The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-12-02
politital Sfairs.
History of the Whiskey Ring-A Missing
Link Supplied.

LINK cupplled.
The N Y. Sun of Thursday, 22d ult
has five column article upon the subject
of the Presidents connection with the
Whisky Ring. We reproduce the salient
parts of the article. Concerning the be.
ginning of Secretary Bristow's pursuit Of
the whisky thieves, the Sun says:
For six weeks but little progress was
made, and the final result was often prob.
lematic; but about tho middle of April
the idea of comparing the returns of the
gaugers with the records Of the wholesale
dealers receipts and sales were suggested,
and then the difficult problem was speedily
solved. The serial numbers on the stamps
enabled each barrel to be traced :, through
all Its various manipulations, and by the
first Of May sufficient evidence had been
obtained to warrant the raid, which took
place on Monday, May 10. Up to the
18th or 10th Of April the Secretary had
not Informed the President of the inyesti-
cations he was prosecuting. At or about
this time, however, the evidence obtained
by the comparison above alluded to of the
guagers returns with the wholesale deal
ers books in the various Eastern cities,
was amply sufficient to convict the distil-
lers and minor revenue officers in St.
Louis OF conspiracy, and then for the first
time the President was made acquainted
with some of the facts. According to the
testimony of Solicitor Wilson this occurred
about the time the President left Wash
ington to attend the Centennial anniyer.
sary ceremonies at Lexington, Mass.
But short time had elapsed, and be-.
fore the President returned, when Super
visor Mcdonald turned up in Washington.
lie had interviews with the Secretary and
the Solicitor, and admitted that he knew
the frauds had been detected, although he
was not in possession of any of the details.
The information which the Secretary had
given the President few days previous
was general, save as to one particular case
that Of shipments Of illicit spirits by Bevis
q Fraser, distillers of St.. Louis, to Will
mington, N. c., although without entering
into any particulars, Mr.. Bristow had said
that sufficient evidence had been accumu-
lated to convict the revenue officers and
distillers of conspiracy. There was no
other source from which Mcdonald could
have received his information than through
the White House, and, moreover, what he
knew tailed so exactly with what the Sec.
retary had told the President, that the
suspicious Of the former were excited
thereby.
He questioned Mcdonald closely as to
the source of his information, but could
not draw him out Mcdonald was salts.
fed that he had been caught, and proposed
to make the distillers pay the tax on all
the illicit spirits disposed of, and moreover
to pay any reasonable penalties. He
begged for mercy, and promised fidelity
hereafter if left undisturbed in his Office.
and spoke Of his ability to render great
service to the party and Administration.
But these appeals and representations fell
on deaf ears.
On May Z, being the Friday before
May II, when the seizures were to be
made according to prcconcert in St. Louis,
Chicago and Milwaukee, the Secretary and
Solicitor called upon the President, and
for the first time placed him in possession
Of all the details of the work accomplished
After the seizures, there yet remained
the more difficult task of tracing the con-
spiracy to its fountain head and bringing
the guilty parties to justice. The conspir-
ators, certain of powerful political inhu-
ence to support them, were confident, for
season, of their ability to defeat the
Secretary of the Treasury, but they soon
discovered that they had reckoued without
their host. Bristow had succeeded in ac-
complaining the retirement of Attorney
General Williams, and his successor, Mr..
Pierrepont, in his ambition to win share
of the popular praise then bestowed on the
Secretary of the Treasury, was willing,
nay anxious, to back up Bristow. This
enabled Bristow to manage the legal as
well as the detective machinery employed
against the Ring, and all went swimming
ly till it was determined to overhaul the
records of the telegraph Office at St.
Louis.
When the grand jury was convened in
July, 1875, subpoena duces tecum was
served on the manager of the telegraph
office in St. Louis to produce all messages
to Joyce and Mcdonald, or sent by them.
Now, quote from the testimony Of Dis
trict Attorney Dyer before the select COM
mittee of the House of Representatives to
investigate the whisky frauds. Mr.. Dyer
testified as follows:
This document has already been pub.
lished aud is familiar to the reader. II
relates to the discovery of the "Sylph"
dispatches.
Thus it will be seen that the "Sylph"
dispatch which first directed suspicion to
Babcock was not found till the latter part
of July, and was not discovered to be in
his handwriting till some time during the
fore part of August. The testimony Of
Dyer in regard to these dates is corrobo-
rated by that of Ex-senator Henderson
and Solicitor Wilson.
The facts in regard to Avery's case
seem to be about as follows He furnish
ed information to Mcdonald and Joyce rs
to the movements of revenue officers, and
kept them informed Of the intentions of
the departmentabOut sending special agents
to look after the st. Louis distilleries.
This is proved by his telegrams to Joyce,
and this he never denied. But none Of
these kilograms bore date later than 1873,
while Megrue's connection with the Ring
terminated several months before. Avery
knew that Mcdonald and Joyce were IA
vorites at the White House, and he never
suspected anything wrong about them;
still, he hesitated to furnish them with
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