The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1915-06-08
SAY RING GOT
100000
Treasury Departments Ad-
mission Throws Light
on Big Scandal
SECRET SERVICE MEN
ON TRAIL OF OFFICIAL
One Arrest Made in Reve-
nue. Theft in the
South

Washington, June S.-By admission at
the treasury department Yesterday tha'
search is being made by the secret serv'
ice for Knox Booth, internal revenue di'
vision agent for Tennessee and Alabama
with bea dquarters at Nashville, light was
let into what is declared to be S20,0Oo,-
600 revenue scandal, extending through
three administrations.
Booth has been missing two weeks, his
disappearance being coincident, it is said
with the arrest OF John l.. Caspar at
Fort Smith. Ark, on charge OF conspir-
ing to defraud the government Caspal
is head of big distillery that is said
to have evaded payment of a large part
of its taxes through alleged conspiracy
with revenue officers.
The search for Booth and the arrest
of Caspar, it is said, constitute only the
beginning of widespread investigation
into this branch of the revenue service,
several other southern states being in
volved 1t will be shown, it is said, that
frauds against the government averaged
100000 year for the past 10 years
The system was first brought to light
in 1907, treasury department records re-
veal. In the fall of that year reports
on conditions, particularly IN Virginia
and North Carolina, resulted in an In
Nvestigation by Chief Inspector David A..
Gates and in the conviction of number
of gaugers and storekeepers.
The inquiry was dropped however, I'M
til the following spring, when it was
called to President Roosevelt's attention
and was reported to have been the sub
A
participated in by treasury officials and
the district attorneys from those two
states was held at the justice department
and plans were laid for complete in
vestigation, but the matter never came
to head.
Gates was transferred to other work
and finally quit the service, accepting APP |
pointment as state tax collector in Ar
kansas.
The present revenue commissioner,
William II. Osborne. called Gates back |
into the service and put him at work on
the distillery cases last December. Short
" afterward he was made deputy rev.
enue commissioner and the work of COM
pleting the case at Fort Smith was left
to Division Agent Barkman, with the re-
sulting arrest OF Caspar and the dis
appearance of Booth, it is said. II is
said the fact that Gates has been made
Commissioner Osborne's right hand man
indicates an intention to 90 to the
bottom of the whole matter and fore
casts scandal that may stir the whole
South.
Division Agent Booths district former.
ly embraced Arkansas, and the facts on
which the prosecution is based came TO
light, it is said, Immediately after the
change in districts was made.
The treasury department lleges that
for years it has been the practice OF
some distillery operators to make tax
payments of only 30 to 40 per cent. OF
the amount due TO the government The
principal method of evading is said 10 he
by "crowding the mash" that IS to say.
by turning out a much larger quantity OF
whiskey than the apparent capacity OF
the plant. This is possible. it is said.
only by collision with the revenue Off
cers-the gauger and storekeepers.
While il is not hoped to recover a
very large part Of the taxes lost. il is
said the department expects TO collect
some Of the money. Commissioner Os.
borne Is understood TO be DESTROYS Of re-
covering q large portion Of that lost dur
ing the time he was commissioner, wheth-
er or not he is able 10 get any Of that
lost while r. y. Cabell was commission
er under Taft and while J. q. Capers was
under Roosevelt.