav is that
each swindes It with the tacit superstition that the
others are doing the same thing but that is all And
here il was just the same. Each man acted indepen-
IDENTIFY OF the other and while there were great many
little rings, as between dister and his gaugers and
storekeepers for instance, am positively convinced
that there was no Ring as between all the whiskey
men. Others, however, are OF different opinion.
They say that there undoubtedly was distinct and
DEFINED AGREEMENT
among the dstillers and rect1ers and that II there
had not been they could not have warded of the final
crash SO long No matter If there no Ring pre-
vionsly there doubt whatever in the mind OF
body that there is Adversely brings not only
strange bedfelows together but makes II desirable to
have astute counsel and when these counsel have to
be paid enormous fees 1t is well to have many purses
80 draw upon Look at this array Of counsel generally
understood to be engaged by the alleged consprators
Sidney smith, Leonard Swift, Judge Beckwith twho,
consulting counsel Is prudenty kept In the back
groundl Judge Gowdy and e. q. Assay That the in
dicted men hold nightly meetings and in regular
consultation, and that ali have agreed to fol-
low q mutual line OF defence, cannot
be questioned. The Ring is strong financially and
legally, and even If be only OF recent date IL
stands IN Chicago as rather imposing organization.
For while these men are individually pretty well
frightened by Bristow's fierce attitude they instinct
lively feel that there's many slip between the cup and
the lip more especially In American courts OF law and
when one mas goodly pile OF money at ones back or
the sorekeeprs and gaugers who among the
indicted almost all poor men, but the rich disers,
as whose catspaws they figured WILL unquesonably de-
gaugers and storekeepers undoubtedly made
considerably more money than the rest
the Se"S dissTs but they were sA"u ali very
extravagant launched Immediately into fast horses,
fast women sc, and lost their Ill gotten spos As to
Roelle, Junker, Russell ex Postmaster Eastman
the other leading distillers who have been indicted
they are either rch themselves or have through nnu
entail social political business ties, friendly money
"A
DIscouRAGING FEATURES
Of this business 10 the prosecution has been the skill
with which these have been able to elude the vig
LANCE OF tue law and 10 dispose OF their property
such a that while they can still control it for
purposes Of defence the government cannot possibly
lay hold Of it, Very ceverly has this been DONE and
several of these who drive this very day magnin
cent teams and give champagne suppers to their boon
companions far as the law is concerned paupers
pcnness outctsts Convenient WIVES, relatves or
friends have been found by all these rich dsersWh6
were reaay to take care Of their property in order TO
Is not ono OF Tie prosecuting olc9s who thinks that
the government viii recover much Of The stolen money,
aud tho opinion expressed on this point IN my letter
Of yesterday is corroborated in every quarter
TACTICS THR DEfEScE
= have talked with good many persons, TO whom
the disyllers supposed 70 have unbosomed them
selves 10 order 70 ASCERTAIN what their probable tactics
will be next month when the cases will come TO trial.
far as could ascertain the only expcdient thus far
agreed upon is that old and stale one which has
been used In every court of justice ever since
court of Justice has existed-namely de-
cannot possibly be spared by the defence, &C. &C.
doubt great efforts will be made TO postpone the
trials as long possible The disters regard the
present very inauspicious time Tor the trials,
public opinion excited the subject Of the whs
key frauds and they think that as soon as this extreme
opinion modorates the government will be ready
10 exercise toward them all the enency which II
give. The government counsel, however will combat
these efforts at delay quite persistenty they will
be urged Governor Aver, hessrs Bouielle, Writ and
Dexter who have been retained special counsel for
these cases and the United States District Attor-
are M a u
tried all in the present full flush OF the government
victories and while the prosecution has all the benefit
tciGf produced by the previous convictions OBJ
tanned In ST. Louis And by the way, these gentlemen
although they will be equally well paid Brodhead
and Dyer in 81 Louis, naturally rather sorry that
they have no case OF national celebrity ike the Bah
cock case IN ST. Louis, which would attract TO their
legal efforts the widest attention. The Babcock case
which will be tried 81 Louis at the very same time
when the trials OF the Chicago dsters are IN progress
will completely dwarf them in significance, and IL is
generally acknowledged that the convection Of the
presdent's prvafe secretary would here excite