Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-06-01
A Peculiar Practice.

Ahot. Lh0heS d fiSOiouS dA0 just pio-
test against the practice of the
treasury department compromising
cleo prosecutions, says Chicago Pro-
duce. 1t is the practice of the govern
ment officials when q dealer is ar
rested for violating the internal rev.
enue laws, to give him every oppor-
tunity to pay his fine and escape
prosecution, thus making his offense
disagreeable to him in no way ex-
cept IN the loss of certain amount
OF money. the aggregate OF which
may not be as great as one months
profits from his fraudulent practices.
In the case of one retailer in Chi
cago who was recently apprehended
for Illegally selling oleomargarine,
the internal revenue collector sim
ply called him up. secured from him
an offer to compromise, and for
warded this offer to Washington for
approval of the treasury depart
ment. If the offer is accepted he
will suffer no further inconvenience
from this case, and the public will
be none the wiser. His case will not
serve as an example for other Of
tenders. 1t will be necessary fol-
the prosecutors to hunt up individ.
ual cases and prosecute each separ-
ately.
The Star puts it very pointedly
and very Justly in an editorial OF
some length, in which it says: There
is grave doubt whether the principle
OF compromise, as applied to criminal
cases, operates to the advantage OF
the community by the discouraging oil
crime. 1t has even been asserted by
some observers that compromises tend
to foster daring operations in defiance
of the law, especially when no cues.
ton exists as to guilt and conviction
Is within reach. In the case Of the
pending oleomargarine prosecutions
the officials of the internal revenue
bureau acknowledge that they are
now considering the adyisability OF
accepting an offer made by the al.
legged violaters of the law prohibit
ing the sale as butter of limitations
OF that product. who propose to pay
heavy sum in consideration OF the
dropping Of the cases against them
This method of settling proceedings
dnder the law is permitted by the
statutes, and involves no impeach.
ment of personal integrity, but it is
a serious question whether the bes,
purposes of the law are furthered
by acquiescence in such suggestions
The chief purpose of the penalties
provided by the law is not to mulct
:he offenders to the enrichment of the
treasury, but to discourage further VIC
lations. The people Of the district and
others who suffer from the operations
OF these dealers in limitations Of butter
who persist in marketing their prod
ucts as the genuine article, are no.
concerned in the least in the state OF
the fraud fund" of the internal rev.
enue Office. into which these compro.
mise payments are paid, but they are
deeply interested in the success Of the
efforts to stamp out the frauds, and to
this end they hope to see the law re.
lentlessly applied and the just penal
ties incurred exacted to the letter when
convictions are obtained. An offender
who is confident of securing an acquit-
tai will not generally offer to compro-
mise and such an offer may be taken
as fairly good evidence that he fears
conviction. If he anticipates benefit
from the lack of positive proof or from
the interference of some technicality,
he will save his funds and defy the Of
ficers of the law to prosecute him. His
offer to pay large sum, even when
more in amount than the fine that
would be imposed in case of convic-
ton, would not serve the full pur-
poses of the law, which also calls for
a term of Imprisonment. 1t is this
latter mode of punishment which is
most likely to deter an evil-doer from
a repetition of his crime. The money
fine may only be partially representa-
tive of the profits Of the illegal prac-
tice at which the law aims, and a
system Of fines without imprisonment
would practically amount to licensing
fraudulent business. The imprison-
ment is dreaded by violators, and as
long as there is the least opportunity
to secure conviction which will result
in the application Of this penalty all
offers of compromise should be reject
ed. If. however, there should be
enough doubt Of success in case of &C.
tive prosecution to warrant the accept
ance Of compromise offer, the fine
exacted in this way should be large
enough to put a heavy premium on
good behavior in the future"
This compromise" feature of the
internal revenue law is one of the
greatest obstacles in the way of en-
forcing the oleomargarine act.
New Asparagus Blight.-Professor
Byron d. Halstead, of the Rutgers Col
lege Experiment Station, gives a some
what emphatic warning concerning the
evil results of neglect to combat the
now acDarap us ruSt This has already