Another Whisky War

Secretary Sherinan bas alretuly taken hold of the whisky ring in a very emphntic manner. The pending applieations for release from civil suits in severnl parts of the West having been callecl to hia attcntion, he was promptly refused them, and hna ordered th; proBeciltious to proceed at once in all easCB. This not only disposes of the efforta of the ring to avoid the penalties for thoir frands, hut also finishes the efforts of a crowd of strikers now herc, whose business it is to sell Bo-called influenco, on the pretense of beiug able to obtain decisions from the department. Some gentlemen interested in tho distillation of whisky who have recently arrived here from Cinciunati report that the iiinnuf achire of illicit spirits in Üie West is very great. They say that f rauds Upon tlie revenue by illicit distillers are now committed with great recklessness, and with ns mneh suocess as before Gen. Bristow began his war upon the ring. The lack of energy which lias characterized most of the prosecutions sinee Gen. Bristow's resignation, and the ease with which pardons have been obtained, together with the general belief which seeins to have prevailed among those intei-ested in the frauda that the vigorous prosecutions instituted by Seeretnry Bristow were not fnlly approved by the administration, have given inimunity, so these gentlemen say, to illicit distilling. Honest mauufactnrers of spirits in Cincinnati are accordingly thinking of closing their distilleries until the Government does Bomething to protect them by making wliisky frauda impossible. At the present time, theso gentlemen say, an honest distiller cannot compete with the manuf acturer3 of "crooked" whisky. They add that the amount of illicit spirits iu the Cincinnati market is very great. The present indications are that a change in the policy of tho Treasury Department toward this class of lawbroakers will take place at once, and that, profiting by Mr. Bristow's experience and the discoveries he made as to the methods of fraud, the war upon Üu " crooked " whisky men will at once be renewed by Secretary Sherman with great vigor.