The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-12-15
A Strange Story.
Joshua r, Ba;ley's Pardon and Return
His Innocence Acknowledged Victim
of the Whiskey Ring.
G. Howard, Esq.

Joshua f. Bailey, who in 1869 fled from the
country as detaulter in his accounts with the
Government as internal Revenue Collector for
the XXXII District of New York, has re-
turned, made good his deficit, and received
from the President a full pardon, recognizing
his innocence in explicit terms The New
York Tribune gives the following account of
the circumstances which led to his fight:
Most persons familiar with the late war
made by Secretary Brsrow upon the Whiskey
Ring in the West will recall the principal incl
dents of the raid eliminating in 1868 9 in the
flight of Joshua f. Bailey. Collector of Inter-
nal Revenue of the XXXlI District of New
York. He had begun the prosecution of the
illicit dstillers while Collector of the IVth
District. to which ne had been appointed by
President johnson. His activity in this dis
trct had been so great that President Grant
transferred him to the XXXII District, al
though an apparent deficiency of $50 600 ex.
listed in his accounts. This had arisen from
| the fact that on becoming Collector of the IVth
District Mr.. Bailey found that the collections
had fallen behind the assessments S4 000, 900,
to collect which he adopted system more
rapid than careful. Over 10000 notices to de-
| linquent Taxpayers were sent out in single
mail. As penalties for delay were then COL
| lectable, the Office of the Collector was over
| crowded. A full force of clerks was employed
| from o'clock until midnight each day in re-
| up this mass of money mostly paid in small
| bills. Errors were PROBABLY numerous Col
| lections made one day were incorrectly counted
| and deposited with those OF another, so that
/ receipts held by taxpayers did not agree with
/ she books and appeared to reflect on the hon
/ esty of the Collector The pressure of work
/ prevented accuracy and order in the accounts
/ Tue consequences was an apparent deficit of
| about $1,000 in Mr. Bailey's accounts, S35,-
/ 600 Of which he never was able to explain.
/ This amount, he claimed, was an error arising
| oct OF the exigencies of the work. The
| $1,000 remaining was expenditure in prose-
| cutting frauds which he believed himself au-
| thorized to make, and in defending himself
/ against conspirseles by the distIllers and the
| Government officials who formed the New
York Ring. Mr.. Bailey. in statement made
some time ago to President Grant, re-
| cites several remarkable instances of these
/ conspiracies. In one case, in 1861, he seized
/ distillery aud placed it in the hands of U nit
| ed States marshal who soon after permitted the
| Ring to resume operations. Bailey again
| seized it in spite OF the marshaps protests and
| threats to bring United States soldiers TO dis
/ possess bis officers, and finally confscated the
| whole. In another case special agent of the
| Treasury led the attack on him, procured per-
iured atfidavts against him, secured his arrest
| and almost his removal Bailey arrested all
| the perjurers who confessed, were tried and
sent to state prison, while the special agent fled.
/ A deputy commissioner became the actual
| manager of dstiery in Bailey s own district;
commissioner resigned. Local officers of the
| 1Xth District were discovered to be owners of
| large fraudulent distilery. Bailey seized and
| conhscated it, and sent the owners and manag
| ers to the Penitentiary. In his zeal he went
| out of his own district to prosecute; aud in
| eight months returned to the treasury $3.50, 600
IN fines, and coHhscated property in value more
| than double that amount The expenditure of
| $4,000 thus incurred was subsequently, declared
| by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to be
legal and no objection was raised to MIR. Bai-
| ley 8 transfer to the XXXIId District, the sec
ond in Importance in the country.
| On taking charge he at once began in his
| Jealous and eager way to bring together the ev-
| idence of the frauds of 1867, '6S and SO, now
| known to have aggregated hundreds of millions
| of dollars. Several months were occupied in
| collating this evidence, and in the winter of
| 1869 20 a simultaneous seizure was made of a
large number of whiskey houses where proof
was found of the conspiracy of United States
gaugers and whiskey dealers to defraud the
Government in the drawing of whiskey from
the bonded warehouses without payment of tax
A supervisor of revenue directed this League
for Mutual Protection, A storm was raised
all over the country by this action. The
opposition to Bailey extended throughout the
United States, and its action was of the most
desperate character; the evidence of the irregu-
larities in the fourth sDistrict was collected,
greatly exaggerated, and published broadcast;
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue became
alarmed and personally investigated the mat