The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1878-08-16
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TROUBLES IN sou so1fH nfE cARoIfNhAS.h naH fhNhShS 8
Ever since the war the enforcement,6f
the government tax on whiskey has led Is
difficulties an1 occasional conflicts in tlli
mountain districts of Tenness3, the Caro-
linas and Georgia, where small Stills abound
and the tax is regarded as au intolerable
exaction. These difficulties have not been
confined, any more than the business of H.
ilclt dlstilling, to these States. They have
occurred at the North, where THE bulk of
crooked whiskey" is made anu the largest
AMI most successful frauds upon the revenue
have been committed. In brooklyn and
other Northern seities tais fdfsasa ,xD6ckss
fsbavc had to invoke the ass.y1sssee- aad pro.
tsetion of the UnisSaAeStates soldiers aud.
marines while making the seizures In
these cases, the very existence.of the tax
and the opportunity for illegal profit thereby
presented, have been the induccment TO an
evasion of the law. In the Southern States
we have named the case is somewhat. differ
ent. Long before the war, and befre the
internal revenue law was passed, tGo bust
ness of distilllng was carried on ofA small
scale. In the mountains'a sill was almost
as usual an adjunct to an orchard as brew
house is to an old fashioned English home
stead, or cider press to New sEngland
farm. The manufacture of apple snd peach
brandy was regarded quito as legitimate a
branch of farm industry as the preparation
of of dried apples AUD. .essohs to ozark et *.
farmers think, of the large distilleries Of
the town. 1t is not simply the payment of
the manufacturers tax that is objected to-;
the numerous and complicated provisions
and requirements Of the law designed to
prevent fraud and insure the collection of
the tax are simply impossible to be complied
with by the owners of these small stills,
Hence the farmers had to give up the bust
ness or carry it on surreptitiously and at
the risk Of the penalties Of the law Hence
the encouragement given to illicit distilling,
particularly in outlying and remote noun
tain districts, difficult of access, and where
the population arc in sentiment bitterly op-
posed to the enforcement of, q law which
they regard sas upjdst aud Unequal in its
topeyatioa, and sa6 hSsrdachmeut upon
sAal HstpfS centlish should
= ~. Z - :. ssrS. seekins
inc uistlllers ana uCnefaetef ana their friends
and sympathisers is not surprising.
A legal complication which is attracting
considerable attention at this time has Just
grown out Of one of these occurrences in
South Carolina. a party of four revenue
officers went to mans house, suspected of
being engaged in illicit distilling, intending
to arrest him. Tho man attempted to shoot
one of them, his rife, how aver, missing fire.
Thereupon the revenue officers shot him
dead. They subsequently surrendered
themselves to the local authorities, by whom
sathsy sssssslcdged ID Jail, ana have since
been indicted for murder by the grand jury
of the county. These facts coming to the
knowledge of the Internal Revenue Com
missioner, demand was made on Judge
Kershaw, the State Judge, for the transfer
of the prisoners to the jurisdiction of the
United States, under the section of the re-
vised statutes which provides for the re-
moyal to the United States Circuit Court
commenced in State courts against fsysaass
officers and agents on account of acts done
in their official. capacity. The application
for removal has been.aenicd by Judge Ker
shaw, upon the ground that the prose-
cution is not for any act done by the officers
in their official capacity, but for an offensc
against the laws of South Carolina, viz
homicide, and that the defense set up by
the accused, viz. that they acted in self
defense, can be made as effectually in the
State court as in the Federal court. Judge
Kershaw signiied his willingness to have
the cases removed into the Supreme Court
of the State, andsto have his decision re-
viewed by that tribunal, sssthat ap appeal
might be taken to the Supreme Court of
the United States. Meanwhile he would
consent to release the imprisoned govern
ment officers on bail.
TO this perfectly fair and reasonable
course, it is said President Hayes and At
torney General Dcvens We're at first dis.
posed to accedo, but upon the first init
nation Of such solution Of the difficulty
portion Of the Republican press was mp in
arms immediately. Judge Kershaw's de-
cision was a renewal of the old doctrine of
notification. The refusal to surrender the
accused revenue officers to be tried in the
Federal court was fresh act Of rebellion
on the part of South Carolina. To yield
to it for ono moment was a piece Of cow
ardly trucking to the arch.rebel Hampton.
In short, the Radical politicians Saw a
splendid chance once more to wave the