The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-04-13

20 w flxed upon before II could be sold.
Bu It IS said thnt these plaintiffs were
him cent and ignorant. That may be,
andj1 hope they were, q DO not say thcy
;wefp mott but 10 ignorance Fofs the law
any iexcuse.. or any protect Ion q, an IN.
div liual for o violation OF, The law? I'm
duef tionably, not 1fignorance Is, TO be
| ple1ded In defence OF Violations OF stat.
utet OF this character In order to dis.
cha rye its Hablli Ties, where will the goy-,
lcrntient ever succeed In obtaining any
lreytnne from Internal revenue
sources? II YOU open the door ii, In
a,nnces like this. what becomes OF tho
!reyenue derived from special .taxesy
| Where would revenue be derived from
tho ldistillers' tax and the brewers tax 2
Wlterr would tho revenue DO derived
IRON the tobacco tax? These are the
grtpt elements otgrevenuc which this
country relies upon in order to support
| itB; government, and It Ia necessary that
these laws should be rigidly and strictly
erforced. IL they ure not. II would be
better for the government to repeal
them Mt once and look to some other
source Of taxation to raise revenue for
ITS support. h :; ~
what, then, Is the legal status OF the
| pl9Nntiffs In this case? It Is simply this:
INIT they neglected to perform the ordi-
naiy duties md TO take tho ordinary.
care that cautious business men should
take. They trusted these men when
they should have trusted themselves a
little. Ignorance Is no excuse. This
matter led to an investigation upon the
pa Of the government, through its VAR
torR officers, us to these transactions.
IN tRcpmmissioner OF internal revenue
dirscted all Investigation, through vari-
Gus deputy otIlcfro In that department.
'rhlt investigate was had and after.
iyaids reports were made to the commits
floner Of internal revenue and he direct
81 that these people be assessed with the
tfl&te as well as the penalty. Then an
application was made by these parties to
chs commissioner at Washington to
ha'jes N lot only tho tax hut the penalty
refunded. The commissioner heard tho
cate and refused to do II. Here Is a
lprlt1a facle case made out by the officers
OF the government whose duty II was TO
en1frce these laws, after u careful ex-l
am Ion not only by one special agent
OF The department but by half a dozen
or more. Chemical analysis was also
had which established the fact that this
;svah sleomargarine. and the further fact
wa Established that these 40-pound
tliii containing oleomargarine. found
IN the possession of Stole Brothers.
came from wilkins & Company. and
that Stoize Brothers had been selling It
70 !thelr customers at different places.
slrre OF 1t having been traced into Ohio
by .the government officials and ordered
oaSSk from Ohio to Wheeling by Stolze
+ ltr5thers
Now then, the presumption OF law in
& THIS case is. that when these special
agcnts investigated this matter and
reached their conclusions in reference to
IL, md decided that the acts of these par
tieS ware violations OF the law, they
HONESTLY and faithfully discharged their
dudes. When that presumption arose
s;ip3n3 the facts of the case, !; became In
cumbent upon the plaintiffs in the ac-i
toh TO overthrow that presumption and
tossatisfy the minds OF the jury that
these special agents OF the department
hat made a mistake. Upon the weight
OF 1.-THE evidence In this case, that pre-
sumption has not been overthruwn In
m3 Judgment. On the contrary. the in
Svehugation. had before this jury. to my.
mind establishes the fact. as near as
yGt can establish anything where
human eye did not witness the transac-
ltdh that the parties are al! guilty
two of the parties. those at Washington
and the firm of Stolze Brothers. Of
wheeling. guilty of Intentional viola
5tdis OF the Haw, and the other firm here
she plaintiffs In this action-of tech
nisal violation OF the law. Having
|svLhated the law technically they must
respond TO whatever the law demands,
LIDO not impute to Hubbard & PAUL. any
Intention In this matter Of violating the
slasfs but I do impute to them a neglect
5tof take that precautica and exercise that
:pridence In reference to 1t thatSas care
Sful and prudent men they should have
seSercised. In every respect OF this case
ad1 look at it, aud concerning the EVIL
Sdsnce, i should lunquestionably, II this
Etuty should find g verdict for the plain
tits IN this action, set aside the verdict
and grant new, trial. t
With these Views 1 think It my duty
TO suggest to counsel, as 1t was a great
hardship upon these people, for a mere
technical violation OF the law, to pay the
amount they did, that the government
should return the fine and retain the
tax I think under. all the circumstances
of this case-it being a mere technical
violation of the law-that that is the
pIbper course to pursue in regard to It