Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 March 1888 — How It Strikes Him. [ARTICLE]

How It Strikes Him.

The somewhat breezy, sarcastic views of .Hon. \V. D. Owen oasorno features of the Administration bill in reduce internal revenue taxation are given in a special to. ■*the hullonapubs Journal, as follows. Sr.ii} Mr. Owen: ‘Tt is a picturesque scheme. After relieving tot.Hr> of O' 4U )t M cl ? * ’it- icxes, aud vepealing the special taxes upon manufactures or stills and ivruil dealers in liquors, it proceeds to -erect tt.slaluto.with meshes in it large enough for tlie little moonshiners i f Virginia, the Carolines nhtl Temu’.-see tq slip thro ugh and never get caught. These states nre oilurnrented with ‘illicit strlls, with a capacity of one to three barrels per day. This is great and .profitable -business down there tHat ims snftere4qip~.to ibis TimeTor lack of protection. Most crifiiinul statutes, you know, have .a •minimum and maximum penalty, the later only being adjudged in in extreme cases. The law repeals the minimum penalty , and leaves -the c am't~~l;surell cn"To~~aii’ix the pemdty. In tlie midst of a universe.) sentiment that regards defiance nf" t>' & gnv.nr-aine.nt iiTrumTlvvenue laws as devotion to the .^TmdhiS-ic-w discharges the~vast atrffjority of the oflenders with possibly .a xeur imaud from The court,. The. sixth-section provides ffiat rm warrant; in any case, shall issue far arrest except when made by the revenue collectoi, sTio.-e presence" there is Usually a risk <}f life, unless the affiant has personal knowledge of the crimes alleged. The possession of distilling materials, line, the possession of a kit of burglar tools, the carrying of quantities of raw material to the secret and guarded place, and the carrying away of barrels of liquors, signifies nothing To inaugurate an investigation, the prosecutor must, have personal knowledge of the manufacture. Section thirteen provides that when one of these stills is seized it shall not be destroyed, as heretofore but shall be sold, The poor fellow: having escaped the. minimum, punishment, can come back and resume his occupation. It appears that after all these precautions, it is fearecTti at some of these meipat some time may be arrested and convicted, and another section is added giving the V' l *

court authority, when anyone imprisoned for such offense in any jail has his health thereby endangered, to make whatever, provisions for his comfort he,shall deegi prbper. I don’t think so Denencent and salutary a law was ever before proposed for tlie down trodden race. The measure should be entitled: -‘A Hill to Protect the Moowshiner and Promote ids Industry.' ” ;,