Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/118

 90 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS tent, embodied the views that had been suggested by the president. There were doubts in the minds of many as to the ability of the government to carry it into effect; but it proved entirely success ful, and the country was finally relieved from the stigma of circulating an irredeemable paper cur rency. During 1875 the president had reason to suspect that frauds were being practised by government officials in certain states in collecting the revenue derived from the manufacture of whiskey. He at once took active measures for their detection, and the vigorous pursuit and punishment of the offenders. He issued a stringent order for their prosecution, closing with the famous words, &quot;Let no guilty man escape.&quot; Many indictments soon followed, the ringleaders were sent to the peniten tiary, and an honest collection of the revenue was secured. Some of the revenue officials were men of much political influence, and had powerful friends. The year for nominating a president was at hand, and the excitement ran high. Friends of the con victed, political enemies and rivals for the succes sion in his own party, resorted to the most desperate means to break the president s power and diminish his popularity. The grossest misrepresentations were practised, first in trying to bring into ques tion the honesty of his purpose in the prosecution of offenders, and afterward in endeavoring to rob