, 1876-01-02
would do him the Justice to publish whs. ha
had to say for himself. the reporter withdrew.
THE ARRESTS.

tho reasons On which the Goye,uraent scted m
attacking these prominent politicians Wills II
: Is ackno"ied .ed that no ons in the citv outs;d
OF peEha1s three Men know the exact reasons,
yet th1te WAS no hcsitancy on tho Fart OF Ii ,so
| discussing the subject to alvtEce fall anl coca-
! plete theories al to what the reasons mus, haya
been Nh.Io il canno: ba accurately known
| which Of these theories is true, ii anv, or
! whether any one OF them has in it anv relation
| to the real facts. get the literature Of tho
WHISKY Ring Of Chicago will suffer il some of
the sEpIcsitions are not 2ut upon record and l.:
VII! Perhaps be great satisfaction to tho
t party "ho happened to euess right it lie saal
tmd ID the fn;r:e that Ills statement, printed IN
THE tribune to-day. = as the r:u. one.
Mr.. r1tlSG's STATEMENT.
| pE1nted IN his own paIer yesterday morning.
WAS substantially to the effect that he had 1oao-
! ed money nron distille1y, and had taken as
ctliatcIaI. or as Payment in full, certain alock in
that dtetlt:e4y, which the Government officials
alleged had been at that time or tLe.eafter
run crcoket1y. It il SAID BY some that
the fact that he stated this as The probable res
son II one 1t tie best cauees for disbelief, lin
other words, that the reason which be alleges is
not ut alI likely 10 he The one on which Col
Matthew'S affidavit Vas founded. Tho most poo-
ular belief Is. that the cause wch led to the ar
rest OF HetlpC Was also the cal:ae which led TO
that OF Miller aud Eehm. And while tns story
must be stated as = IuClor, it is wo:thy Of being
given, es follows:
The whisky and beer men OF the Cnt2d states
hnve been for a Lumber II Years considered
THE LEGITIMATE FREY OF THE POLITICIANS,
Offices OF gift aud uroht substantially IN their
gift have been appropriated bs men in politics.
high and low. Gause1s ard StoreEeene.a have
been appointed at the nod aud b.ck Of men run
n1ng for Office, or who were elrsady IN Of
fee. In short, the Whole machinery CT
collecting the revenue has been con-
te''e s ocau, Tn o; eoares ,ny % eo9 10
cities aud viii. few uotabe EXCEPTIONS 1t is
alleged that th3 oisti1lera and brewers. cnucedin2
the influence OH the politicians. hive beeu their
subselvicut tools through 4 uunbcr OF years,
and have been the source from which c0uaider-
| erabIe money has been hv4ed 70. political par
poses. 1ne constant story Of tlloso who claim
to know the inelde workings OF the Whsky
! Ring il. that in 1873. when
THE IEopLE's PARTY
! was really born Int sfe III Chicago an assess-
| rleut o: S7On0o was made, including nearly
| every w;,olerale @hlskY man. Il ID charged that
tb.. sum OF mo1ey, which wAs to oe used for the
,.:znose OF mszing and getting votes. VIA deta,-
| mined upon . tile proper sum By Jacob Renu1,
Anthony & Healng. und II. H. 5l1leF; that
| these mer came together IN secret conclave aud
| detet1n,p:d that this money must come from tha
| distliled; that they procured = list Of men do
| ing hrtinesa in Chicago in q whis1y way, wi4a
the anounr OF production, capital invested. and
| seriapB With the item Ut crookedness involved
| ans that they In concert assessed tho prope:-
/ rEtion Of the whole sum upon dlstillers tLs,
i ne money waa collected by man whose name
Is cot yet before the public that it wa< hsnocd
J TO them after it WAS collected and that they
1sed it for the election Of II. B. Miller aud lbs
! :cket Of whch he was the head. 1t is aaaerted
hat facts to prove the whole OF this assertion
| With mcEe particularly than il here givon are
the hands OF Gen. Webster, Col. Matthews,
and another official ct this CRY.
It Is due to Gen. Webster to SAY that On be-
ng questioned concerrnS this matter he denied
it: but it il also duo to him to ras that his re-
sfect foFthe revenue servlce aud for the Govern
uent generally Is such that lie would thik it his
duty to conceal whatever was for the interest Of
:ha Doua1 tmcuk not to have made known.
There are q few facts, h ,wexer, in regard to the
camp1'gn OF 1873 which should be stated aloug
with the theory gwen above.
THE FIGHT THEN
VAS one IN which brewers aud distilllers were
warmly and personally interested. The
Liquor men had oryaulZad curing the summer
to fight the Stale Temperance law, and later IN
tho year tho enforcement OF the SUNDAY ori1-
nanco had driven tho bear-scleEs TO the eamo
step: Michael keclev. Who nuw figures among
she list of the sufferers, was President of this
Liquor League, and contributed largely to lts
Iunda- He was also u contributor 10
the fund raised for the fall campaign,
and probably felt that he consulted his
oWn personal interests by taking the course ha
did The larger portion Of tlis money Was con-
trlonted by the brewers, who fel: greater per-
sonal interest III the conflict than did tho whisky
men. and it is not likely that any very great sum
per head Was assessed upon the d.stl1ling or
ree1'fying firms. That they did contribute ia
Of pure good will to tic callso-
Al FOR LII. REHM