Whisky Ring

the name applied to an a ociation of revenue officers and distillers, formed in St. Louis in 1872 to defraud the Government of the internal revenue tax on distilled liquors. By 1874 it had spread into national proportions. Distillers were often forced to enter the ring or expect ruin in their busine . There were branches of the ring at Chicago, Milwaukee, Peoria, Cincinnati and New Orleans, and an agent at Washington to corrupt the Treasury agents. In 1874 about $1,200,000 of taxes were unpaid. In 1875, at the suggestion of Mr. George Fish back, editor of the Sf. Louis Democrat, the Secretary of the Treasury appointed Mr. Myron Colony, of the Cotton Exchange, to make a secret investigation of the frauds. Through his efforts indictments were brought against 238 persons, and the Government was shown to have been defrauded of $1,650,000 in ten months. Among those concerned was General Babcock, President Grant’s private secretary, and many other Government officials, who were tried in 1876. General Babcock was acquitted, but others were convicted, including Joyce, McDonald, McKee and Maguire.